Editor Reviews:

Amazon.com essential recording:
Andrew Parrott and his Taverner Consort, Choir, and Players have made some of the finest Purcell recordings to have appeared since the period-instrument revival began; unfortunately, most of those discs had been out of print for years. Happily, Virgin has reissued some of Parrott's best work on this reasonably priced two-for-one release. The performances aren't just exemplary, they're something of a landmark: in them Parrott pioneered the now-standard practice of using high tenors rather than falsettists on some of Purcell's low-lying "countertenor" parts. (One example is "Sound the trumpet," a duet for "high" and "low" countertenors from Purcell's ode Come, ye sons of art, sung by falsettist Timothy Wilson and high tenor John Mark Ainsley.) Excellent performances of the Funeral Sentences and Funeral Music for Queen Mary are here as well, but the centerpiece of this set is Hail, bright Cecilia!, the longest and most colorful of Purcell's odes in praise of the patron saint of music. There is some serious competition here--Paul McCreesh and Philippe Herreweghe have made superb recordings of this work--but Parrott edges them out. For example, alone among the ode's conductors on record, Parrott interpolates an organ solo amidst all of the text's praise of the organ (an instrument St. Cecilia was thought to have invented); he also provides appealing variety by using 12 different soloists (as Purcell did at the premiere). Those soloists are an impressive lot--they include Emma Kirkby, David Thomas, Paul Elliott and Charles Daniels (gently enchanting in the tenor duet "In vain the am'rous Flute"), and the Hilliard Ensemble's Rogers Covey-Crump, who gives an extraordinary rendition of the famous and fearsomely difficult air "'Tis Nature's Voice." --Matthew Westphal

Rating : - Unrivalled recording......uncommon brilliance.
The mind boggles when listening to Purcell. Certainly his was a genius that could vie with any great contrapuntist. It is sad that he had to go so early in his life. But then I guess we wouldn't have seen the rise and rise of Handel.

Having said that, this recording is a marvellous one, one of uncommon brilliance I might add. It does not represent a summary of his work and style, even if restricted to just his vocal music, such was the originality and fertility of his invention. But it is revealing of the enormity of his command of music. Why this composer isn't as well-known as Mozart or Bach, or yes even Handel, I will never know.

I assure all that the quality of these recordings is unrivalled. Careful attention is paid to detail, and a first-rate line up of soloists ensures a world-class performance. I give this recording 5 stars out of five, for a stunning example of excellence and high standards.