Red Priest - Recordings

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Handel in the Wind
The Messiah and other Masterworks
Red Priest Recordings RP012

​BBC Music Magazine, August 2015
'Red Priest are in an exhilarating class of its own.'

Early Music Journal, May 2015
'Red Priest albums are always stylish, entertaining and controversial, and this one is no exception.'

musicweb-international.com
“First, the punning title and then the trademark artwork … yes, Red Priest is back. I’ve reviewed a slew of the discs and invariably make the point that behind the arrangements, artwork and zany presentation sits real musical accomplishment. You can only truly successfully take liberties when you’ve mastered your instrument.”
Jonathan Woolf

AAA Music
 'Red Priest theatrically wear fine costumes and include interesting choreography into what some may see as a stuffy musical genre urgently in need of fun, humour and imagination. They’re vibrant and rhythmical, playing from memory and wandering stages freely. There’s a sense of immediacy to their latest album Handel in the Wind and the occasional moment of exquisite beauty.'

MusicWeb-International, April 2015
'With bright, forward recording to match the playing, it’s well worth adding to any Red Priest collection. If you are not yet a convert, it would be as good a place as any to start.'

Johann, I'm Only Dancing
Masterworks by J.S. Bach
Red Priest Recordings RP007

'a coup of collective virtuosity and unashamed display'
International Record Review

'to my mind this new release is the group’s finest.....I would recommend the Bach collection unreservedly to all.'
Fanfare, USA

' a fun-packed Bach-fest from Red Priest that's sure to raise a smile... '
Gramophone

‘if you think baroque music is dull you should listen to one of my favourite baroque
ensembles, Red Priest, putting rock back into baroque........I love Red Priest; they are really out to show that baroque doesn't have to be boring .....these are captivating arrangements by cracking good classical musicians.’
David Mellor, Classic FM, The New CD Show

‘I am sure many will enjoy this audacious display of virtuosity from Piers Adams....from the inventiveness of the transcription of the famous organ Toccata and Fugue in D minor to the more straightforward arrangements of excerpts from flute and oboe sonatas.’
The Strad

‘Readers familiar with Red Priest will know the sort of thing to expect, and they are unlikely to be disappointed.....the arrangements are catchy and texturally illuminating....this is a fun programme’
Early Music Today

‘Fun with JS Bach but not at the expense of his music … deserves to be a runaway success...’
MusicWeb International

‘Each of these artists is a sterling instrumentalist, palying at the top of his or her game –
virtuosity personidified. Adams’ recorder is quite phenomenal – I am amazed at what he
accomplishes on it.’
Audiophile

Pirates of the Baroque
STOLEN MASTERWORKS AND FORGOTTEN MUSICAL JEWELS
Red Priest Recordings RP004

...exuberance, irreverence and dazzling virtuosity...Beneath all the fun and games there is a bedrock of terrific skill and timing...If you allow yourself to be carried along on the wave of all this inventive artistry, the disc will reveal hidden treasure.
CLASSICAL CD OF THE WEEK The Daily Telegraph

The cheeky early music group has started its own label and compiled this ferociously
enjoyable dish of baroque pieces....all tossed off with impish élan.
The Times

...unique and exhilarating...These people are really hot because at their root, they are
outstanding, serious musicians. If you think baroque music is boring, look out for Red
Priest.
David Mellor, The Mail on Sunday

All are played with spectacular virtuosity and mischievous wit. Red Priest go outrageously
over-the-top but return from the other side with previously unimagined fun and delight.
BBC Music Magazine

Baroque specialists Red Priest have developed a unique approach to delivering the pearls
and jewels of the music of that era....beautifully evocative.... they are a tour de force.....this is pirate treasure indeed!
Musical Opinion

Catch them in concert and on disc too; there’s no one quite like them.
Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International

‘Pirates of the Baroque’ is full of clever in-jokes for honest Baroque lovers.
International Record Review

The whole recording is in some ways more 'authentic' than the lumpen versions of baroque music which used to be the norm. With forward recording to match the vitality of the performances, being boarded by these pirates is a Jolly Roger of an experience. Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, used to board ships with burning fuses woven into his beard; this is the musical equivalent.
Brian Wilson, MusicWeb International

...an irresistible collection of stylishly performed Baroque music.
New Classics

The Four Seasons
A COLOURFUL REINVENTION OF A BAROQUE MASTERPIECE
Red Priest Recordings RP003

This is a performance that the major labels have been striving to achieve (and failing
miserably to accomplish): attempting to cross the classics with modern sensibilities.
Red Priest plays this music with a sense of verve and élan, and, in the process, has
created a true crossover recording.
Soundstage

