Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #53109 in Digital Music Album
• Published on: 2008-09-16
• Released on: 2008-10-14
• Running time: 0 seconds

Customer Reviews

Quite a mixed bag..
This album is well engineered from an acoustic standpoint, and there are some outstanding moments. However, like several of the other reviewers, I was puzzled over some of the choices. Certainly Gens, Jaroussky and a few others sing well in this style and acquit themselves admirably of the demands. There are however other tracks that are simply mortifying from a stylistic viewpoint. That said, some of the non-baroque singers do a fantastic job of interpreting the pieces with fire, interest, and passion that is often lacking from purists. While I cannot advocate this recording as an outstanding example of vocal style in the baroque, there are some excellent voices and interesting choices. Additionally, it sounds at times as if cathedral level reverb was added to some tracks and not others. Perhaps there were multiple recording spaces used? It is imminently distracting in the Lamento Della Ninfa.

An assortment that lacks central attraction.
It is difficult to go through the entire album. The listener gets lost somewhere after the 3rd or 4th track.
The singings are generally quite fine, though immediately you'd recognise that not all the illustrious big names are baroque experts.
The worst part is that the central theme is not immediately evident - it is too broad, too generalised for the well-trained ears of the conoisseur listeners. For the relative newbies, the choices are puzzling, since not all the singers manages to sing in authentic baroque style.

Sublime joy and sorrow
Rarely has a recording moved me to the extremes of joy and sorrow, yet as I listened to these performances, both emotions overwhelmed me as they intertwined. My joy came from these spot on performances, in which performers and music interact to create a sum far greater than their parts. I was quite amazed that while I frequently was moved to the verge of tears by the emotion conveyed in these laments, I was consistently thrilled to the point that these performances sent shivers down my spine.