Let the Bright Seraphim

£12.00

The Armonico Consort return to disc on Signum (following their highly-regarded Naked Byrd CD series) with a new disc celebrating the glorious combination of soprano and trumpet in baroque music – featuring the soaring talents of Elin Manahan Thomas and Crispian Steele-Perkins.
 
Widely-praised for their imaginative and inventive programming, this disc features works by JS Bach (Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen), GP Telemann (Trumpet Concerto in D major), Alessandro Scarlatti (Su le sponde del Tebro) and a special compilation of works by Handel devised by Crispian Steele-Perkins.
 
SKU: SIGCD289

What people are saying

"The tone is immediately set by Crispian Steele-Perkins’ trilling trumpet on Bach’s "Jauchzet Gott in alien Landen", which also features quite thrilling counterpoints between him and soprano Elin Manahan Thomas"   The Independent

"… the whole thing seems suffused with light reflected from Manahan Thomas’ voice, and Steele-Perkins’ effortlessly projected trumpet." Andrew McGregor, BBC Radio 3 CD Review

Elin Manahan Thomas

Crispian Steele Perkins

Armonico Consort

Release date:2nd Jul 2012
Order code:SIGCD289
Barcode: 635212028926

July 2012
 
Andrew McGregor [AM]: Handel’s at the heart of another newcomer that just arrived from Signum Classics. As you might just guess from its title Let The Bright Seraphim, and the billed soloists soprano Elin Manahan Thomas and trumpeter Crispian Steele-Perkins, it’s a celebration of highlights by Bach, Telemann, Scarlatti and Handel for the valveless baroque trumpet on which Steele-Perkins is an acknowledged master, and the way it can work to such fine effect with a shiny soprano solo. So, Steele-Perkins imagines the atmosphere of the 18th century Vauxhall pleasure gardens in London, and puts together a sequence of pieces from Handel opera and oratorio that might have appeared as part of the outdoor entertainment.
 
[Music]
 
AM: Eternal source of light divine, from Handel’s birthday ode for Queen Anne, performed by soprano Elin Manahan Thomas and trumpeter Crispian Steele-Perkins with the Armonico Consort, directed by Christopher Monks. As part of a Handel sequence, Steele-Perkins has put together taking us from the March, from Judas Maccabaeus through three numbers from the Water Music to Let The Bright Seraphim from Handel’s Samson, and that gleams beautifully at the end of the CD. In fact, the whole thing seems suffused with light reflected from Manahan Thomas’ voice, and Steele-Perkins’ effortlessly projected trumpet. And the trumpet is nicely balanced against the rest of the band and the acoustic from Bach’s cantata Jauchzet Gott to that Handel sequence. Let The Bright Seraphim, they’ve called it. It’s new from Signum Classics.

CD Review, BBC Radio 3

July 2012
 
The Armonico Consort follow up their dazzling second volume of Naked Byrd acappella pieces with this programme of baroque works for trumpet, soprano and chamber ensemble. The tone is immediately set by Crispian Steele-Perkins’ trilling trumpet on Bach’s "Jauchzet Gott in alien Landen", which also features quite thrilling counterpoints between him and soprano Elin Manahan Thomas. Alessandro Scarlatti’s pairing of voice and trumpet brings added nobility to the expression of unrequited love in "Su le sponde del Tebro", though its most affecting passage is "Infelici miei lumi", where Thomas’s heartbreaking vocal is borne on a haunting meniscus of strings.
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

The Independent
  1. Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen, BWV 51: Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen – J.S.Bach – 4.13
  2. Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen, BWV 51: Recit: Wir beten zu dem Tempel an – J.S.Bach – 2.04
  3. Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen, BWV 51: Aria: H?chster – J.S.Bach – 4.09
  4. Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen, BWV 51: Sei Lob und Preis mit Ehren – J.S.Bach – 3.22
  5. Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen, BWV 51: Sei Lob und Preis mit Ehren – J.S.Bach – 2.18
  6. Trumpet Concerto in D major: i. Adagio – G.P.Telemann – 1.47
  7. Trumpet Concerto in D major: ii. Allegro – G.P.Telemann – 1.57
  8. Trumpet Concerto in D major: iii. Grave – G.P.Telemann – 1.57
  9. Trumpet Concerto in D major: iv. Allegro – G.P.Telemann – 1.51
  10. Su le sponde del Tebro: Sinfonia – A.Scarlatti – 1.29
  11. Su le sponde del Tebro: Recitativo: Su le Sponde del Tebro – A.Scarlatti – 0.59
  12. Su le sponde del Tebro: Aria: Contentatevi, o fidi pensieri – A.Scarlatti – 2.54
  13. Su le sponde del Tebro: Recitativo: Mesto, stanco e spirante – A.Scarlatti – 0.35
  14. Su le sponde del Tebro: Arioso: Infelici miei lumi – A.Scarlatti – 3.15
  15. Su le sponde del Tebro: Aria: Dite almeno – A.Scarlatti – 1.55
  16. Su le sponde del Tebro: Recitativo: All’aura, al cielo – A.Scarlatti – 0.52
  17. Su le sponde del Tebro: Aria: Tralascia pur di piangere – A.Scarlatti – 1.34
  18. Judas Maccabeus HWV 63: March – G.F.Handel – 1.22
  19. Floridante HWV 14: Sinfonia – G.F.Handel – 1.20
  20. Dedemia HWV 42: Lentement – G.F.Handel – 1.46
  21. Scipione HWV 20: March – G.F.Handel – 1.28
  22. Eternal Source of Light Divine HWV 74 – G.F.Handel – 3.21
  23. Water Music: Overture – G.F.Handel – 1.43
  24. Water Music: Air – G.F.Handel – 1.50
  25. Water Music: Hornpipe – G.F.Handel – 3.39
  26. Samson, HWV 57: Let the Bright Seraphim – G.F.Handel – 5.24

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