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Emma Kirkby has enchanted audiences with her almost supernaturally clear and agile soprano ever since she first appeared on the Early Music scene in the 1970s. As the art of historically informed performance has become more and more widely appreciated, so has her style of singing to the extent that she was included in a listing of ‘the 20 greatest sopranos ever’ made by the BBC Music Magazine in 2007.
Released on the occasion of her 60th birthday, the present collection celebrates her collaboration with BIS and includes highly acclaimed performances of works from her repertoire such as Handel solo cantatas (with London Baroque) and Dowland songs (with Anthony Rooley and Jakob Lindberg) as well as pieces by less familiar composers, such as Ariosti and Amodei, de Lalande and Schimmelpfennig. This collection provides an opportunity to sample the work of an exceptional singer in all its variety.
The accompanying booklet includes a personal appreciation of the performer by music critic Brian Robins, as well as the texts – in the original languages with English translations where applicable – of all the works featured.
George Frideric Handel: Gloria
Gloria in excelsis Deo
Et in terra pax
Laudamus te
Gratias agimus tibi
Domine Deus
Qui tollis
Quoniam tu solus sanctus
Cum Sancto Spiritu
George Frideric Handel: Salve Regina, HWV 241
Salve Regina (Largo - Adagio)
Eja ergo advocata nostra (Allegro)
O clemens, o pia (Adagissimo)
George Frideric Handel: O qualis de coelo sonus, HWV 239
Sonata
Recitativo: O qualis de caelo sonus
Ad plausus ad jubila
Recitativo: Eja ergo, mortalis
Gaude, tellus benigna
Alleluja
George Frideric Handel: Coelestis dum spirat aura, HWV 231
Sonata
Recitativo: Caelestis dum spirat aura
Felix dies, praeclara, serena
Recitativo: Vestro, religiosi principes
Tam patrono singulari
Alleluja
George Frideric Handel: Laudate pueri, HWV 236, "Psalm 112"
Laudate pueri Dominum
Sit nomen Domini benedictum
A solis ortu usque ad occasum
Excelsus super omnes gentes Dominus
Quis sicut Dominus
Ut collocet eum cum principibus
Qui habitare facit
Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto
Philipp Friedrich Boddecker: Natus est Jesus
Natus est Jesus
Johann Sebastian Bach: Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 61: Offne dich mein ganzes Herze
Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 61: Offne dich mein ganzes Herze
Johann Sebastian Bach: Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147a
Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147a: Bereite dir, Jesu, noch itzo die Bahn
Christoph Graupner: Cantata, Ach Gott und Herr
Choral: Ach Gott und Herr
Recitativo Accompagnato: Oh Gott, was hab ich doch getan?
Aria: Suefzt und weint
Recitativo Secco: Doch Seele, geh zuruck
Aria: Stelle dich zufrieden
Francois Couperin: 3 Lecons de tenebres
Premiere Lecon de Tenebres pour le Mercredi Saint
Troisieme Lecon de Tenebres pour le Mercredi Saint
Michel-Richard de Lalande: Troisieme Lecon de Tenebres du Mercredi Saint, s118
Troisieme Lecon de Tenebres du Mercredi Saint, s118
Alessandro Scarlatti: Non so qual piu m'ingombra
I. Recitative: Non so qual piu m'ingombra…
II. Aria: Che sara? Chi'a me lo dice?…
III. Recitative: E nato, al fin mi dice…
IV. Pastoral Aria: Nacque, col Gran Messia…
Alessandro Scarlatti: O di Betlemme, altera poverta ventu
I. Recitative: O di Betlemme, altera poverta venturosa...
II. Aria: Dal bel Segno d'una Stella…
III. Recitative: Presa d'uomo la forma…
IV. Aria: L'autor d'ogni mio bene…
V. Recitative: Fortunati Pastori!…
VI. Pastorale: Tocco la prima sorte a voi, pastori...
Attilio Ariosti: Pur al fin gentil Viola (So at last, gentle Viola)
Aria: Pur alfin gentil viola
Recitative: Non fu saggio il consiglio …
Aria: Belta che col rigor …
Cataldo Amodei: Su l'ore che l'aurora
Su l'ore che l'aurora
Cataldo Amodei: Va', che l'hai fatto a me
Va', che l'hai fatto a me
Cataldo Amodei: Lieve al pie, grave al passo
Lieve al pie, grave al passo
John Dowland: Book of Songs, Book 2: O sweet woods, the delight of solitariness
O sweet woods
John Dowland: Book of Songs, Book 2: I saw my lady weep
I saw my lady weepe
John Dowland: Book of Songs, Book 3: Daphne was not so chaste as she was changing
Daphne was not so chaste
John Dowland: Book of Songs, Book 3: Farewell, too fair
Farewell too faire
John Dowland: Book of Songs, Book 2: Time's eldest son
Time's eldest sonne
John Dowland: Book of Songs, Book 4, "A Pilgrimes Solace": Shall I strive with words to move
Shall I strive with words to move
John Danyel: Dost thou withdraw thy grace?
Dost thou withdraw thy grace?
Robert Johnson: Full fathom five
Full fathom five thy father lies
Sigismondo D'India: Da l'onde del mio pianto
Da l'onde del mio pianto
Georg Schimmelpfennig: Dolce tempo passato
Dolce tempo passato
Heinrich Schutz: Erbarm dich mein, O Herre Gott, SWV 447
Eile mich, Gott, zu erretten
Etienne Moulinie: Paisible et tenebreuse nuit
Paisible et tenebreuse nuit
Jean-Baptiste Boesset: Que Philis a l'esprit leger
Que Philis a l'esprit leger
Henry Lawes: Anacreon's Ode, call'd The Lute (original Greek)
Anacreon's Ode, call'd The Lute (original Greek)
Henry Lawes: Away, away, Anacreon (Anacreon's Ode Englished)
Away, away, Anacreon ('Anacreon's Ode Englished')
Henry Lawes: At dead low ebb of night (A tale out of Anacreon)
At dead low ebb of night ('A tale out of Anacreon')
John Blow: O Venus, daughter of the mighty Jove (Sappho to the Goddess of Love)
Sappho to the Goddess of Love
John Wilson: Diffugere nives (Horace, Odes IV, 7)
Diffugere nives (Horace, Odes IV, 7)
Alfonso Ferrabosco II: So beautie on the waters stood
So beautie on the waters stood
Henry Lawes: Orpheus' Hymn to God
Orpheus' Hymn to God
Maurice Greene: Orpheus with his Lute
Orpheus with his lute
John Weldon: Stop, O ye waves
Stop, O ye waves
July 2009
“…it's often in the modest-looking pieces that she's at her most compelling. Robert Johnson's Full Fathom Five is 109 seconds of breathtaking stillness and beauty, Böddecker's Natus est Jesu a masterclass in how quietly to find variety and meaning in a piece that might have seemed to have little to offer. Artistry indeed, and praise to BIS for recognising how to honour it.”
Click on any of the works listed above for alternative recordings.