Early & Baroque

A recorded cycle of Bach’s 230-odd cantatas is quite a feat of its own. And
Suzuki isn’t quite there yet. But the 43 volumes that have come out so far,
subtle, detailed, meticulous performances of unforced majesty and intensity,
have already established themselves as some of the greatest recordings of
all time.

This is a recording in which every last drop of musical juice, so often lazily left by others, has been squeezed from the score. As a result, the text, one of the most moving in the sacred canon, is even more sharply and poignantly characterised than ever.

There is no self-aggrandising gloss from Pinnock here. This is pure, unadorned Bach: delicately presented, lightly inflected and left to speak for itself, which it does with unsurpassed eloquence.

A beautifully quiet, somber tone hangs over this recording, the first to be done on period instruments. The choir are stylish, the orchestra breezy. But it is Emma Kirkby's Dido that is the real draw; a more direct, subtle or affecting lament isn't be found on disc.

This is little more than a renaissance riot, lurching giddily from one excitable dance to another, passing by shadowy recitatives, sighing ariosi from a stellar cast, drum outbursts worthy of Varese and meaty ritornelli swathed in lavish orchestral ornamentation.

Buxtehude's organ works are bold, unruly pieces that often break free from the forms that set them on their course. Harmonia Mundi's clean, vivid recordings of Saorgin playing five characterful baroque organs perfectly captures the breadth and power of these remarkable works.

This is Thomas Tallis at his most compelling. Contours are freshly defined, inner voices newly teased out, dissonances leant on. Tallis's famous kaleidoscopic forty-part motet, Spem in Alium, swoops and soars in the most deeply satisfying way possible.

There's no such thing as hyperbole when it comes to describing the greatness of Josquin des Pres. He was Beethoven, Schoenberg and Stravinsky all rolled into one, developing and shaping new forms that became vital to the polyphonic progress of music. The Tallis Scholars carve out the mysteries of his masterpiece, the Missa Pange lingua, like master butchers.

According to the liner notes, "Dunstaple was the most influential English composer outside England before the Beatles." The Orlando Consort lay out Dunstaple's easy lyricism and harmonic inventiveness in a way that realises the truth of this statement.

"The Four Seasons?" you groan. That's right, the four seasons. Here's elevator music like you've never heard before. It's Vivaldi post-op, Biondi putting so much colour on the cheek of this over-exploited old thing that it comes out looking like Grayson Perry. And rightly so. With Biondi's reimagining, an airing out of the textures, a rebalancing of the harmonies, the genius of Vivaldi's musical mind is laid out for all to see. There's a bracing Autumnal breaze, a Spring day that truly hums, a Summer downpour that has you clutching for a brolly and do I hear musical chilblains? Probably.