The music on this two-disc set can fairly be said to represent the taste of the average London entertainment consumer in the middle of the eighteenth century. All of it is taken from a songbook called Calliope, published in 1739; English contralto Emma Curtis devised the whole concept, sings songs from both female and male perspectives, is shown in the 80-page booklet in an entertaining variety of period costumes, and wrote all the booklet notes herself. The song texts and the main body of the booklet are translated into ...
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The music on this two-disc set can fairly be said to represent the taste of the average London entertainment consumer in the middle of the eighteenth century. All of it is taken from a songbook called Calliope, published in 1739; English contralto Emma Curtis devised the whole concept, sings songs from both female and male perspectives, is shown in the 80-page booklet in an entertaining variety of period costumes, and wrote all the booklet notes herself. The song texts and the main body of the booklet are translated into French and German, but Curtis' individual notes to each song are not -- and it's here that the real fun begins. Curtis is the type of presenter who overflows with both knowledge and enthusiasm for her subject, and she is extraordinarily successful here in taking the listener into the world she knows. These songs might be called semi-popular. Composers like Handel and Purcell share the book's pages with Henry Carey, John Frederick Lampe, and the famed Anonymous. Many of the pieces by...
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