Abraza tu Niño Interior Victoria Cadarso

Alessandro Scarlatti was both the most celebrated vocal composer of his day, and one of the most prolific to ever live. In his lifetime (1660-1725) he composed nearly 700 cantatas and 66 operas. He was also far more famous then than his son Domenico, whose harpsichord sonatas today have all but completely eclipsed his father's works.

The celebrated Choir of Westminster Cathedral goes back to its roots with this recording of some of the towering masterpieces of Renaissance polyphony—a genre which the choir has made its own through the ritual of daily liturgical performance. Recent reviews have declared the choir to be at the peak of its powers, and this disc is an important celebration of a great musical tradition.

Nothing could be more appropriate in celebrating Victoria de los Angeles’s 75th birthday than this extensive conspectus of her recordings of Spanish song over 40 years. It’s hardly possible in a brief review to do justice to such an astonishing achievement on the part of the Spanish soprano; indeed had she sung nothing else her place in recorded history would be assured.