This album, originally recorded for the regional British label Dinmore Records in 2000, has been picked up by the reissue specialist Regis. There's nothing special about the performances by the Emerald Ensemble of Bristol, England, which are competent but given to mannerisms in the solos. Nor is the engineering in the least exciting. Nevertheless, it's easy to understand the continuing appeal of this release. The prominent placement of Johann Pachelbel's famous Canon in D major in the packaging text may lead the buyer to ...
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This album, originally recorded for the regional British label Dinmore Records in 2000, has been picked up by the reissue specialist Regis. There's nothing special about the performances by the Emerald Ensemble of Bristol, England, which are competent but given to mannerisms in the solos. Nor is the engineering in the least exciting. Nevertheless, it's easy to understand the continuing appeal of this release. The prominent placement of Johann Pachelbel's famous Canon in D major in the packaging text may lead the buyer to expect yet another greatest-hits-of-the-Baroque program, but actually the album is something else again, and as such it occupies an uncrowded market segment. Where next for the buyer who has heard the Canon and maybe some Bach and Vivaldi, but isn't ready for weighty collections of Bach cantatas or controversies over historical performance forces? Certainly a well-reviewed Vivaldi disc is one answer to that question, but this release offers another: a varied selection of Baroque...
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