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Norwegian boy-soprano Aksel Rykkvin has quickly built a reputation as a rare talent, combining an intelligent musicality with a beautifully resonant treble voice. On his debut recording he is accompanied by The Orchestra of the Age on Enlightenment under Nigel Short (leader of award-winning chamber choir Tenebrae), in a selection of arias by Mozart, Handel and JS Bach. Many of the arias performed are considered too technically demanding for boy singers in the present day – in particular Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate which was composed for the castrato Venunzio Rauzzini, and several of Bach’s Cantatas which were written at a time when singers often maintained their treble voices until the ages of 16 or 17. Freakishly good, with a musical assurance and richness of tone that are almost superhuman - Financial Times Widely praised for his richness of tone and instinctive, innate musicality - BBC Music Magazine It's a remarkable performance - pure, technically perfect and hauntingly beautiful - Classic FM This is totally extraordinary. For the sheer joy in performing, this CD would be hard to beat - Cathedral Music Magazine -
The international award-winning octet VOCES8 has established itself as the foremost young British a cappella group. Performing a repertoire ranging from Renaissance polyphony to unique Jazz and Pop arrangements, the group has been praised for stunning performance, exquisite singing and creating a sound that spans the entire range of vocal colour. ACES HIGH is an album that flows like a fine cocktail - delicious from start to finish! It evokes the story of a perfect night out, transporting you to the glamorous world of high society, passion and daring intrigue. -
Despite the tradition of passing folk songs from generation to the next, aurally, the Irish folk song had lost its importance somewhat in 19th century Ireland, but by the turn of the twentieth-century the revival of Ireland’s native music was coming to a head. Belfast-born Herbert Hughes set about collecting and distributing Irish airs. From there he began arranging the melodies for voice and piano, but at a lecture in Dublin pointed out the relationship between the original song, as sung by ‘the peasant, giving voice to an ancient tradition’ and the same song as put into print with a piano accompaniment. This original disc brings together both the old and the new, transforming the traditional folk song into an ‘art-song.’ The 25 folk songs tell of stories both happy and sad and make this disc as much a literary landscape, as a musical one with words by Thomas Moore & James Joyce. Beautifully performed by Ailish Tynan & Iain Burnside. ★★★★★ Soprano Ailish Tynan's feeling for the musical idiom and, above all, the poetry of her countrymen, matched by Burnside's delightfully poetic pianism, prove irresistible. Highly recommended - Classic FM -
An invitation to stroll through the world of one of England’s greatest composers The young, virtuoso A Cappella ensemble VOCES8 return to disc on Signum with a sumptuous collection of early works by Henry Purcell. Joined by the specialist early-music ensemble ‘Les Inventions’, the group explores Purcell’s astoundingly diverse output – there is hardly a genre in which he did not express himself: anthems, odes, funeral music, semi- operas, masques, sonatas, consort-music, songs and catches populate his extraordinarily multifaceted œuvre. It is this astonishing diversity that we wish to celebrate by inviting the listener for a stroll through the world of one of England’s greatest composers.If anyone ever doubts Purcell's consummate genius, this CD - beautifully recorded and executed - ought to convince them. A great introduction to Purcell's many guises - Choir and Organ
You won't hear Purcell sung better - Planet Hugill
This is a lovely collection, reflective of the composer's eclectic talents, and beautifully performed - Early Music Review
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International award-winning octet Voces8 has established itself as the foremost young British a cappella vocal group. Performing a repertoire ranging from Renaissance polyphony to unique jazz and pop arrangements, the group has been praised for stunning performance, exquisite singing and creating a sound that spans the entire range of vocal colour. A Choral Tapestry explores the rich vocal timbres of sacred vocal music spanning five centuries. Interweaving genres create an ethereal sonic tapestry that centres around the haunting beauty of William Byrd's Mass for Four Voices. The programme includes anthems and motets from the English Chapel Royal, the Sistine Chapel in Rome and St. Thomas' Church, Leipzig. VOCES8 are as good as any vocal ensemble I have heard for many a year and the material on this CD is well chosen and superbly sung - Cross Rhythms Following their Bach Motets, choral octet Voces8 branch further afield with A Choral Tapestry, programming devotional material from across the spectrum - The Independent -
2012 marks the 15th anniversary of the first release from the leading independent classical label Signum Records. Beginning life as an early music specialist (with a landmark release of the Complete Works of Thomas Tallis with Chapelle du Roi), Signum has grown since 1997 to a catalogue of over 300 releases across a wide range of genres. In this A Cappella collection, you can hear a wide rage of works by The King's Singers, The Swingle Singers, BBC Singers, Tenebrae, Voces8 and many more all on one disc - all selected from titles across the Signum catalogue. The repertoire stretches from Monteverdi to Michael Jackson and is dispatched with consummate ease by all involved - Choir & Organ -
Signum Classics are proud to release the fourth disc from The King's Singers on Signum Classics - 1605: Treason and Dischord. On 5 November 1605 Guy Fawkes was caught preparing to detonate 36 barrels of gunpowder under the House of Lords unveiling an act of attempted treason that shocked the whole of Europe. What led a group of young Catholic men to risk their lives for their faith? 400 years later the King’s Singers and Concordia illuminate the dangers of hearing Mass in secret, of conspiracy and downfall, and of protestant relief and celebration, through a project of music and prose. The music, structured around Byrd’s perfect 4-part Mass, contains motets by Catholic composers, balanced with protestant anthems celebrating the downfall of the plot, and a commission from the British composer, Francis Pott. Master Tresham: His Ducke reflects on the ‘9/11’ of its day - 5/11/1605. The script, drawing on historic texts and written by Deborah Mackay for the quatercentenary concert series related to this CD, uses the dramatised persona of William Byrd, the most famous composer of his age, to recreate the atmosphere of change and hope in the Jacobean court. ★★★★ The performers bring verve and forceful emotional fervour to these works of protest - Classic FM Magazine A brilliant fusion of Renaissance and contemporary idioms - The Scotsman Strongly recommended - International Record Review There is never a question of technical polish and precision with the King’s Singers - American Record Guide