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3.0 out of 5 stars
Too many notes!, Nov 25 2002
By A Customer
This wild and fiery CD is very entertaining -- at first. It gets a bit wearing after listening for 20 or more minutes. The virtuosity is exhausting. As a recorder player myself, I respect the incredible power and technical skill of Adams but there seems a bit of soul lacking in his performance. Has this Red Priest sold his soul for unlimited speed on the ventages? In small doses, however, this CD is hard to beat. (Lastly, Vivaldi was the "red-haired priest," not "the red priest.")
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5.0 out of 5 stars
A truly wild ride--great, grand fun!, Nov 25 2002
"Antonio Vivaldi, the Red Priest of Venice," the program notes begin, "was once described as a man with 'too much mercury in his constitution'. Perhaps the author of this damning indictment, writing at a time when musical tastes were swinging away from Baroque extravagance towards cool classicism, was unaware of the fantastic, fiery origins from which the flambouyant priest's music had sprung." Red Priest, the quartet featured on this album, endeavors to showcase these "fantastic, fiery origins" by presenting a series of selections from several centuries' worth of Vivaldi's musical predecessors and contemporaries, including Ortiz, Castello, Purcell, Telemann, Ucellini, and Handel. And they do so with fine, finger-flying flourish that makes the heart race! The CD ends with an invigorating performance at breakneck speed of Vivaldi's Concerto in D Major, RV 92, which after his death acquired the apt title of "Priest on the Run". All four performers are truly stunning. Julia Bishop plays her 1741 Carcassi violin with a mixture of technical precision and gypsy flare. Piers Adams' recorders sing with wild abandon. Julian Rhodes provides perfectly suited keyboard continuos, with the occasional grand, fiery flourish that only a manic harpsichordist can achieve. And I was especially pleased to see that Angela East was also given ample opportunity to display her own virtuosity on gamba, 'cello and bass violin. Sometimes it seems the poor low-string player in a Baroque quartet gets lost beneath the showy improvisations of the higher instruments, and indeed is often stuck droning an elegant but simple ground, over and over and over again. "Don't feel bad for me," a 'cellist friend of mine once remarked, "I'm used to it; that's just the way it is." But well-chosen selections on this recording, such as the "Canzona D'Espagna" by Bartolomeo de Selma e Salaverde, featuring bass violin, and Telemann's "Fantasia for Viola da Gamba", allow Angela East to shine as well, and deservedly so! If you enjoy Red Priest, you'll also like the inspired frolics of Hesperion XX in their album "Ostinato," which features the music of some of these same composers.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Red Priest, Sep 8 2000
Red Priest is a group that has it all: incredible virtuosity, a fearless, fiery, improvisatory approach and a rare lyrical sensitivity. The enormous liberties taken in these performances are the freedoms one takes when one is completely at home with the style of music. They never go too far. In fact, going too far is beside the point in a style of music that so encourages passion and extravagance. That is the very lifeblood of this music. What matters is whether the extravagant musical gestures ring true. Red Priest always amplifies the spirit that already exists in the music, and gives me a whole new interest in this music. I say goodbye to boring, polite performances of Vivaldi and his contemporaries. Along with Il Giardino Armonico, Red Priest is creating a whole new standard in Baroque music performance
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