Purcell: The Indian Queen, Z630

“Catherine Bott's Dido is perfectly rendered as part of an integrated recorded sound in a performance that's breathtakingly well nuanced. Emma Kirkby's Belinda is similarly finely turned In addition, John Mark Ainsley provides a heroic Aeneas in what is a challenging role because of its apparent lack of guts... the project's ultimate hero is Christopher Hogwood, whose sympathy for every twist and turn of Purcell's delightful opera is total.” BBC Music Magazine, June 2009

“If The Indian Queen is less ambitious than the other three 'operas' there's the sure touch here of the composer at his most mature and adept. The Prologue, in which he had the rare opportunity to set an extended dialogue, is beautifully balanced, and the music in Act 3 – when Zempoalla's illfated love is prophesied by Ismeron the magician in 'Ye twice 10,000 deities' – ranks alongside the finest moments in Purcell's output. The smallscale character of the work, compared to its siblings, is taken a stage further by the Purcell Simfony, which employs a minute chamber-size group of four strings, doubling oboe and recorder, single trumpet and drums. The soloists sing with airy restraint but each responds to these Hilliard-esque proportions with a rhythmic buoyancy and direct intimacy which projects a finely gauged overall conception of the work.
If the expressive power of the music is at times rather glazed, there's a sure atmosphere which is captured by recorded sound that's both warm and yet never imposing. The ensemble isn't always first-rate but there's nothing too worrisome and the instrumental numbers are elegantly shaped. Tessa Bonner gets the lion's share of the solo soprano numbers, ahead of the more colourful Catherine Bott, though the former's comparatively brittle sound has a crystalline quality which suits Catherine Mackintosh's consistent, if austere strategy.
In short, this release is consistently touching, one which in a paradoxical way gets under the skin despite the recessed emotional climate it conveys.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Energetic, zestful, well-played, the performance features excellent singers...there are no musical compromises here” Fanfare

“All these works were published within 18 months of Purcell's death. The 13 suites of choice movements from plays and semi-operas, entitled A Collection of Ayres, compos'd for theTheatre, and upon other occasions, may well have been the editing work of Purcell's brother, Daniel.
Whoever it was had a rare combination of musical integrity and commercial flair: the pieces lifted from Purcell's interpolations to plays are often reordered and arranged with a deftness and charm which conveys the spirit of the theatre as well as heightening the loss and poignancy of Purcell's passing. How moving the Rondeau Minuet from The Gordian KnotUnty'd must have seemed to those who knew and loved Purcell.
As a major retrospective of Purcell's life in the theatre, the Ayres for the Theatre mainly comprise instrumental dances from their original sources, though there are several movements readapted from sung airs, such as 'Fairest isle' from King Arthur and 'If love's a sweet passion' from The Fairy Queen. The tunes are wonderful and varied, the inner part-writing skilful and the rhythmic imagination knows no bounds.
Even so, this isn't music where more than a suite at a time can be recommended for ultimate satisfaction: stop while you still want more. And more you'll most certainly want with Roy Goodman's alert and distinctive direction. If a few of the movements sound a touch mundane and lack dynamism as one follows on from another, the positive side is that the performances are never forced and rarely mannered. For the semi-opera 'suites', Goodman employs a full orchestra. What The Parley of Instruments has in abundance is a cordiality of expression which seems so absolutely right, especially in the slower airs.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Ayres for the Theatre is a wonderful collection of rich and varied, tuneful music and has been marvellously well recorded” Gramophone Magazine

“The performances by Goodman and the authentic Parley of Instruments are thoroughly alive, stylish and responsive to the composer's ready invention. The recording is in every way pleasing, clear, yet full-bodied.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“The choral singing is especially fine, with the close of the work movingly expressive… for The Tempest, Gardiner demonstrates how delightful it is, a masterly collection, in performances both polished and stylish and with excellent solo and choral singing…” Penguin Guide Key Recording (on The Indian Queen)