Tracklista: 1. Eternal Solstice - Thrall to the Gallows 2. Eternal Solstice - Path to Perdition 3. Eternal Solstice - Obscuration 4. Eternal Solstice - Melancholic Characters 5. Mourning - Free Evil 6. Mourning - Abundance 7. Mourning - Necrodrama 8. Mourning - You're Sold 9. Mourning - the Mourning After
Giacomo Carissimi (1605-1674) was the greatest exponent of the Latin sacred historia (oratorio). He spent his whole life in Rome as maestro di cappella at the San Apollinare church. In his music, Carissimi perfectly embraced the views of his employers on appropriate means for stimulating faith. With dramatic flair, remarkable imagination, and a verbal sensitivity equal to Monteverdi's, he brought Biblical characters vividly to life. Carissimi’s oratorios (historiae), known from later copies, remain his greatest claim to fame. They were quite varied, and some may be considered to be motets in dialogue. They are difficult to date and their libretti were anonymous — Carissimi may have collaborated in writing them.
'Marais' music is full of interest, and the strong contrasting characters of individual movements are well served by the Purcell Quartet' (Which CD)
In his lifetime the German composer Carl Loewe was often referred to as the ‘Schubert of North Germany’. He is frequently credited with the development of the romantic ballad into a powerful art form, and his prolific output of ballads and songs amounts to some four hundred works. Loewe’s treatment of long narrative poems in a clever and powerful mixture of dramatic and lyrical styles, has been a template for many subsequent composers.Many of the ballads on this disc are masterpieces of their genre and they are performed here in a magisterial Hyperion debut by Austrian baritone Florian Boesch. In these refined performances it is clear why Boesch has been labelled as ‘one of the finest interpreters of Lieder of his generation’. His ability to create characters and enact stories brings the dramatic texts vividly to life, while he maintains musical coherence with astonishing lyricism.Loewe’s daring and imaginative accompaniments are played here by the incomparable Roger Vignoles, in another addition to his acclaimed discography of Hyperion recordings. His eloquent pianism and penetrating musicianship match Boesch’s artistry to perfection.