Sacred duets

"Her voice is pristine, gracious, featherweight; she shapes her lines with an understated finesse that sounds as natural as the wind. All of which comes across beautifully on this disc ... She teams up with the countertenor Valer Sabadus - also nimble and elegant but with a less distinctive voice, especially in his lower range ... The duos sound sumptuous, a gorgeous vocal blend, but for the most part the singers treat the material as non-declamatory and reflective rather than dramatic".

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"Both singers and the stylish Swiss ensemble perform with panache and evident relish. Warmly recommended".

"Die Auswahl beinhaltet eine im italienischen Hoch- und Spätbarock seltene Spezies: Duette aus Oratorien ... Nuria Rial hat einen sehr süsslichen Stimmklang und die Fähigkeit zu grosser Beweglichkeit ... Valer Sabadus setzt seine geläufige und klangschöne Stimme zugleich sinnlich und instrumental geführt ein ... Insgesamt eine CD, die sehr dezente barocke Freuden bietet, weich und fliessend".

"An imaginative recreation of a musical soirée such as may have been enjoyed in early 19th-century Vienna: a Schubertiad in which a Spanish guitarist, a Belgian cellist and a Parisian flautist meet with a German singer to forage through a pile of songs, waltzes, instrumental pieces, and poems and prose for the reciting. This makes for a captivating and most artfully programmed recital ... It has to be said that ... the unremitting melancholy and nuanced half-tones which this creates will enchant some listeners, and possible bore and alienate some others".