Vivaldi: Kyrie, RV587

Gramophone Critic's Choice

“King's 'super-group' featuring choristers drawn from seven English cathedral and collegiate choirs sounds better than ever – technically reliable, with a good, full sound – and are a credit to King's vision in bringing them together. This volume has five typically uplifting works, three of which – Lauda Jerusalem, Dixit Dominus and the G minor Kyrie – offer the opulent sound of double choir and orchestra. Dixit Dominus is the most substantial, a colourful 23-minute sequence of varied solos and choruses, with trumpets, oboes and two organs all chipping in, most notably in an awe-inspiring depiction of the Day of Judgement. The other two are perhaps less striking, though Lauda Jerusalem is certainly charming in its two-soprano interchanges.
Highlights of the single-chorus works include another exquisite soprano duet and a fiery 'Fecit potentiam' in the Magnificat, and an extraordinary 'Crucifixus' in the Credo which departs from the pain-wracked norm by seemingly depicting with lugubrious slow tread Christ's walk to Calvary. King manages very well in capturing the essence of Vivaldi's bold, sometimes disarmingly straightforward style. These tidy performances are driven with just the right amount of springy energy – neither too much nor too little – and are well recorded in the warm resonance of St Jude's Church, Hampstead in London.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“The singing throughout couldn’t be more accomplished” Classics Today

“The star attraction here is Vivaldi's beautiful setting of the Vespers psalm Niski Dominus (RV 608). This… is sung with warm-toned sensibility by Lynne McMurtry.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2009 ****

“This is a radiant, joyful piece of virtuoso writing for the voice. With its many subtle contrasts and vivid word-painting, it seems to me to sit comfortably atop the Vivaldi solo sacred music tree along with the Stabat Mater and Nisi Dominus. There are no weak links in this beautiful, often exhilarating piece and listeners will not, by and large, be disappointed by the performance. Dawson and Zádori are at an advantage, perhaps, in singing the music at a lower Baroque pitch, but even so Marshall hits her high notes – and there is no shortage of them – dependably and with panache.” Gramophone Magazine, April 1992

“These are not period-instrument performances and they are often given with quite large forces with a tendency to a certain sturdiness. Yet's there a drive and enthusiasm in Negri's conducting that is very winning, and he's helped by crisp choral singing...The real delight here is the music - Vivaldi at his most varied and inventive.” International Record Review, May 2011