Extends the very limits of virtuosity ... for sheer imagination it's unbeatable
BBC Music Magazine

Startlingly fertile imagination ... enormously entertaining while genuinely capable
of saying something about the music. Everything is carried out with a creative and
instrumental virtuosity which demands respect. Red Priest are having fun with these
old favourites, but it is unpretentious fun, and, most importantly, it is dished up by
people who know how this music works and whose affection for the subject of their
witty and anarchic fooling is never in doubt.
Gramophone

Sensational ... Completely wild and deeply imaginative, the album marries the work
to the spirit of baroque spectacle and Venetian skulduggery.
Music Week

This new version of The Four Seasons will certainly open your mind ... like it or
loathe it (I'm firmly of the former camp, I'm slightly embarrased to say!), it's all great
fun.
Early Music Review

Red Priest, the notorious British quartet of wags and mischief-makers, the Spike
Joneses of the Baroque ... consists of serious musicians who perform with great skill.
Parts of it are quite lovely, other parts completely exciting. This is an album that rises
above its qualities of novelty.
Go Memphis

A wholly irreverent and highly enlightened approach to the piece we all love to
hate ... Red Priest puts the viva in Vivaldi.
Strings Magazine

Engaging, vexing and exciting ... Their performance is less a Monet than a Jackson
Pollock ... as ever with Red Priest one is, rather like going down to the woods, in for a
big surprise.
Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International

Red Priest field a line-up of various recorders, violin, cello and harpsichord ….massive imagination has been used to make Vivaldi's original scoring fit. The
musicianship certainly is impressive.
The Times

A red-hot wicked sense of humour….provides the listener with an experience as fresh
as spring strawberry bursting on the roof of your mouth……a splendid baroque gift
that will be praised as visionary and heretical in the same breath….Good show!
All About Jazz

...a sensational re-interpretation of Vivaldi’s popular masterpiece.
New Classics

...the playing is amazing, particularly the recorder playing from Piers Adams -
incredible stuff! The effects that Red Priest bring about are also quite amazing. The
bird sounds, for example, in the first movement of Spring, which bring to mind
Papageno in the Magic Flute.
Em Marshall, MusicWeb International

_Nightmare in Venice
GHOULISH DELIGHTS FROM THE FEVERED BRAINS OF BAROQUE MASTERS
Red Priest Recordings RP002

Over and above the humorous content the music-making is simply stunning. The tightness of ensemble, charm of their arrangements and the technically flawless Piers Adams on the recorders draw one in.
International Record Review

Replete with hissing and catcalls, this disc is a chiller....musical brilliance.
All About Jazz

Sparkling and energetic versions of Vivaldi, Purcell and LeClair works...... if Red Priest is a musical dream for your ears, you might want to check out theirearlier CD, Priest on the Run.
Audiophile Audition

These players believe in bringing 21st-century sensibility to these old pieces, which in their hands don't seem nearly as ancient as we've come to accept. Ornaments are plentiful, extravagant expressions are common, and no one seems afraid to add a momentarily-felt improvisational enhancement. There are many more moments of surprise and "demonic" influence in this program-- but you'll have to experience them for yourself, because to describe them all would spoil the fun.
ClassicsToday.com

With an impish sense of humour and astonishing virtuosity......there is a whole load of fun being had here, and a listener would have to be a most unresponsive character not to let out the odd gasp and guffaw...Red Priest also show they can engage at a deeper level; the Vivaldi in particular is movingly shaped.
Gramophone

Daring and breathtaking virtuosity......not to be missed!
Hi Fi News and Record Review

Never a dull moment...admiration bordering on incredulity at the helter-skelter wizardry of the playing.
Music & Vision

the Cirque du Soleil of baroque performance ensembles is back
MusicWeb

every nuance is carefully and precisely articulated (almost to the point of caricature in
places), so that one finds it hard to believe that there are only four musicians making this
sound...... spectacular tour de force..... some wonderfully intense showmanship that makes one proud to be British.
Recorder Magazine

Red Priest's larger-than-life approach only enhances the music's energy and lets its spirit fly. Magnificent playing, too.
The Times

Priest on the Run
A WILD MUSICAL RIDE THROUGH RENAISSANCE AND BAROQUE EUROPE
Music by Telemann, Ortiz, Castello, Purcell, Handel, Schmeltzer, Vivaldi, Cazzati, Uccelini, Narvaez, Salaverde
 Red Priest Recordings RP001