The title of the two-disc album, Vivaldi: Vespro a San Marco, implies that the composer wrote a set of pieces comparable to Monteverdi's Vespro della beata Vergine, but the title needs to be interpreted somewhat loosely. The program notes describe the collection of psalms, canticles, motets, and prefatory chants recorded here as an evocation of a service of vespers Vivaldi might have assembled rather than a reconstruction of one he actually ever did. These vespers are distinctly Vivaldian in idiom, but they resemble Monteverdi's in the use of some common texts and in the diversity of musical styles, genres, and performing forces assembled; there is not much of a sense of unity in the traditional sense, but a profusion of delightfully varied musical vignettes, including a cappella chants, solos, ensembles, choruses, and instrumental pieces. The bugaboo of run-of-the-mill Vivaldi performances is most frequently a squared-off regularity that makes the music come across as undifferentiated and blocky. The superlative performances by Leonardo García Alarcón leading Choeur de Chambre de Namur and the chamber orchestra Les Agrémens (also based in Namur) are anything but run-of-the-mill. Alarcón consistently finds the musical individuality of Vivaldi's lines and invests them with unambiguous emotional meaning. He creates elegantly shapely contours even in the most rhythmically severe movements like the fugal counterpoint of "Donec ponam" from the Dixit Dominus, and consistently heightens the music's expressive lyricism. The soloists are also terrific, singing both with distinctiveness in their solos and with a gorgeous blend in the many ensembles. Sopranos Maria Soledad and Mariana Flores and bass Alejandro Meerapfel stand out for their especially sumptuous timbres and the musicality of their interpretations. All the singers and players sound like they are having a wonderful time performing this music and their enthusiasm is infectious. The sound of the live performances is clear, warmly present, and mostly clean except for some page turning and shuffling.© TiVo

This recording by the Solazzo Ensemble isn't just one to play "en seumeillant" – "while dreaming" – but also "en fumant" - while smoking - as it also contains the smoke-themed Fumeux fume and Puisque je sui fumeux – a whole collection of songs thought of as "medieval", but which in fact come from a very wide variety of repertoires, from Italy and France, running from the 13th to the early 15th centuries. Two centuries of splendour, change – and sometimes extravagance, as the secret society of the Fumeurs (the originators of the smokier tracks on this album) were known for their eccentricities – as the smoky pieces here will surely prove. The understanding of death also provides space for musical and poetic interpretations, not exclusively religious ones: some portray death as a kind of endless dream. The "medieval" voices of the Swiss Solazzo Ensemble are accompanied here by a range of instruments from the period: hurdy-gurdies, vielles (no relation to the hurdy-gurdy: the vielle is a primitive medieval ancestor of the viola and violin) and harps. © SM/Qobuz

Inspiration, energy and freedom compose the alluring menu of La Vaghezza's very first opus. The five instrumentalists of the young Italian ensemble, recent winners of the EEEMERGING + scheme, sculpt one by one these magnificent pieces of 17th century Italy, like jewels to be (re)discovered. © Ambronay Editions

The work of the ensemble Les Surprises is rooted in musicological and historical research.  Their founder, Louis-Noël Bestion de Camboulas, is devoted to finding and showcasing scores which haven't made it out of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France since the 18th century. Les Surprises have also contributed to the development of the contemporary repertoire for ancient instruments, taking on work from composers; and they work to expand the audience for Baroque music. This is a recording of a widely-admired concert given in 2015 at the Ambronay Festival, of which the Les Surprises ensemble is a partner. This new and very successful album sounds the depths of the mysteries of 17th century Germany, diving into the austere and strange music of Buxtehude, Bruhns and Bernhard with a few instrumental pieces by Pachelbel, Scheidemann and Reincken to cast a little light into the perplexing caverns into which Louis-Noël Bestion de Camboulas orders his players from his harpsichord. The smooth timbres of the voices of Maïlys de Villoutreys, soprano, and Etienne Bazola, baritone, match the instrumental beauty of Les Surprises and give this record an entrancing character, which leads one to reflect on the human journey. © François Hudry/Qobuz 

Anna Danilevskaia and her acolytes plunge us into the heart of Florence in 1350. It is said that on a hot morning of the year 1389, in a Florentine garden, Francesco degli Organi, famous organetto virtuoso, accepted a bet: he had to silence the birds by the beauty of his organ playing. Also a composer, this multi-instrumentalist was acclaimed throughout the city of Florence not only for his musical prowess but also for his rhetoric skils and philosophical views. A perfect representative of incipient humanism, better known today as Francesco Landini, together with fellow composers such as Lorenzo da Firenze, Andrea Stefani and Giovanni da Firenze, was to bring the music of their time to its apogee. A bewitching vocal and instrumental journey during which you can discover or rediscover the music of these great Florentine masters of he Middle Ages. © Ambronay Editions

