Waytes - English Music for a Renaissance Band

Directed by Joan Kimball and Robert Wiemken, the Renaissance band Piffaro is one of the world's finest early wind ensembles. Their latest Navona label release of music from the English Renaissance is a journey through a world filled with beautiful songs and dances. Piffaro brings the music to life in the unique way they’re known for—with spirit, character, and poetry.

Gloria! - Vivaldi's Angels

Antonio Vivaldi was employed during his lifetime at the Venetian orphanage known as the Ospedale della Pietà. There he taught music and composed for its talented students. A recent release by Ensemble Caprice on the Analekta label looks at Vivaldi works for those students, including two choral works not recorded with the ytpical combination of men and women’s voices, but as was heard at the Ospedale—a vocal ensemble solely comprised of women singing all parts.

The result is a stunning performance full of beautiful sonorities with rich and evocative textures.