Description
SKU/Barcode: 095115071427
Chandos first issued this disc of Catherine Bott and the Purcell Quartet back in 1997 as Vivaldi: In furore. Here it comes again, this time with a snazzier, more exotic front cover as Vivaldi: Laudate Pueri, Dominum. Nothing else about the package or contents have changed, and this is good news as this disc is one of the best Baroque offerings to be found in Chandos' early music series, Chaconne. This is still one of the finest discs of Antonio Vivaldi's sacred solo music one is likely to find, similar recitals by Patrizia Ciofi and Cecilia Bartoli notwithstanding. Catherine Bott sails over the spindly textures of the Purcell Quartet like a siren's song aloft in the night, as sailors struggle with a storm-tossed vessel. Bott's voice is sweet, airy, and transparent, whereas the Purcell Quartet keeps itself profitably busy in the two vocal motets (the title work and In Furore iustissimae irae). The Quartet lets it all hang out in the Concerto a Quattro Op. 12/3, RV 124, the Concerto Madrigalesco, RV129, and the Sonata and Sinfonia al Santo Sepulcro, RVs 130 and 169, respectively. The Sinfonia al Santo Sepolcro is heard in its most bracing performance here -- this unusual little piece begins on a pungent discord, the minor second, and the Purcell Quartet makes you feel it, like a dagger going in. These pieces are often played with full string sections, but were intended as chamber concerti; the Purcell Quartet definitively makes the case that smaller dimensions fit the music more comfortably. Vivaldi: Laudate Pueri, Dominum also includes excellent notes by topmost Vivaldi scholar Michael Talbot, in itself a sign of quality. If you take a long, hard look at your music collection and decide you have only room for three or four Vivaldi discs, Vivaldi: Laudate Pueri, Dominum should be one of them.
1. I. Largo Molto The Purcell Quartet
2. Ii. Allegro Ma Poco The Purcell Quartet
3. Aria. In Furore Iustissimae Irae Catherine Bott
4. Recitative. Miserationum Pater Piisime Aria. Tunc Meus Fletus Catherine Bott
5. Alleluia Catherine Bott
6. I. Allegro The Purcell Quartet
7. Ii. Grave The Purcell Quartet
8. Iii. Allegro The Purcell Quartet
9. I. Adagio The Purcell Quartet
10. Ii. Allegro The Purcell Quartet
11. Iii. Adagio The Purcell Quartet
12. Iv. Allegro Molto Moderato The Purcell Quartet
13. I. Laudate Pueri Dominun Catherine Bott
14. Ii. Sit Nomen Domini Benedictum Catherine Bott
15. Iii. A Solis Ortu Usque Ad Occasum Catherine Bott
16. Iv. Excelsus Super Omnes Gentes Dominus Catherine Bott
17. V. Suscitans A Terra Inopem Catherine Bott
18. Vi. Ut Collocet Eum Cum Principibus Populi Sui Catherine Bott
19. Vii. Gloria Patri Et Filio Et Spiritui Sancto Catherine Bott
20. Viii. Gloria Patri Et Filio Et Spiritui Sancto Catherine