Christ Church Cathedral Choir, Kirsty Hopkins & Mark Dobell – Howard Goodall: Invictus. A Passion (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 57:59 minutes | 1,04 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © CORO Connections
Persecution of the innocent, malevolent authority exerting itself against ideas that threaten and challenge, the power of a peaceful, loving humility in the face of tyranny, the facing-down of fear. Such is the power of the Passion story and so it appears in Howard Goodall’s new work, Invictus: A Passion. Forty-five years of writing musical theatre (as well as some more hilarious scores for Mr. Bean and for Blackadder!) has inevitably shaped the way he sets narrative texts, carefuly avoiding the abstract, opaque or overly elusive. Likewise he makes no apology for his musical idiom being very, very approachable. Goodall has found a route directly to people’s hearts, telling the story afresh through his choice of texts – not the Gospels but poems by various female authors: Gethsemane by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Mary Magdalene and the Other Mary by Christina Georgina Rossetti and Slave Auction by Ellen Watkins Harper, interwoven with the 1611 verse narrative of the biblical Passion by Æmelia Lanyer née Bassano, one of the first books published in the English language by a female poet. The world premiere recording of this brand new choral work is performed by the Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, with the Lanyer Ensemble and soloists from The Sixteen, conducted by Stephen Darlington, the very same team that gave the European premiere in May 2018.
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Oxford Baroque, Christ Church Cathedral Choir, Stephen Darlington – Francesco Durante: Requiem (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:02:18 minutes | 1,10 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Coro
An exciting new collaboration between some of the UK’s most eminent musical ensembles sees Oxford’s Christ Church Cathedral Choir, one of the world’s oldest and best-known cathedral choirs, joins forces with soloists from The Sixteen and Oxford Baroque on this new recording of Francesco Durante’s Requiem Mass in C minor.
Despite its enduring popularity in the 18th century this beautiful and majestic work was never published but survives through over 50 manuscript copies scattered across Europe. It is a remarkable work which can justly be described as one of the most important orchestral Requiem settings of the 18th century. This is the premiere recording of Stephen Darlington’s new edition of the work which shows Durante to be a composer of considerable skill and invention, who combined his mastery of counterpoint with an elegance of melody, a richness of harmony and an imaginative instinct for structure.
This album also features Durante’s exquisite Organ Concerto in B flat major – a rare example of an Italian keyboard concerto of the period – performed here by celebrated organist, Clive Driskill-Smith.
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