Dark Mater

Decca's 2015 limited-edition box set of the complete Argo recordings of the King's College Choir of Cambridge, directed by David Willcocks, consists of 29 CDs spanning the period from 1957 to 1973. The albums, presented with their original jacket art, offer some of the choir's finest performances, which include three recordings of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols (1954, 1958, 1964), anthems by Gibbons, Blow, and Handel, masses by Byrd, Taverner, Haydn, Tye, and Blow, and other great choral works by Bach, Allegri, Palestrina, Tallis, Vivaldi, Howells, and Vaughan Williams. The choir is world famous for its purity of tone and beautiful blend, and under Willcocks' masterly direction it became the exemplar of British choral singing, unmatched by any other ensemble of men and boys.

The score for The Talented Mr Ripley has earned composer Gabriel Yared a nomination for a 1999 Oscar. However, of the five nominees his is the only score which has to share a CD with songs 'from' the film, fine though some of them may be. Eight of the cues (less than 30 mins in total) on the CD are by the composer and are supplemented by mostly jazz pieces that are central to the film's story. Unfortunately the score and the jazz pieces and the vocals are interlaced on the CD, which seems to detract from the listening pleasure of each element…

“Cold wave with a bit of postpunk in one package. She Pleasures Herself is a trio hailing from Lisbon, Portugal who were formed in 2016 by David Wolf (from Uni_form/ When The Angels Breathe and Sweet Nico), producer, synths and guitars together with Nuno Francisco (from Uni_form/Alma Mater Society), on drums and programming and Nuno Varudo (from Persona Project/The Paper Road) as the lead singer and bass player. The music is rather hard to encompass into a single genre. They get inspiration from many bands such as Bauhaus, Depeche Mode, New Order, The Cure and Sisters of Mercy. The sound is blended with ever-present electronics (synths and drum machines) and can be called 'darkwave' over all but above all is still danceable and will get get a lot of people lingering on hundreds of dancefloors.”

King’s College Choir are the most famous choir in the world. This 29-CD set of the complete Argo recordings celebrates David Willcocks’ tenure from 1957-1973 and includes some of the most beautiful choral music sung with the choir’s trademark richness and purity of sound. Six albums are released on CD for the first time – David Willcocks’ 1964 Festival of Lessons & Carols and Tye Masses and four albums from Boris Ord, Willcocks’ predecessor. Also includes works by Bach, Tallis, Haydn and others.

Jordi Savall, La Capella Reial, Hesperion XX - Francisco Guerrero - Sacrae Cantiones (1992) {Naïve Astrée ES 9953 rel 2000}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 308 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 161 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 35 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1992, 2000 Auvidis / Naïve / Astrée | ES 9953
Classical / Renaissance / Choral

Sixteenth-century Spanish composer Francisco Guerrero is featured in a reissued disc of motets for four, five, six, eight and 12 voices, with and without instruments. They come from a handful of collections published between 1555 and 1597 and show Guerrero’s skill in evoking a wide range of moods, joyful, sombre and contemplative in turn. Jordi Savall’s ensemble is well-equipped to project the skilfully wrought structures and expressive allure of the music. Some of the pieces fare better than others in respect of vocal texture and ensemble. Tenors and basses occasionally lack tonal refinement but, at their strongest the performances provide a radiant conspectus of Guerrero’s masterly motets.

Recorded live at a concert in the large hall of the Musikverein in Vienna in November 1991, this performance of Verdi’s dramatic Requiem is really commanding. The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the chorus of the Vienna State Opera respond appropriately to Abbado’s exciting but not over-operatic handling of the work, and the recording is admirably clear. The soloists are a fine and well-matched quartet.