The Bargain Nexus - Essential Purcell

List Price: $12.98
Our Price: $7.36
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Manufacturer: Hyperion UK

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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0034571100159
Format: Import
Label: Hyperion UK
Manufacturer: Hyperion UK
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Hyperion UK
Release Date: 1995-04-10
Studio: Hyperion UK

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Spotlight customer reviews:

Customer Rating:

Summary: The Purcell CD to get
Comment: Seriously, whether if you have no idea exactly what kind of composer Purcell was, or only plan to buy only one CD of his music (God forbid!), this record will knock you off, in a very pleasant and surprising way. I don't like to write superlatives, but this CD has unanimously 5 stars with non-ceasing praises, and guess what: it is THAT good. So good that is gives a good case for few of those who believes that Purcell was a greater composer than Handel or even Bach! Just listen to "Vouchsafe, O Lord, To Keep Us This Day" (second last track) and be awed; it is comparable to one of the best of Bach's cantata's single movement. If you truly like good music, you cannot afford to NOT have this CD: you will thank me and other reviewers here later, GUARANTIED.

Have a nice day.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Two exquisite songs
Comment: "O Fair Cedaria..." is a gorgeous song and yet this is the only cd recording of this incredible work.
The other song which deserves fame is "The Sparrow and the Gentle Dove." There is so much feeling, emotion and musical development in this song that it really is one my personal favorites. Its interpretation here is beyond beautiful.
If you've never heard these songs be ready to add them to your list of favorite Purcell songs.

Customer Rating:

Summary: fabulous
Comment: The music is fabulous. I wasn't familiar with this artist until I heard him on the radio. Couldn't have bought a better CD.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Mad about Baroque
Comment: This is a terrific CD. The music is breathtaking. Just buy IT !!!!!

Customer Rating:

Summary: The beauty of the songs brings tears to my eyes
Comment: Absolutely beautiful baroque music! The arrangament, singing and instrumentation is superb. It is too bad that Henry Purcell is not as widely known as Bach, because he should be recognized equally well."The Sparrow and the Gentle dove" is alone worth the price of the album! I can not stop playing it!

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Editorial Reviews:

The "Essential" Purcell? Well, you could get a bunch of critics to argue about that for a few days, but in the meantime, here is a sampler of highlights from the King's Consort's three admirable Purcell series: the Complete Odes and Welcome Songs, Complete Anthems and Services, and Complete Secular Solo Songs. There are, of course, some of Purcell's most-performed pieces (which probably are "essential"): Dido's Lament from Dido and Aeneas, "Sound the trumpet" from Come, ye sons of Art, Rejoice in the Lord alway (the "Bell Anthem," named for the string figure at the opening that sounds like pealing bells), the gently patriotic "Fairest isle, all isles excelling" (sung by a miscast James Bowman), and a selection from the funeral music for Queen Mary. There are also some delightful surprises--particularly among the little-known secular songs and church music. The plaintive "O fair Cedaria" gets a lovely performance by Barbara Bonney (a singer not usually associated with Purcell); tenor Rogers Covey-Crump (possibly the ideal high tenor for Purcell) sings the enchanting "If music be the food of love"; the church anthems "Let mine eyes run down with tears" and "Remember not, O Lord, our offences" have some startling harmonies as daring as any Monteverdi ever wrote. If you're unfamiliar with Purcell, this reasonably priced disc is a good place to start exploring without a big initial investment. --Matthew Westphal