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Fanfare Magazine: 38:1 (09-10/2014) 
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 SIGCD375




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Reviewer: Michael Ullman
Voces8 is an (of course) eight-member group whose repertoire ranges from “Renaissance polyphony to unique jazz and pop arrangements.” Here they are joined with the distinguished French-based instrumental group Les Inventions. Together they have put together a kind of anthology of Purcell’s music that they charmingly describe as a stroll through his world. It’s more than that. We hear a particularly lovely rendition by the voices of Purcell’s unaccompanied dirge Thou Knowest, Lord, a gracious performance by countertenor Barnaby Smith of Purcell’s praise for Queen Mary, By Beauteous Softness Mix’d with Majesty (with a text by the oft-reviled Thomas Shadwell), and a comical What Power Thou Art. In this piece, nicknamed The Cold Song, bass Dingle Yandell impersonates the spirit of Britain being reluctantly awakened from a frosty slumber. One can virtually hear his teeth chatter. The choral pieces are just as effective, and the instrumental playing, including the oboe obbligato in Bid the Virtues, is lovely as well. There is spirit here when it is called for, and pathos as well. Although such definitive pieces as “Dido’s Lament” are not here, this collection would be an excellent introduction to Purcell as a reminder of his range for those who know him well.
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