: Dietrich Buxtehude Cantatas - Arcadia

Margaret Pearce & Helen Gagliano (soprano)
Michael Leighton Jones (bass)
Catherine Shugg, Ross Mitchell & John Quaine (violin)
Ruth Wilkinson (viola da gamba)
Jacqueline Ogeil (organ)

This CD is a must for Buxtehude fans, as it contains five works not currently available on CD. Arcadia is a new ensemble formed in Melbourne to explore early vocal works. This is a collection of Italian-style sacred motets or cantatas, settings of texts from the Bible, Lutheran hymns and devotional poetry, for solo, duo and trio vocalists with instrumental accompaniment. Arcadia sounds superb in this recording made in the Chapel of the Carmelite Monastery in Kew, Melbourne. If you thought Buxtehude wrote only organ music, this CD will change your mind.