The Sixteen, The Symphony of Harmony and Invention, Harry Christophers - Love's Goddess Sure was Blind (2004)

When we last left Harry Christophers and his cracker jack a cappella chorus the Sixteen, they were making fabulous recordings for the wonderful Collins label. But that was back in the halcyon days of the CD boom, those far off times called the '90s, when everyone with a little capital and a lot of taste could start a record label. Back in the '90s, Christophers and the Sixteen made more than a dozen wonderful recordings for Collins, among them one of the most moving recordings of Henry Purcell's Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary ever made. But the digital boom went bust and so did Collins, taking with it all of Christophers and the Sixteen's discs.
But now, in the middle of the 2000s, they're back, and they've brought with them an even more wonderful recording of Purcell's funeral music. It's more wonderful because, good as the Collins recording sounded, this Coro recording sounds even better: deeper, richer, warmer, and even more detailed. It's more wonderful because, good as the earlier performances were, these performances sound even better: more passionate, more precise, and even more powerful. And it's more wonderful because while this is exactly the same recording that appeared on Collins, it somehow sounds more wonderful released on the Coro label. How this is possible is impossible to know, but that it does is indisputable. If you don't have Harry Christophers and the Sixteen's Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary, here it is again. This time, don't miss it.