Reiko Ichise

Bach: Music for alto

~ Andrew Benson-Wilson

Bach: Music for alto
Barnaby Smith, Katie Jeffries-Harris
The Illyria Consort, Bojan Cičić
VOCES8 VCM152. 72’16


Bach composed some of his finest music for the alto voice. This recording from countertenor Barnaby Smith and Bojan Čičić’s Illyria Consort features two of the best-known alto cantatas, Ich habe genug (BWV 82) and Vergnügte Ruh, Beliebte Seelenlust (BWV 170) alongside a wide selection of Bach’s other pieces for alto from the Matthew and St John Passions, the Mass in B minor, the Easter Oratorio and, on the digital version, the Christmas Oratorio. The music is arranged in a cycle moving from Candlemas, through the Passion to the Resurrection.

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AAM New Worlds Travelogue: Nicholas Lanier

~ Andrew Benson-Wilson

New Worlds: Travelogue – Nicholas Lanier
Academy of Ancient Music, Laurence Cummings
Anna Dennis, Thomas Walker
Milton Court & AAM LIVE stream. 18 February 2022

As part of their New Worlds series, the Academy of Ancient Music explored the life and times of the much-travelled lutenist, courtier and musical adventurer Nicholas Lanier in their Milton Hall and AAM LIVE streamed concert New Worlds | Travelogue. Lanier was from a French Huguenot family with an Italian mother. He was a court musician and composer to both King Charles I and Charles II, becoming the first Master of the King’s Music in 1625. He made several visits to Italy to acquire paintings for Charles I, during which he experienced the new style of Italian secondo pratica music from the likes of Claudio Monteverdi. He subsequently introduced the recitative style to England. He was painted by van Dyck in Antwerp and persuaded the King to bring Van Dyck to England.

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