Review by operamuso April 11, 2010 (7 of 7 found this review helpful)
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Anyone who starts this disc with track 1, Laetatus sum, will be hooked; over a bouncing ostinato the solo violins, sackbuts, bassoon and, not least, the virtuoso singers of the King's Consort joyously jazz it up. it is all done with an apparently effortless joi de vivre which is completely infectious. I must have played this glorious, and gloriously performed piece more than twenty times since the disc arrived - but there is more. The tenors Charles Daniels and, particularly, James Gilchrist illumine their solo pieces with superb style and technique, ornamenting their lines to the manner born - their echo-duet Salve Regina (track 4) is mesmerising, and Gilchrists's Exulta, filia Sion (track 9) is a glorious piece of singing. Throughout the disc King and his forces delightfully spring Monteverdi's rhythms and illustrate his frequent word-painting with great sensitivity and imagination. As with the first three discs in the series the acoustic of St Jude's-on-the-Hill lends a sumptuous warmth to the proceedings without ever clouding detail, and the distance effects are judged to perfection; the engineers capture it all perfectly. I can't comment on the multi-channel layer as my setup is stereo only. Marvellous music superbly performed and recorded - highly recommeneded. Hyperion are not pressing any more of this, so snap it up while you can!
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