Purcell – Music for Queen Mary (Gardiner) (LP, Erato/Warner)

“The singing of the Monteverdi Choir is superlatively good and they have been well recorded. A splendid record.” GramophoneMichel Garcin, Erato’s renowned artistic director from 1953 on, was the first to provide Sir John Eliot Gardiner a really productive canvas on which to express himself. They embarked on a fruitful period of collaboration in 1975 and in February 1976 recorded a first LP together: dedicated to Purcell and entitled “Music for Queen Mary”, it went on to achieve legendary status.On this 33 rpm record of two odes composed by Purcell in homage to Queen Mary, the natural rhythmic and gently expressive qualities in the artistry of Gardiner beguile the listener, while in the Funeral Sentences he achieves a completely dazzling delicacy of balance and lightness of touch. Considered back in the 1970s as one of the best, the polyphony of the Monteverdi Choir too retains a serenely luminous clarity. 1. Come Ye Sons of Art, Z. 323 “Ode for Queen Mary’s Birthday”: No. 1, Symphony 2. Come Ye Sons of Art, Z. 323 “Ode for Queen Mary’s Birthday”: No. 2, Aria and Chorus. “Come Ye Sons of Art Away” 3. Come Ye Sons of Art, Z. 323 “Ode for Queen Mary’s Birthday”: No. 3, Duet. “Sound the Trumpet” 4. Come Ye Sons of Art, Z. 323 “Ode for Queen Mary’s Birthday”: No. 4, Chorus. “Come Ye Sons of Art Away” 5. Come Ye Sons of Art, Z. 323 “Ode for Queen Mary’s Birthday”: No. 5, Ritornello. “Strike the Viol” 6. Come Ye Sons of Art, Z. 323 “Ode for Queen Mary’s Birthday”: No. 6, Aria and Chorus. “The Day That Such a Blessing Gave” 7. Come Ye Sons of Art, Z. 323 “Ode for Queen Mary’s Birthday”: No. 7, Aria. “Bid the Virtues” 8. Come Ye Sons of Art, Z. 323 “Ode for Queen Mary’s Birthday”: No. 8, Aria. “These Are the Sacred Charms” 9. Come Ye Sons of Art, Z. 323 “Ode for Queen Mary’s Birthday”: No. 9, Duet and Chorus. “See Nature Rejoicing” 10. March and Canzona for Queen Mary’s Funeral, Z. 860: March 11. Funeral Sentences: Man That Is Born of a Woman, Z. 27 12. March and Canzona for Queen Mary’s Funeral, Z. 860: Canzona (Reprise) 13. Funeral Sentences: In the Midst of Life, Z. 17A 14. March and Canzona for Queen Mary’s Funeral, Z. 860: Canzona (Reprise) 15. Funeral Sentences: Thou Know’st, Lord, Z. 58C 16. March and Canzona for Queen Mary’s Funeral, Z. 860: March (Reprise)