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Special offer. Songs of Passion
RecommendedLea Desandre (mezzo), Thomas Dunford (lute, theorbo), with Alex Rosen (bass-baritone), Jess Dandy (contralto), Laurence Kilsby (tenor), Huw Montague Rendall (baritone)
Jupiter
Across two discs, the performers shed any hint of 'whitewashed' English restraint, fathoming Dowland's twilight world and Purcell's exuberant theatricality. —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2025, Editor's Choice
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International Classical Music Awards, 2026, Winner - Baroque Vocal
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2025
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The New York Times, Best Classical Music Albums of 2025
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Shorn of three voices, Dowland's four-part lute songs grow rather than shrink in dramatic stature...Such are the riches of this extraordinary album that one would happily linger amidst such... —
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Gramophone Magazine, March 2026, Editor's Choice
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Elegy – Countertenor duets by Purcell & Blow
Iestyn Davies, James Hall (countertenors)
The King’s Consort, Robert King
Davies is the headline artist on the cover; but in fact he duets with James Hall on notably equal terms, the two voices subtly differing in timbre but compatible in articulation and expressivity.... —
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Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2019, Editor's Choice
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International Classical Music Awards, 2019, Nominee - Baroque Vocal
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Gramophone Awards, 2020, Shortlisted - Recital
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Chance’s tone is pellucid; notes fall round and clear as water drops...a recording in which Chance stakes serious claim to the title of his generation’s most exciting British countertenor. —
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Presto Editor's Choice, April 2023
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Gramophone Magazine, July 2023, Editor's Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2023
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International Classical Music Awards, 2024, Nominated - Baroque Vocal
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2024, Nominated - Young Talent of the Year
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This is a most attractive recital by a singer who has made a name both as a countertenor and as an explorer of diverse repertory. Mobley's voice is light, pure, yet focused...The central stillness... —
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2025
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The Nyman performances are exemplary – crisp and cleanly articulated from Fretwork and dispatched by Davies with a vacant, unrippled purity that is so essential to the music, and must be hard... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, May 2019, Editor's Choice
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Gramophone Magazine, December 2019, Critics' Choice
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Victorious Love - Songs by Henry Purcell
RecommendedCarolyn Sampson (soprano), Laurence Cummings (harpsichord & spinet), Elizabeth Kenny (archlute / theorbo), Anne-Marie Lasla (bass viol), Sarah Sexton (violin I), Andrea Morris (violin II) & Jane Rogers (viola)
Her tone is extraordinarily beautiful: natural, warm and unforced, with almost superhuman vocal athleticism —
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Building a Library, February 2014, Top Recital Recommendation
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Gramophone Magazine, December 2007, Editor's Choice
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Penguin Guide, Rosette
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Andreas Scholl: Purcell - O Solitude
RecommendedAndreas Scholl (countertenor), with Christophe Dumaux (countertenor)
Accademia Bizantina, Stefano Montanari
Ethereal yet visceral, Scholl's voice is the dream vehicle for Purcell...Stefano Montanari coaxes thrilling playing from Accademia Bizantina, who dance and swagger, throb and pulsate with true... —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2012, Vocal Award Winner
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Special offer. Purcell: Music for a While (Standard)
Improvisations on Purcell
Philippe Jaroussky (countertenor), Raquel Andueza (soprano), Vincenzo Capezzuto (alto), Dominique Visse (countertenor), Gianluigi Trovesi (clarinet) & Wolfgang Muthspiel (acoustic guitar & electric guitar)
L’Arpeggiata, Christina Pluhar
Long experienced in fusing Baroque with jazz-inspired performance styles, L'Arpeggiata's approach breathes new life into the Restoration composer, whose ground basses are akin to riffs, his... —
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Purcell: Songs & Dances
Tim Mead (countertenor)
Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien, François Lazarevitch (flute/director)
Mead began as a choral scholar in England and is known for his clear diction and vocal poise, while Lazarevitch studied in Paris and Brussels, and has an eclectic approach to instrumental performance,... —
