Tim Mead - Sacroprofano - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Ronald Center (1913-73) is sometimes described as 'the Scottish Bartók', and his music does indeed capture some of the stark, wild energy of the Scottish landscape in a style of Bartókian asperity. These three string quartets show him, in his northeast corner of Scotland, to have been fully conversant with the quartets being written around the same time by Barber, Britten and Shostakovich, but their direct manner, terse expression, wiry humor and roots in Scottish folk-music ensure that Center is his own man.

?Beauteous Softness is La Nuova Musica's third Pentatone album, presenting restrained yet profoundly moving songs by seventeenth- century English composers such as Purcell, Blow, Humfrey and Webb. The album also showcases the rich musical context that provided the foundation from which Purcell rose to prominence. David Bates and his players perform them together with Tim Mead, one of today's most outstanding countertenors. La Nuova Musica and it's artistic director David Bates are among the most exciting Baroque ensembles of today. Their Pentatone debut with Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice was both BBC Music Magazine's Choice and Gramophone Editor's Choice in December 2019, while Handel's Unsung Heroes (2021) was BBC Music Magazine Recording of the Month and selected among the Best Classical Music Albums of 2022 by Gramophone. Tim Mead returns to the tag after having starred in a complete recording of Handel's Messiah (2020).

La Nuova Musica and it's artistic director David Bates present Henry Purcell's most widely admired work Dido and Aeneas. With Nathum Tate's libretto based on Virgil's Aeneid Book IV; Dido and Aeneas is a miniature opera; as well as the only all-sung opera Purcell ever composed. Constantly juxtaposing different moods; colours; orchestrations; this semi-opera enjoys the popularity for it's Inchtunefulness; evocative power; and [...] it's concisenessInch. The guiding star that David Bates wants to follow for this recording is making sure that Purcell's Italian; French; and English musical influences are all emphasized - by adding a typically Italian harp to the continuo or by doubling the strings just as in the French tradition. Dido and Aeneas includes one of the most touching operatic laments InchWhen I am laid in earthInch. A cast of first-class singers with strong musical personalities offer an eclectic interpretation together with a chorus that creates a visceral and intrinsically dramatic soundworld. Dido and Aeneas is David Bates and La Nuova Musica's fourth ; after the acclaimed Gluck Orfeo and Euridice (2019) and Handel's Unsung Heroes (2021); as well as Beauteous Softness (2023) where they joined forces with Tim Mead. Counter-tenor Tim Mead previously released Pentatone's Handel Messiah (2020) with Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. Star tenor Nicky Spence; Fleur Barron; Matthew Brook; Giulia Semenzato all make their Pentatone debut.