Requiem : Mccreesh / Gabrieli Consort & Players, Wroclaw Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir (2CD)

Berlioz: Grande Messe des Morts, 1837

ROBERT MURRAY, Tenor
GABRIELI CONSORT
WROCLAW PHILHARMONIC CHOIR

GABRIELI PLAYERS
WROCLAW PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
CHETHAM,S SCHOOL OF MUSIC SYMPHONIC BRASS ENSEMBLE

AGNIESZKA FRANKOW-=ELAZNY Artistic Director, Wroclaw Philharmonic Choir
BENJAMIN BAYL Assistant Conductor

PAUL MCCREESH, conductor

RECORDING Mary Magdalene Church, Wroclaw, 13-15 September 2010 Live
RECORDING PRODUCER Nicholas Parker
BALANCE ENGINEER Neil Hutchinson
RECORDING ENGINEER Andrew Halifax
EDITING Nicholas Parker, Neil Hutchinson, Paul McCreesh

This is the first in a new series of releases from the world-renowned conductor Paul McCreesh and his Gabrieli Consort. Recorded in Poland as part of the Wratislava Cantans Festival (of which McCreesh is artistic director) this staggering performance of Berlioz's 'Grand Mass for the Dead' is produced by a force of over 400 performers - drawn from the Gabrieli Consort and Players, the Wroclaw Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir and students from Chetham's School of Music. Future releases with McCreesh will include Mendelssohn's Elijah, Haydn's The Seasons, Britten's War Requiem and a re-recording of their famed disc 'A Venetian Coronation'.

Founded in 1982 by Artistic Director Paul McCreesh, Gabrieli Consort & Players are worldrenowned interpreters of great choral and instrumental repertoire, spanning from the renaissance to the present day. Their performances encompass virtuosic a cappella programmes, mould-breaking reconstructions of music for historical events, and major works from the oratorio tradition. They are regular visitors to the world's most prestigious concert halls and festivals and have built a large and distinguished discography. ( Signum )