Gardiner's Bach Recordings Keep Coming

In 2012, his Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists recorded the Ascension Oratorio again (they recorded it in 2000 as part of their Bach pilgrimage) - with mixed success.  

Last year, they recorded the Easter Oratorio, apparently for the first time.  It was released today, and my does it sound good.  Apart from the mezzo's voice (which might take a little getting used to, especially for those who are more accustomed to the pure tones of someone like Sarah Connolly, or the mellifluous voice of the British counter tenors like Iestyn Davies), this may be prove to be one of the most exciting recordings of the year.  

Listen to samples here. 

Two great Cardinals leave in quick succession

As Sydney-siders prepare to farewell their beloved Cardinal, so too are the people of Cologne preparing to farewell theirs.  Joachim Cardinal Meisner, Archbishop of Cologne, is being permitted to retire at the age of 80.  Cologne, like Sydney, is regarded as a bastion of orthodoxy, thanks to Meisner's fearless leadership.

News articles can be read in:

• the New York Times; 
• La Stampa; and 
• the Associated Press.  

Readers of this blog may have seen His Eminence in some of the videos of Cologne Cathedral I have posted from time to time - he was clearly of the Benedict school of thought in matters liturgical, intoning the Gloria and Credo as all celebrants should do, and on at least in occasion I detected a sung Latin Confiteor at Kölner Dom.  

Wishing Cardinal Pell all the very best as the Vatican Treasurer (or Chancellor of the Exchequer for British readers), and Cardinal Meisner in his retirement.  

Sydneyensis est sede vacante

Further to my earlier post that foreshadowed this state of affairs, the Archdiocese of Sydney has now officially been declared a vacant seat, with the appointment on Thursday 27 February 2014 of Bishop Peter Comensoli, auxiliary bishop of Sydney, as Apostolic Administrator "Sede Vacante":

Letter from Nunciature

The (now) Archbishop-emeritus of Sydney, George Cardinal Pell, with Bishop Peter Comensoli, believed to have been taken around the time of the latter's episcopal ordination in 2011

Meanwhile, the Fairfax press has actually decided to write a considered article about Pell's appointment as Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy of the Holy See, though it still perpetuates some tiresome stereotypes of the Cardinal.