The Sixteen Harry Christophers
Flight of Angels
Music From the Golden Age in Spain
Francisco Guerrero (1532-97) Alonso Lobo (C.1555-1617)
“The Sixteen have done full justice to the remarkable variety of Guerrero’s music in this outstanding and beautifully recorded release.”
– International Record Review
The Sixteen and Harry Christophers take a trip back to 16th-century Spain with a new recording featuring the music of Francisco Guerrero and Alonso Lobo. These two composers made their mark during the golden age in Seville, one of the world’s biggest, richest and most cosmopolitan cities, when arts and culture flourished. The new recording on The Sixteen’s CORO label (COR16128) is available now from Allegro Classical.
Francisco Guerrero (1532-97) and Alonso Lobo (c.1555-1617) captured an astonishing variety of moods within their music, from ecstasy and joy to despair, longing and devotional stillness. The two composers were closely connected: Guerrero spent a long and prestigious career in Seville and during his early years was much in demand as a singer and composer, establishing an exceptional reputation before his 30th birthday; Alonso Lobo assisted him at the Cathedral for two years before he was appointed maestro de capilla at Toledo in 1593. He returned to Seville in 1604 and remained in charge of the music there until his death some 12 years later.
The Sixteen’s national tour of the UK “The Choral Pilgrimage” will take the Flight of Angels program to 31 venues throughout 2015.
The Sixteen Harry Christophers
The Indian Queen
JULIE COOPER ž KIRSTY HOPKINS JEREMY BUDD ž MARK DOBELL ž MATTHEW LONG ž BEN DAVIES ž EAMONN DOUGAN ž STUART YOUNG
Purcell’s Final Semi-Opera and a Classic Tale of Love and War
“Conductor Harry Christophers leads a trim, affectionate performance of Purcell’s last (unfinished) semi-opera … Purcell’s bountiful score is never short-changed.”
- The Financial Times
For their newest release featuring the music of Henry Purcell, Harry Christophers and The Sixteen present The Indian Queen. Purcell was a brilliant music dramatist who utilized a plethora of detail, color and characterization. “It is full of glorious music,” says Harry Christophers, “Purcell takes us through incredible sounds worlds.” The new recording on The Sixteen’s CORO label (COR16129) is available now from Allegro Classical.
A semi-opera in five acts, first performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London in 1695, The Indian Queen is based on John Dryden’s play of the same name. The story deals with the conflict between the Mexicans and Peruvians and principally with Queen Zempoalla. The Indian Queen is a classic story of love and war and – as with all good stories – things don’t go quite as planned for the eponymous Queen. However, there is much exceptional vocal music in which to revel, especially the extraordinary recitative “You twice ten hundred deities” for the magician Ismeron which was described by historian Charles Burney as “the best piece of recitative in our language.” Like Mozart and Schubert, Henry Purcell lived all too short a life – he was 36 when he died – and it was left to his brother Daniel to complete The Indian Queen.
Previous acclaimed Purcell recordings by The Sixteen include The Fairy Queen, of which Gramophone said, “A performance like this shows dimensions of Purcell’s genius that are all too rarely heard on disc.” And BBC Music Magazine said that the ensemble’s recording of Purcell’s funeral music, Love’s Goddess Sure was Blind “…breaks new ground in scholarship, matching it with performances of the highest order.”
For more information on The Sixteen’s over one hundred recordings reflect The Sixteen’s quality — in a range of work spanning the music of 500 years – please see www.thesixteen.com.
