Henry Purcell • Fantasias

Description

For this recording, Les Voix humaines uses the Hart House Viols. This collection of diverse 17th and 18th century instruments has been at the University of Toronto since the 1930s. They were restored to playing condition for this project, the first professional recording on these instruments. In his fantasias Purcell penetrated all the mysteries of the old style, and created music with an unprecedented degree of complexity but without a hint of the academic. In the words of André Mangeot, the fantasias are “of astonishing beauty.” Les Voix humaines more than twenty ATMA recordings have received critical acclaim including Diapason d’Or, Choc du Monde de la Musique, Repertoire-Classica 10, Goldberg 5, Classics Today 10/10, and Prix Opus