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A dream cast for selected pieces from Purcell's masterpieces.
Christophe Rousset has brought together leading experts in this field (Elizabeth Kenny and Laurence Dreyfus) around Rosemary Joshua to give us a benchmark performance. This disc is a gem and a priority of the label for the semester.
Purcell: Tell Me, Some Pitying Angel
Tell Me, Some Pitying Angel (The Blessed Virgin's Expostulation)
Purcell: In The Black, Dismal Dungeon Of Despair
In The Black, Dismal Dungeon Of Despair
Purcell: We Sing To Him, Whose Wisdom Form'd The Ear
We Sing To Him, Whose Wisdom Form'd The Ear
Purcell: Air In G Minor
Air In G Minor
Purcell: Great God, And Just (A Penitential Hymn)
Great God, And Just (A Penitential Hymn)
Purcell: My Song Shall Be Alway (Psalm 89)
My Song Shall Be Alway (Psalm 89)
Purcell: Ground In D Minor
Ground In D Minor
Purcell: Lord, What Is Man?
Lord, What Is Man?
Purcell: Let The Night Perish (Job's Curse)
Let The Night Perish (Job's Curse)
Purcell: Chaconne In G Minor
Chaconne In G Minor
Purcell: The Night Is Come (An Evening Hymn)
The Night Is Come (An Evening Hymn)
Purcell: With Sick And Famish'd Eyes
With Sick And Famish'd Eyes
Purcell: How Have I Stray'd
How Have I Stray'd
Purcell: Suite In G Minor
1. Prelude
2. Allemande
3. Courante
4. Sarabande
Purcell: My Opening Eyes Are Purged
My Opening Eyes Are Purged (A Divine Song Of The Passion Of Our Saviour)
Purcell: How Long, Great God (The Aspiration)
How Long, Great God (The Aspiration)
Purcell: Ground In C Minor
Ground In C Minor
Purcell: Sleep, Adam, And Take Thy Rest
Sleep, Adam, And Take Thy Rest
Purcell: Thou Wakeful Shepherd (A Morning Hymn)
Thou Wakeful Shepherd (A Morning Hymn)
Purcell: The Earth Trembled (On Our Saviour's Passion)
The Earth Trembled (On Our Saviour's Passion)
Purcell: Now That The Sun Hath Veil'd His Light
Now That The Sun Hath Veil'd His Light (An Evening Hymn On A Ground)
August 2012
*****
“Rosemary Joshua brings to these accounts all the aplomb of a Baroque diva, with her sharply etched diction, perspicuous dramatic insights and varied vocal timbres...It would be easy for Joshua to steal the show, but the instrumentalists respond to her pliant vocal lines with sensitively articulated continuo playing.”
21st April 2012
“Purcell is not known as a composer of sacred songs. The 24 here, all scored for a single high voice, come from two volumes published in his later years, which group the work of several composers but are dominated by Purcell’s. Some are less than 30 bars long, others sound almost cantata-like. All are intimate and varied in tone. Whether they were designed to be heard in sequence like this is questionable, but [Rosemary] Joshua brings them vividly to life”
July 2012
“Joshua brings vocal security and textual intelligence to these works and though a slightly flighty vibrato sometimes threatens the music's intimacy, it does not get in the way of superbly realised greater dramatic truth. The continuo accompaniments are as sensitively accomplished as one would expect from such a line-up...If this is a sober disc, it is also one which reeks of Purcell's genius.”
25th March 2012
“For a singer who began her career in the early 1990s, Joshua sounds astonishingly fresh — Emma Kirkby-like in the purity of her sound, although she brings a wider palette of colour to this kind of music than the veteran early-music diva ever did.”
19th May 2012
****
“The word-painting of the sacred texts — involving angular leaps, florid melismas and a fluid mixture of declamation and gorgeous lyricism — is intense and detailed. Rosemary Joshua does it full justice, yet also seems to float, lithe and graceful, through it all. It’s a masterclass in delicate Baroque singing.”
Click on any of the works listed above for alternative recordings.
Tell Me, Some Pitying Angel (The Blessed Virgin's Expostulation)
