Special offer. John Wilbye: Draw On Sweet Night
I Fagiolini, Robert Hollingworth
Awards:
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Presto Editor's Choice, April 2022
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Schallplattenkritik Quarterly Critics Choice, Autumn 2022, Early Music
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2022
Wilbye was one of the finest English madrigalists, publishing around 75 madrigals in two collections in 1598 and 1609. I Fagiolini sing 25 of them here with a winning sweetness of tone and admirable...
Special offer. John Wilbye: Draw On Sweet Night
I Fagiolini, Robert Hollingworth
Purchase product
Awards:
-
Presto Editor's Choice, April 2022
-
Schallplattenkritik Quarterly Critics Choice, Autumn 2022, Early Music
-
Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2022
Wilbye was one of the finest English madrigalists, publishing around 75 madrigals in two collections in 1598 and 1609. I Fagiolini sing 25 of them here with a winning sweetness of tone and admirable...
About
"British ensemble I Fagiolini puts aside its beloved Monteverdi to uncover its own national heritage: the best of John Wilbye's classic Golden Age madrigals. Whilst his oeuvre may have been small (just 75 works that we know of and most just a couple of minutes long), time and again, in these exquisite cameos, Wilbye delivers what might be reckoned the ultimate madrigal experience. The plangent dissonance of ‘Draw on, sweet night’ and ‘Weep, weep, mine eyes’ perfectly evoke English melancholy, while ‘Sweet honey-sucking bees’ and ‘Adieu, sweet Amaryllis’ are such sheer pleasure to sing that many listeners will scrabble to unearth old scores. This album is, in a nutshell, 75 minutes of madrigalian bliss! Rediscover or enjoy anew this central part of English choral culture, strangely out of fashion for so long, sung by a group that has matured into the repertoire like a good wine."
Contents and tracklist
Awards and reviews
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Presto Editor's ChoiceApril 2022
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Schallplattenkritik Quarterly Critics ChoiceAutumn 2022Early Music
-
Presto Recordings of the YearFinalist 2022
July 2022
Wilbye was one of the finest English madrigalists, publishing around 75 madrigals in two collections in 1598 and 1609. I Fagiolini sing 25 of them here with a winning sweetness of tone and admirable care for text. It’s a welcome balm.
Sep/Oct 2022
Robert Hollingworth and I Fagiolini perform all these pieces with great delicacy and transparency…their sense of ensemble, is superb, and their intonation, sectional balances, and dynamic shadings spot on. One hopes that a sequel recording will result in the complete madrigals of Wilbye from this ensemble. Heartily recommended.
April 2022
What infectious fun these singers have with texts and textures alike throughout this marathon of madrigals by a master of the art - for starters, try ‘Sweet honey-sucking bees’, where the sibilance fizzes from voice to voice in a veritable masterclass of ensemble word-painting. They're just as impressive when Wilbye is in dour, Dowland-esque mode, the pure-toned sopranos lending a toothsome astringency to the title-track and 'Weep, weep, mine eyes'.
Schallplattenkritik Autumn 2022
it is hard to imagine that anyone will be able to replicate their feats of intimacy and expressivity, power, depth, and crystal-clear intonation any time soon.
