To celebrate The King’s
Consort’s twenty-fifth anniversary,
Hyperion has compiled a selection from
some of their ninety-odd discs for the
label. Under their inimitable director,
Robert King, they have recorded a number
of Hyperion collections, including the
Monteverdi Sacred music, Purcell Songs,
Purcell Odes and Welcome Songs (8 discs),
Purcell Anthems and Services (11 discs),
and 10 discs of Vivaldi's Sacred music.
The works featured here range from Monteverdi
and Bach to Mozart and Boccherini, presenting
both classic favourites – Vivaldi's
Gloria, Hummel’s Trumpet concerto,
The Trumpet’s Loud Clangour from
Handel’s Ode for St Cecilia’s Day
and Purcell’s Hear my Prayer O Lord,
and less familiar composers and works,
such as Kuhnau – Bach’s predecessor
as cantor at Thomaskirche, Knüpfer
and Ruggieri. The main thing these works
have in common is their outstanding
quality of performance.
The Consort and Choir
are flawless, and endow the works with
great passion, vivacity and spirit.
The solo sopranos bring gorgeously rich,
mature voices to the pieces and all
singers demonstrate a remarkable ability
to excel in both solo and ensemble singing.
They provide great sensitivity – as
in Handel’s Un puro ardor, and
bring a beautifully light touch – listen
to Monteverdi’s Laetatus sum.
The music meanwhile ranges from the
tremendously rousing sound of the end
of Knüpfer's Gelobet sei Gott,
to the haunting and moving Hear my
prayer, O lord, here given a deeply
atmospheric performance. In all vocal
works, the Consort offers most sympathetic
accompaniment, and they are equally
good alone, in the lively Lully Marche
de Combattants or the superbly played
Gabrieli Sonata XX a 22.
The singers can obviously
cope brilliantly with whatever repertoire
they encounter, resulting in occasionally
virtuosic singing in the more demanding
works, such as Vivaldi’s Sum in medio
tempestatum. Naturally so, when
one considers that the Choir includes
such singers as Susan Gritton, James
Bowman, James Gilchrist, and Michael
George. It therefore also comes as no
surprise to find that the brilliantly
performed Hummel Trumpet Concerto has
Crispian Steele-Perkins as soloist.
I would normally avoid
sampler-type excerpt discs, but since
the time-span on this is not too great,
and the works are all along similar
lines and go well together, this disc
as a whole works adroitly as a compilation.
Warning, however – definitely a dangerous
CD as it could end up being very severe
on one’s pocket, enticing one to invest
in all the wonderful discs from which
it presents extracts! It is indeed a
showcase for some stunning works, and
I was delighted to be introduced to
some pieces and composers of which I
was previously ignorant. Michael Haydn’s
glorious Gloria, for example,
hints at his unjust neglect in favour
of his famous brother, Joseph. I was
also glad Hyperion included excerpts
from some of my favourite non-twentieth-century-English
Hyperion discs, not least the beautiful
and moving Boccherini Stabat mater.
An uplifting disc, and nicely presented
- I can certainly recommend this as
an example of both fine music and exquisite
performances.
Em Marshall
The King's Consort, Choir of the King’s
Consort/Robert King 
