The King's Consort - Heaven & Earth (2013) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist
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01. L'Orfeo, SV 318: Toccata
02. L'Orfeo, SV 318: Ritornello-Dal mio permesso
03. Zefiro torna, SV 251
04. Ohimé, dov’è il mio ben, SV 140
05. Chioma d'oro, SV 143
06. L'incoronazione di Poppea, SV 308: Addio Roma
07. A Dio, Florida bella, SV 110
08. Interrotte speranze, SV 132
09. Lamento d'Adrianna, SV 107
10. L'Orfeo, SV 318: Possente spirto
11. O come sei gentile, SV 120
12. Lamento della ninfa, SV 163
13. Cruda Amarilli, SV 94
14. Hor che'l' ciel e la terra e'l vento tace, SV 147

An outstanding collection of vocal music by Claudio Monteverdi presents an exquisitely varied programme on the theme of love in all its conflicting emotions, its joys and sweet pains affecting gods and mere mortals. An all-star cast including Carolyn Sampson, Sarah Connolly, Charles Daniels and James Gilchrist is joined by The King’s Consort’s highly colourful instrumental ensemble, recorded in the unsurpassed acoustic of St Jude-on-the-Hill, London. The CD comes complete with a 48 page booklet with authoritative liner notes by renowned Monteverdi scholar Prof. John Whenham, together with full texts and translations.

The delicious programme includes the melancholy Lamento della Ninfa, the virtuoso Zefiro torna, a series of exquisite love duets, Orfeo’s famous Possente spirto, a plangent lament from Poppea, and Monteverdi’s magnificent Hor che’l ciel, whose final bars see the upper voices rise through nearly two octaves, creating one of the most spectacular endings in all baroque music.

“The star item in the opera selections is the aria 'Possente spirto'...[Charles Daniels] is vocally clear and magically acrobatic in the melodic cascades...Connolly's rendering of Poppea's farewell to Rome ('A Dio, Roma') is a revelation, powerful and moving...[the recordings'] consistent musicality provides an impressive introduction to Monteverdi's art.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2013 *

“Given the impressive cast involved, this anthology is in a sense self-recommending...This mix of opera and madrigal is a deft piece of programming, arguably worth the price of admission.” (Gramophone Magazine)

“Recorded in 2002, but previously unreleased, this is a “greatest hits”, and none the worse for that...some of the choicest numbers from the last four books of madrigals, each work a distilled music drama.” (Sunday Times)

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