Robert King and his consort have again distinguished themselves with this, the penultimate disc of his highly-acclaimed series of Vivaldi’s complete sacred music. Recorded here are a collection of radiant settings: The magnificent Laudate pueri (RV602) and an inventive reorchestration featuring Rachel Brown on flute (RV602a); the Salve Regina (RV618) with motifs creatively modified from one of Vivaldi’s violin concertos (RV319); the exuberant Ascende laeta (RV635) and the beautiful hymn setting of Gaude mater Ecclesia (RV613) and motet Vos aurae per Montes (RV634).

Ingeniously, Robert King has again selected a cast of soloists as dazzling as this repertoire, with an ensemble that reads like the current ‘Who’s Who’ of ‘must-haves’ from the performance world of Baroque. Carolyn Sampson, Susan Gritton and Nathalie Stutzmann have all adorned previous discs in this series; Joanne Lunn and Joyce DiDonato are newcomers, both to the series and to Hyperion.

All of the music on this album is also available as part of the specially priced box set Vivaldi: The Complete Sacred Music: ‘King has given us the ultimate Vivaldi anthology, abundant in energy, rich with emotion, animation, and color, and enshrined in Hyperion's fabled, warm, and incomparable sound’ (Fanfare, USA).