Time Stands Still

Time Stands Still
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Artist: Emma Kirkby, Anthony Rooley
Genre: Classical
Label: Hyperion Helios

Emma Kirkby, who became the soprano queen of the early music movement in 1970s Britain, recorded this recital in Forde Abbey in Dorset in 1985. Kirkby achieved her status through the extraordinary purity and beauty of her voice; her technical control, which makes the act of singing seem as easy as breathing; and a quality of diction that made the communication of words seem equally effortless. There's no gainsaying the fact that her approach is on the cool side. Not for her the passionate emotions that a younger generation of early music singers love to indulge in. But, as these songs by Dowland, Campion, Ford, Handford, Danyel, Rosseter and Lawes consistently show (now at budget price) on top form Kirkby is a one-of-a-kind musician. url.ie/4qdb

Michael Dervan

Michael Dervan

Michael Dervan is a music critic and Irish Times contributor