Elizabeth Hungerford and Andrew Arceci's Love & Lust takes pieces from the Renaissance and early Baroque and reproduce them for a modern audience...

This album has a bit of a history. The sleeve notes reveal it was recorded in 2013, Amazon in the UK states that it was originally released on CD in 2015 and Amazon in the USA report that it has just been reissued this August (2016). None of this is really important, other than the fact that it's now available to a much wider audience.

For lovers of Classical music, this is an essential purchase. Elizabeth Hungerford's soprano performances are heartbreakingly beautiful and Andrew Arceci's work with the strings. It's an interesting collection of music and one that has been carefully selected to give a nice balance of styles.

I did have an issue with the sleeve notes. The composer's name, and year of their birth and death, is printed in a font which is almost impossible to read. This, more than anything else on the notes should have been a lot clearer in case fans wanted to check out further work from that composer. This information is also reproduced on back sleeve of the disc, but the background pattern also makes it a little hard to read in places. But this is a very small complaint and the only slight niggle I had with this release.

For those who enjoy classical or operatic albums, this is a no brainer.

Track listing:

01 - All in a Garden Green (Anonymous - 16th century)
02 - She Loves It Well (Tobias Hume - 1579-1645)
03 - Chi passa per 'sta strada (Filippo Azzaiolo - 1530/40-1569)
04 - Touch Me Lightly (Tobias Hume - 1579-1645)
05 - Amarilli mia bella (Giulio Romolo Caccini - 1551-1618)
06 - Amarilli Variations (Modo 2, 3, And 4) (Jacob Van Eyck- 1590-1657)
07 - Joy to the Person of My Love (Anonymous - 17th century)
08 - Canzonetta Spirituale sopra alla nanna (Tarquinio Merula - 1594/95-1665)
09 - Death (Tobias Hume - 1579-1645)
10 - Life (Tobias Hume - 1579-1645)
11 - Prelude (E Minor) - (Christopher Simpson - 1602/06-1669)
12 - I Attempt from Love's Sickness (Henry Purcell - 1659-1695)
13 - Beauty, Since You so Much Desire (Thomas Campion - 1567-1620)
14 - Tobacco (Tobias Hume - 1579-1645)
15 - Quel sguardo sdegnosetto (Claudio Monteverdi - 1567-1643)

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Darren Rea