Sacred Music Vol. 10 (Includes the first recording of the newly discovered Nisi Dominus, RV803)

Editor's Choice Penguin Stereo Guide (April 2004)

"Another of Hyperion's justly praised series reaches its conclusion. And this, No 10 in the Vivaldi Sacred Music, has a real treat in store, a first recording of a newly identified Nisi Dominus (RV803) that had previously been attributed to Galuppi (he of the Browning poem fame). In his lively note to this recording, Michael Talbot tells the story of its discovery. It's well worth getting to know, and so, of course, is the celebrated Gloria."
(Gramophone)

Ten years and eleven discs after its triumphant inception, Robert King's complete recording of Vivaldi's sacred music reaches a worthy end. The Gloria, RV589 - this is the 'famous' one, beloved of choral societies the world over - provides a suitably ebullient opening to a recording which also includes the lyrical Ostro picta sublimely sung by Carolyn Sampson and the Gloria by Ruggieri - the work from which Vivaldi stole many of the best ideas for his own settings of the same text.

Of great significance also is the first recording of the newly discovered Nisi Dominus, RV803 - Vivaldi's 'latest work', as it were. Discovered in a Dresden library in 2003, this opulent setting is for three soloists, strings, continuo and five extraordinary solo instruments (including the fantastical 'violino in tromba marina' - the eighteenth century's equivalent of the modern 'jazz violin'?). As a historical discovery, this new work is important; as the keystone of this final disc in a ground-breaking series, it is perfect.