‚It is hard to speak too highly of this enterprise … much enjoyment to be had‘ (Gramophone)

‚This is truly a box of delights … a stupendous account of Purcell’s music‘ (Cathedral Music)

‚the performances from The King’s Consort and its Choir, the Choir of New College and a starry line-up of soloists have such qualities of concentration and precision in their engagement with the music‘ (BBC Music Magazine)

‚One of the noblest achievements in the history of the recording world. The recording quality is excellent and the choice of artists worthy of the music. With this superb issue Hyperion have once again shown what can be achieved in the field of recording by selecting the right artists and by allowing them due time and space for the deployment of their skills. This is an issue in ten thousand. Buy it‘ (Musical Opinion)

Artykuł VIVALDI <br />Complete Sacred Music <br />The King’s Consort <br />Robert King pochodzi z serwisu Cleartone.

When Handel introduced English oratorios to London in the 1730s, he did not confine himself to sacred subjects, exploring also Classical myths, with texts based on Roman and Greek literature. The Choice of Hercules marks Handel’s last realisation of a Classical tale. It started life in 1749 as music for Alceste, but the Covent Garden production was cancelled, leaving Handel with an hour of superb music on his hands. By the summer of 1750 he had adapted several numbers and added new ones, and in 1751 it premiered as ‘an additional New Act’ concluding a performance of the ode Alexander’s Feast. Much of the music from the original conception (the story of a loyal wife who dies to save her husband and is subsequently rescued from the Underworld by Hercules) transferred easily to its new guise, for example the noble opening Sinfonia, originally intended to mark Hercules’ return from the Underworld, now entirely apt for the entrance of the young Hercules in the new drama.

Hercules’ choice is thus: on the verge of manhood, he is contemplating his future when two women appear to him. One, Vice, eager and seductive, shows him a path which seems to offer easy progress to a life of indolent pleasure. The other, tall and beautiful and identified as Virtue, warns Hercules that what is truly good can only be obtained through hard effort; and only then can Hercules gain supreme glory.

Also on this disc is an anthem by Maurice Greene, a contemporary of Handel, and by all accounts an arch rival, particularly when Handel was chosen above Greene by George II to write the new anthems for his coronation.

Full marks to Robert King who has assembled yet again a formidably superb collection of artists to perform this particularly attractive repertoire.

Reviews
‘The Choice of Hercules is one of Handel’s best-kept secrets … Robert King and his expert team evidently relish the work’s hedonistic charms’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘Robert King is a fine Handelian, in that he uses the best players and some of the more characterful singers around … some very fine singing’ (Early Music Review)

‘Fine notes and full texts complete yet another example of King’s superlative recording activities – a must for Handelians’ (American Record Guide)

‘And about time too! An admirable addition to Robert King’s ongoing Hyperion Handel series’ (International Record Review)

‘A delightful sequence of 24 brief numbers telling the story of Hercules making his choice between Virtue and Pleasure … Robert King brings out the unquenchable freshness of invention that Handel retained even in his last years, with the choir and players of The King’s Consort consistently responsive and resilient’ (The Guardian)

‘Susan Gritton and Alice Coote are exquisite as Pleasure and Virtue. A delightful rarity, coupled with an appealing anthem by Handel’s English contemporary Maurice Greene’ (The Sunday Times)
‘A glowing and altogether irresistible sound’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘Another major release from one of our most accomplished Baroque outfits’ (Organists‘ Review)
‘This is a lovely performance. All the soloists are in exceptionally good voice … Robert King directs proceedings with his spry confidence’ (The Evening Standard)

‘The confident performance by The King’s Consort is compelling and full of refinement, catching the music’s flavour and drama brilliantly’ (Cathedral Music)

‘Strong choral singing and excellent orchestral playing add to the merits of a performance that bears all the characteristic hallmarks of Robert King’s stylish, vital direction … strongly recommended’ (Goldberg)
‘Especially enjoyable’ (Gay Times)

‘This new recording of the little-known Choice Of Hercules is a welcome addition to their discography … as usual with The King’s Consort recordings, the playing of the musicians is tight and balanced, with a fine equilibrium between soloists, chorus and orchestra’ (MusicWeb International)
‘In its colour and tunefulness this is extracted essence of Handel, immaculately performed by Robert King’s finely disciplined forces’ (Musical Opinion)

‘Excellent soloists … nicely pointed playing and singing from orchestra and chorus’ (Early Music)
«Le King’s Consort est énergique et vif … le chœur est remarquable, surtout dans la vaillance grace à la magnifique présence de ses basses … cette version surpasse largement celles qui l’ont précedée» (Répertoire, France)

Artykuł HANDEL <br />The Choice of Hercules The <br />King’s Consort <br />Robert King pochodzi z serwisu Cleartone.

The programme continues with a range of motets, the forces called upon varying from solo voice in the declamatory Salve Regina to multiple soloists and polychoral opulence in the Beatus vir setting.

Artykuł MONTEVERDI <br />The Sacred Music – Volume 4 <br />The King’s Consort <br />Robert King pochodzi z serwisu Cleartone.