In the program notes for this recording of Dido and Aeneas, conductor Leonardo García Alarcón makes a persuasive scholarly and analytical case for his many unconventional performance choices, but listeners should be forewarned that this is not a version of the opera for the faint of heart or for committed traditionalists. Most noticeably, this performance, which features the Geneva-based ensembles La Nouvelle Ménestrandie and Cappella Mediterranea, makes Dido and Aeneas seem like a very big opera, something on the order of Il Trovatore in its wrenching intensity, if not in its length. Alarcón's augmentation of the orchestra with oboes and bassoons doubling the strings in some places, as he argues Purcell would have done, is partly accountable for its enlarged sense of scale. Equally significant is the ferocity with which both the singers and players tear into their parts and the extremity of some of the characterizations. Dido and the Sorceress, for instance, express their anguish and hatred, respectively, by bending pitches to a degree rarely heard in "classical" music settings, and the Witches sing in creaky, crone-like character voices. It should be remembered that "baroque" was originally a term of derision meaning something misshapen or distorted, the equivalent of wagging the finger and saying, "you've gone too far this time!" That may be exactly the reaction of some listeners, but whether you're appalled or beguiled, this is a Dido and Aeneas that's likely to keep you on the edge of your seat with suspense. Few performances of the opera have so clearly delineated its arch-shaped trajectory; it opens with Dido lamenting the possibility of Aeneas' inconstancy and ends with her lamenting its actuality, and in this recording just about everything that transpires between the laments happens at a fever pitch of musical and dramatic tension. The fact that Alarcón is able to create and sustain the performance's intensity is a testimony not only to his vision and skill but to the willingness of the musicians to throw themselves so wholeheartedly into the venture. Every role, even the smallest, demonstrates the singers' investment in their parts. They all sing beautifully and powerfully, and manage to convey a verismo-like theatricality while operating (more or less) within the bounds of accepted Baroque performance practice. Aeneas can easily come across as a cipher, but Alejandro Meerapfel gives him substance, someone about whom the Queen of Carthage could believably get worked up. Countertenor Fabián Schofrin is a weird, sinister Sorceress. As Belinda, Yeree Suh sings with exceptional warmth, clarity, and sweetness. Solenn' Lavanant Linke's soprano is sumptuous and creamy, and she makes a regal but womanly Dido. The orchestra plays with aching expressivity and the continuo realizations are marvelously inventive. The recording is vividly present and is miked at a high level for a classical album, which also contributes to its unusually large sense of scale. Highly recommended.© TiVo

For English-speaking audiences who don't mind their Handel sung by sometimes heavily accented non-native speakers, this version of Judas Maccabaeus is hard to beat. Argentinean conductor Leonardo García Alarcón leads the exemplary ensembles Choeur de Chambre de Namur and Les Agrémens in an exceptionally spirited account of the score that effectively erases any taint of its reputation as starchy favorite of amateur Victorian choral societies. His rhythms are crisp and his tempos impetuous, as is appropriate for the martial subject matter, but his phrasing is also gorgeously shapely and the lyrical numbers are rendered with sumptuous sensuality and flexibility. The brilliance of the performance is amplified by the very resonant and richly ample sound quality, which allows the voices, both choral and solos, to be heard to their best advantage, bright yet warm, with a ringing, exhilarating clarity. The soloists are absolutely first-rate. As Simon, Argentinean baritone Alejandro Meerapfel has the most pronounced accent, but the suppleness and discipline of his singing, as well as his expertise in the conventions of Baroque style, are an incentive to overlook his oddly placed vowels. Accent is somewhat less an issue with Japanese tenor Makoto Sakurada, whose gleaming, nuanced, heroic voice is a marvel in the title role. Argentinean singers soprano Maria Soledad de la Rosa and mezzo-soprano Mariana Rewerski have glorious, soaring voices that are beautifully matched, and their transporting duets are among the high points of the performance. These are all artists to watch out for. The live recording picks up some ancillary noises, particularly surprisingly loud page turns, but that seems like a minor quibble given the quality of the otherwise extraordinarily engaging performance. Highly recommended.© TiVo

Recorded at Souvigny, France – 25th to 27th September 2016

Recorded at the Royal Opera of Versailles, this "pastorale héroïque" is a co-production of the Festival d’Ambronay, which has released it on its own label. Inspired by Lully's Acis and Galatea of ten years earlier, André-Cardinal Destouches composed Issé to mark the prince's wedding celebrations at Trianon. The work met with great success right away and was performed several times at Versailles, right up to the wedding celebrations of the future king Charles X, before it went on to conquer the Paris Opéra. Issé's lighthearted plot is full of the obligatory amorous reversals and twists: Apollo, disguised as the shepherd Philémon, is assiduously pursuing the nymph Issé. The work delighted the King, who had it staged again, with Madame de Pompadour reprising the role of the nymph, in 1749. "The version upon which this record is based was published in 1724, by Jean- Baptiste Christophe Ballard. This revision truly perfected the work: it improved whole sections and added some remarkable pages. Houdar de La Motte re-wrote several lines, while Destouches undertook a wide-ranging re-working of the rhythm and the instrumental setting of the great arias, in such a way that the dramatic material remained recognisable", François Escande says. Closely linked to the needs of the French Court, this pastorale is probably Destouches's masterpiece, quite a feat if you consider that this was his first lyrical work. It links the charm and refined sensibilities of the 17th Century with the eloquent, brilliant and expressive spirit that the following century would love so passionately. Conducted by Louis-Noël Bestion de Camboulas, this version sparkles with intelligence thanks to a virtuoso orchestra (Les Surprises) and a team of larger- than-life singers who fit their roles perfectly. © François Hudry/Qobuz