Contralto

What can anyone add to the praise that has deservedly been heaped on Robert King and the King's Consort's 11 discs of the complete sacred music of Vivaldi? Can one add that every single performance is first class – wonderfully musical, deeply dedicated, and profoundly spiritual? Can one add that every single performer is first class – absolutely in-tune, entirely in-sync, and totally committed? Can one add that every single recording is first class – amazingly clean, astoundingly clear, and astonishingly warm? One can because it's all true and it's all been said before by critics and listeners across the globe.

As for the Masses, Mozart kept to the traditional plan in six sections (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei), even when the inpression is that the sections are more numerous (as many as 21 in the "Orphanage" Mass), it is actually a matter of sub-sections, of varying number according to the requirements of the particular work, including famous and impressive settings of the 'Laudamus te' and 'Et incarnatus est'.

This boxed set of five compact discs presents twelve of the seventeen settings of the Mass composed (or attributed to?) Mozart, together with the Ave Verum Corpus, spanning the 22 years from boyhood (1769) to his death (1791). They provide a fascinating sequence illustrating Mozart's development as a composer of choral music. … These performances under Peter Neuman are of consistent quality, with an excellent balance of orchestra, soloists and chorus. Thirteen soloists contribute to one or more of the works. Barbara Schlick and Franz-Josef Selig give splendid renderings of the most demanding soprano and bass parts. The allegro tempi are generally brisk but never rushed, with the slow movements taken at an appropriately lyrical pace. The Et Incarnatus in the Great C Minor mass is taken Adagio rather than Andante as marked, but Barbara Schlick's sonorously sustained singing ensures its coherence. (Robert Hugill)

The Beecham Messiah of 1959 is another early stereo recording that polarizes listeners, with understandable cause. Like the Ormandy Messiah (with its liberal cuts) or the Bernstein Messiah (which changes the order around), The Beecham recording incites friction on a couple of counts, the most egregious being the re-orchestration arranged by Sir Eugene Goossens.

The set up for this early recording of Vivaldi's Motetts in 2000 is relatively unknown today - the Academia Montis Regis directed by Alessandro De Marchi, featuring 6 Motets of Vivaldi (though the readings slightly differ from the 'Critical Edition' under Ricordi)…
By Abel

Bachs Passions and other great choral works in performances with the Staatskapelle Dresden under the masterly direction of Peter Schreier who also sings the role of the Evangelist. Schreiers aim in Bach interpretation is to bring new lightness without following the full dictates of authentic performance, and in this he succeeds superbly. The recording is first rate, with the choral forces well separated.

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (4 January 1710 – 16 or 17 March 1736) was an Italian composer, violinist and organist.
Born at Jesi, Pergolesi studied music there under a local musician, Francesco Santini, before going to Naples in 1725, where he studied under Gaetano Greco and Francesco Feo among others. He spent most of his brief life working for aristocratic patrons like the Colonna principe di Stigliano, and duca Marzio IV Maddaloni Carafa.

In 2000 the contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux became the first Canadian to win the First Prize as well as the Special Prize for Lieder at the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition in Belgium. She has recorded for numerous labels, and now enjoys an exclusive contract with the Naïve label, for which she has recorded the title roles in Vivaldi’s operas Griselda and Orlando furioso. Her first recital CD of French mélodies (L’Heure exquise) was much praised by the critics. In 2008 Naïve released a recording of Vivaldi sacred works in which she sings the famous Stabat Mater. This was followed by the same composer’s La fida ninfa. In 2009 Naïve released a recital of Schumann songs with the pianist Daniel Blumenthal and a programme of Vivaldi arias with the Ensemble Matheus under Jean-Christophe Spinosi.