Richard Hickox Haydn London Vol. 1

Christmas with The King's Singers New music, old music, music from the Renaissance and Baroque, spirituals, folksongs, jazz and pop… The Beatles, David Bowie, swing, classical avantgarde, waltzes by Strauss, and musical theatre songs. Which genre of music are the King's Singers actually yet to interpret? Which style have they not yet captured within their unique global reach and within their transparent and intimate six-voiced sound world? One thing is for sure - when the King's Singers came together at the end of the 1960s in Cambridge, no one would have believed the success story that lay ahead of them. Some musical experts were scathing: a male-only vocal sextet was most likely to be found in the pop sector.

This is a wonderful studio recording of one of Handel's most accomplished opera's. Unlike Christie's live recording where the voices seem too remote this production has excellent balance and faultless sound. Arleen Auger is magnificent. She is involved and passionate and has a voice of both power and beauty. Indeed, the whole cast is second to none. Where this set surpasses Christie is the warmth and immediacy of the performance.
By KC "KC London" (London, England)

If you're a lover of chamber music then you can't do any better than this amazing 59 CD set. The overall price is steep but it averages out to be less than $5 per CD. Couple that with the truly legendary performances offered here and you have an incredible bargain that will not be around for long. The Westminster record label (1949-1965) was justly famous for it's "Natural Balance" recorded sound which was primarily the combined effort of producer Dr. Kurt List and engineer Karl Wohlleitner. Centered in Vienna, they had access to some of the finest chamber musicians in the world through the city's various orchestras.

Much worthy English music issues from the atéliers of minor talents and has a cottage or "small beer" quality. Of course "small beer" (locally brewed) can put the grand variety to shame, and so too in music, where dedication within limitation can produce work of exceptional beauty and character. John Ireland is one such (a miniaturist extraordinaire); Gerald Finzi (1901-1957) is another. Finzi, although of Italian-Jewish extraction, was London-born and in many ways more English than his teacher Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Franz Joseph Haydn is an artist so great that somebody stole his brain. Literally. Shortly after his death his grave was robbed by phrenologists, who studied Haydn’s skull and found that “the bump of music” on his skull was “fully developed”, clearly proving that Haydn was destined for genius from birth.

A rare example in the modern world of father and son composers of similar distinction, both Lennox and Michael Berkeley have in turn reached a position of prominence and influence in British musical life. They are represented on this disc by works showing their craftsmanship in tailoring works to particular performers and occasions, without compromising their individual language and vision. Lennox Berkeley’s two-piano concerto, written in one of the most fertile periods of his career, is a highly effective showpiece for its soloists, which nevertheless avoids the obvious in terms of form and treatment. Lennox Berkeley wrote his Concerto for Two Pianos in 1948 in response to a commission from …………