Henry Purcell, Matthew Locke • Orchestral Works / Lorenzo Ghirlanda, Vox Orchester

The album presents instrumental works by Henry Purcell (1659-1695) and Matthew Locke (1621-1677), two of England's most famous composers after John Dowland (1563-1626) and before the arrival of George Frederic Handel (1685-1759) in London. Most of the music is largely inspired by the founding themes of Shakespeare's plays of the same name. "The Fairy Queen" is hardly an 'opera' in the conventional sense: its musical virtues lie in the composer's uncanny ability to summon a discrete, potent atmosphere whose capacity to move the listener lies outside a sustained dramatic context. The masques draw heavily on vernacular situations and a form of tragicomedy which requires a crafty hand in performance. Lorenzo Ghirlanda allows the music to breathe with a warm spontaneity. The Vox Orchestra represents a selection of young and enthusiastic musicians. They all grew up with the practically trained knowledge about historically informed performances. Their debut album for DHM, Bach's "Kreuzstabkantate" (19075834122) with internationally highly acclaimed tenor Christoph Prégardien (who could be heard for the first time in repertoire for baritone), has been a big success. Bach's cantata ends with the moving and impressive chorale "Komm, o Tod, du Schlafes Bruder" ("Come, o death, brother of sleep"). On the album, this chorale was sung by the young musicians of the orchestra themselves, who were especially trained for this occasion by Christoph Prégardien.