‚A must for all dedicated Handelians‘ (Classic CD)

‚Mi recomendación más absoluta … Tres horas de deleite musical que no se debe perder‘ (CD Compact, Spain)

‚This is as fine a case as one could imagine being made for the work‘ (American Record Guide)

‚Robert King and Hyperion can be more than satisfied with another fine addition to their steadily-increasing Handel discography‘ (Organists‘ Review)

‚No lover of Handel should be without this wonderful work, now at last done justice on CD‘ (Hi-Fi News)

‚With first-rate casts and careful attention to Handel’s original texts, King has blown the dust off some magnificent music‘ (BBC Record Review)
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Joseph and his Brethren, the latest in The King’s Consort’s mammoth series of recordings of the grand oratorios of Handel, tells the story of Joseph, sold into slavery by his perfidious brothers, winning acceptance at the court of Pharaoh in Egypt by his interpretation of the dreams foretelling seven years of plenty, and seven of famine. His brothers come from drought-ridden Israel to beg for food, and are eventually reunited with Joseph.
The work is characteristically full of melodic invention and drama, culminating in the scene between Joseph and his youngest – and innocent – brother Benjamin (here sung by the stunning treble Connor Burrowes) in which Joseph is emotionally overcome and admits his true identity. No wonder the work was so warmly received at its first performance.

Artykuł HANDEL <br />Joseph and his Brethren <br />Robert King <br />The King’s Consort pochodzi z serwisu Cleartone.

‚Everywhere. the dexterity and resource of Robert King’s Consort lend enchantment‘ (The Independent)

‚Superbe‘ (Compact, France)

Artykuł HANDEL <br />Ottone, Re di Germania <br />The King’s Consort <br />Robert King pochodzi z serwisu Cleartone.

‚This is a landmark in recording history … Self-recommending, I think‘ (The Sunday Times)

‚All Handelians will want this set‘ (Gramophone)

‚An outstanding recording … an enthralling experience‘ (Choir & Organ)

‚A winner … one of those experiences where you know almost from the first chord that an enjoyable and rewarding evening lies ahead of you. The cast is on top form‘ (Early Music)

‚A very well sung and very welcome appearance of one of Handel’s most rarely performed works … For her [Lynne Dawson] interpretation alone the recording is worth buying‘ (Classic CD)

‚We may be grateful that yet another glory has been restored by Robert King and his accomplished forces‘ (The Times)

‚King and his musicians approach the piece with vitality and affection and, in so doing, carried me along from start to finish‘ (BBC Music Magazine)

‚Lynne Dawson y rayonne en princesse meurtrie; Catherine Denley trouve ice l’un de ses meilleurs emploie. Bel et bon orchestre, choeur impeccable. Pour quelques grands moments et tout un acte de béatitude, tendez les deux oreilles à Alexander Balus‘ (Diapason, France)

‚The set deserves a warm welcome from all Handelians‘ (Hi Fi News)

‚A landmark in discographic history. We must be grateful for so splendid a debut recording. All the soloists are excellent‘ (American Record Guide)
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Alexander Balus brings to completion The King’s Consort’s series of Handel’s four ‚military‘ oratorios (the other three being Judas Maccabaeus, The Occasional Oratorio, and Joshua).
The story is a somewhat embellished retelling of chapters 10 and 11 from the first book of the Apocryphal Maccabees and involves complicated intrigues between the Jews, Syrians and Egyptians in the second century BC. To cut a long story short, Alexander Balus, King of Syria, is eventually defeated in battle by Ptolomee of Egypt and then killed by an Arab; but Ptolomee himself dies just three days later allowing Jonathan, the Chief of the Jews, to remind us of the fate of those who do not believe in the One God.

Musically, Handel is at his very best in this piece. Much of the composition occurred simultaneously with that for Joshua and there is, typically, a small amount of material recycled from earlier works. The Third Act, where Cleopatra is not only told (maliciously) by her father that her beloved Alexander has been faithless, but is also then informed of his death, sees some extraordinary aria-writing, at times reminiscent of ‚Dido’s Lament‘.

Artykuł HANDEL <br />Alexander Balus <br />The King’s Consort <br />Robert King pochodzi z serwisu Cleartone.

‚This is life-enhancing stuff, breathtakingly exciting at times, exquisitely beautiful at others. If King and his forces maintain the standard they set here, this series is surely set to be the definitive representation of Monteverdi on disc.‘ (BBC Music Magazine)

‚…one of the glories of the new disc is the gloriously full-toned and marvelously projected singing of his two sopranos, Carolyn Sampson and Rebecca Outram…A further distinct plus is Hyperion’s superb engineering, which presents the performances with glowing, yet sharply defined immediacy‘ (Fanfare) ‚…a highly successful opening instalment.‘ (Goldberg Early Music Magazine)

Artykuł MONTEVERDI <br />The Sacred Music, Vol. 1 <br />The King’s Consort <br />Robert King pochodzi z serwisu Cleartone.