Richard Perkins

Academy of Ancient Music, Cambridge Handel Opera Company, Cambridge Early Music and Julian Perkins are proud to present the first professional recording of John Eccles’s Semele (ca 1707), a notable early setting of the great English libretto by William Congreve better known in a version by Georg Friedrich Handel from 1744.

Bill Perkins was a saxophonist and flutist popular on the West Coast jazz scene, known primarily as a tenor saxophonist. Born in San Francisco, California, Perkins started out performing in the big bands of Woody Herman and Jerry Wald. He also worked for the Stan Kenton orchestra, which subsequently led to his entry into the cool jazz idiom. He began performing with musicians like Art Pepper and Bud Shank, to name just a few. He was also a member of The Tonight Show band from 19701992. He is probably most remembered, however, for playing tenor for The Lighthouse All-Stars.

This disc, well-recorded in 2003 by Hyperion, brings together a totally delightful collection of well-known and not so well-known classic miniatures for bassoon and orchestra. Most of these 18 pieces last between 3.5 and 6.5 minutes and it is a tribute to both them and the players that the listener's attention is maintained throughout.

Academy of Ancient Music, Cambridge Handel Opera Company, Cambridge Early Music and Julian Perkins are proud to present the first professional recording of John Eccless Semele (c.1707), a notable early setting of the great English libretto by William Congreve better known in a version by GF Handel from 1744. Academy of Ancient Musics mission is to explore, reveal and preserve the great treasure house of baroque and classical music, and a spirit of newfound discovery runs through all our work.

Sarah Watts, Laurence Perkins, Sian Edwards - The Princess & The Bear (2018) {Hyperion CDA68263}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 310 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 177 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 72 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2018 Hyperion Records | CDA68263
Classical / Chamber Music / Concerto

This is not an indispensable issue, but one which is continually interesting and will give much pleasure. Both Perkins and Watts are technically assured, but, more importantly, characterful players. The title comes from the inspiration for Strauss’s Duet-Concertino, from 1947, a piece which deserves to be much more frequently played. Though Strauss left no descriptive synopsis, its origin was in Beauty and the Beast. If we know that, the clarinet and bassoon are clearly the two characters, against the background of strings and harp.