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JANSMUSIC RECOMMENDED RECORDING

Red Priest: Priest on the run
Upbeat Classics URCD141

Castello - Sonata Terza; Ortiz - 2 Spanish Dances; Telemann - "Gypsy" Sonata in A minor; Narvaez - Cancion del Emporador; Anon - Renaissance Revels; Salaverde - Canzona D'Espagna; Schmelzer - The Cuckoo; Uccellini - La Bergamasca; Purcell - 2 in 1 upon a Ground; Handel - Aria Amorosa; Telemann - Fantaisa for Viol; Cazzati/Monteverdi - Zefiro's Ground; Vivaldi - Concert D major (Priest on the Run)

I feel a bit of a fraud with this CD because I've never seen Red Priest live, and since they're not just a musical group but also a theatrical group I should probably be able to visualise their performance whilst listening to the music.  However, this CD is just one huge bundle of fun.  I'm a great lover of music played with energy, and I'm sure that Red Priest must all return home exhausted after their performances.  Either that or they drink masses of coffee beforehand! 

The group comprises recorder, violin, cello, harpsichord, and the playing is absolutely top class virtuoso stuff, and on top of that they play with gusto, flair and a huge sense of the dramatic.  Pieces at the more ordinary tempi they manage to make sound like they are being played by a group of wandering minstrels or a Romany band, and there is a delightful rendition of "The Cuckoo" by Schmelzer, with chirruping, somersaulting birds.  My favourite is probably the Renaissance Revels (Track 8) for solo harpsichord, which is an amazing sound - almost an orchestral sound, the kind that you would expect from an organ, literally wrung out of the harpsichord.

As well as the humour and drama, there are some absolutely beautiful moments, like the Cancion del Emporador for solo harpsichord, and Handel's Aria Amorosa, in which Piers Adams, recorder-player extraordinaire swaps his descant for treble (or maybe tenor?) and which I have to confess really did give me goose bumps.  If you buy nothing else all year, buy this CD.