NIGHTMARE IN VENICE

RED PRIEST

The second album from Red Priest, recorded in 2001, is a startling affair, inspired by the very first piece the group performed, in its first concert four years earlier – Vivaldi’s gothic-horror concerto, ‘La Notte’.  Upon this they have built a nightmarish collection of strange and wonderful music featuring ghosts, witches, demons and fairies, and culminating with their own fantasia upon Corelli’s ‘La Folia’.

"The Cirque du Soleil of baroque performance ensembles... virtuosity, finesse and crazed sonorities evoke the nocturnal phantasmagoria of a truly fervid imagination."  MUSIC WEB March 2003  Read whole review

"The wit and wonder of their performances on 'Nightmare in Venice' satisfy because over and above the humorous content the music making is simply stunning.  The tightness of the ensemble, charm of their arrangements and the technically flawless Piers Adams draw one in regardless." INTERNATIONAL RECORD REVIEW May 2009

"Mad, bad and deliciously dangerous... wacky ideas, an impish sense of humour and astonishing virtuosity."
GRAMOPHONE April 2003 Read whole review

"Nightmare in Venice is a deliciously Baroque Halloween-fest if there ever was one. Replete with hissing and catcalls, this disc is a chiller... Image is not everything, though Red Priest has that quality in spades. This is a quartet of the best Baroque specialists the United Kingdom has to offer." ALL ABOUT JAZZ Read whole review

"Fresh, fiery flair.... an atmosphere of spectral shock... Red Priest are a crack ensemble with serious virtuoso credentials, but they also know how to make this music fun." THE DAILY TELEGRAPH  Read whole review

"Baroque music revels in the extravagant... Red Priest's larger-than-life approach only enhances the music's energy and lets its spirit fly. Magnificent playing, too. " **** THE TIMES  Read whole review

"Not even with Harnoncourt or Il Giardino Armonico will you find so extreme a characterisation of Vivaldi’s ‘La Notte’, with its dreams and bizarre allegros, but it works brilliantly... Not to be missed!" A* 1* HI-FI NEWS AND RECORD REVIEW  Read whole review

"the most entertaining early music recording I have ever heard." WHOLE NOTE Read whole review

"Diabolical, fanciful zeal... delightfully creepy." CLASSICS TODAY Read whole review

"Wonderfully intense showmanship that makes one proud to be British... Whilst CD recordings are said to never wholly capture the realm of the concert platform, Red Priest’s spectacular musical theatre succeeds a thousand times in bringing the concert to you; I just hope you aren’t afraid of the dark…a must!" THE RECORDER MAGAZINE Read whole review

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