Theravn 1963

The vocal blend here is ravishing. Seldom have individual singers matched their voices more richly in this repertoire, with Patricia Clark leading with a sweet, soaring soprano, her gentle touch of vibrato ideal for Dowland's melodic lines. The choice of songs too is admirable, offering some of Dowland's very finest inspirations. Patricia Clark and Edger Fleet were both performers with the Deller Consort, and Desmond Dupre was Alfred Deller's accompanist for most of his career. Mastering engineer Doug Pomeroy provides an ultra-high-end, crystalline, digital transfer that allows every nuance of the recording's exceptional acoustics to shine!

In 1587, when the Cremona native Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643) offered his first book of madrigals for printing, the popularity of the genre of little vocal pieces had just reached its pinnacle. Such great madrigalists as Luca Marenzio or Philippe de Monte where among the most distinguished composers of the day, and Palestrina, the great master of counterpoint, he just published his second book of madrigals a year earlier. Three years later, Monteverdi was employed as a singer and violist at the court of Vincenzo Gonzaga in Mantua, and the compositions published in his second volume of madrigals immediately made him a rising star among the Italian masters. Without exaggeration, we can call madrigals like Non si levava ancor or Ecco mormorar l’onde the hits of their day. In them, Monteverdi exhibits a highly advanced use of imitation and counterpoint by Italian standards, and he is innovative in his treatment of tone painting and in his a keen feeling for sustaining a dramatic arch extending above the individual compositions.

It's fascinating to listen to the Stones' development over the first couple of years, from the tentative stabs at Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters on their very first single, to the fire-breathing, ruckus-raising sounds they achieved just a few months down the line. Not only do we get to hear them master their beloved forms of blues, soul, and '50s rock, but we witness the birth of their songwriting talents as well. Here the group shifts from an R&B cover band to a creative force capable of turning out not only the churning rocker "The Last Time," but also the ominous, folklike "Play with Fire."…