The Cardinall’s Musick have won this year’s Gramophone Award for Early Music for their tenth instalment of their on going series of William Byrd’s music for Hyperion Records. The Cardinall’s also won the award in the same category last year for their disc of Thomas Tallis (described in The Daily Telegraph as “one of Tallis’s very best 500th birthday presents”), the first time any ensemble has won this award in consecutive years. Added to their award in 1995 for the music of Robert Fayrfax, this brings the Cardinall’s Musick’s tally of Gramophone Awards to three, a feat only once previously achieved (by Gothic Voices).
In the Baroque Vocal category, one of Rayfield Artists’ latest signings bass-baritone Matthew Brook was the soloist on the Dunedin Consort’s award winning recording of Handel’s Messiah on Linn Records. Described in the Guardian as “an authoratative bass” for his interpretation, this now goes to the top of the list of recommended recordings of this ever-popular work.
