The King's Consort, direction Robert KingTHE KING'S CONSORT is one of Europe's leading period instrument orchestras. Founded in 1980 by Robert King, The King's Consort and its equally renowned Choir of The King's Consort have toured in five continents and appeared in almost every European country, in Japan, Hong Kong and the Far East, as well as North and South America. With 95 CDs in the catalogue, and more than one million CD sales, The King's Consort is one of the world's most-recorded historical instrument orchestras.

For twenty-nine years The King's Consort has presented an adventurous variety of repertoire, spanning from 1550 to the present day, in many of the greatest European concert halls. Highlights have included seven appearances at the BBC Proms, performances of the spectacular Coronation of King George II, the Venetian reconstruction Lo Sposalizio, Bach's Mass in B Minor and St Matthew Passion and Mendelssohn Elijah widely across Britain and Europe, staged performances of Purcell The Fairy Queen in Spain and Britain, the opening concert of BBC TV's Purcell celebrations, and Mozart Requiem in the glorious Alhambra Palace in Granada. Other staged operas have included Handel Ottone in Japan and Britain, Handel Ezio at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris and Purcell The Indian Queen in the historic theatre in Schwetzingen, Germany. Tours further afield have included concert and opera performances in Japan, Hong Kong and the Philippines, in Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, and across the USA and Canada.

TKC's ninety-five, highly-acclaimed recordings with Hyperion have won many international awards and sold over one million copies. The orchestra is especially regarded for its many recordings of music by Handel and Purcell, but its catalogue also includes instrumental and choral music by dozens of composers from Albinoni to Zelenka, including concertos by Haydn and Hummel, Bach Mass in B Minor, Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle, Mozart Sacred Music, the Stabat Maters of Pergolesi, Astorga and Boccherini, Telemann Wassermusik and the massive Venetian reconstruction Lo Sposalizio. Twenty-five world-première recordings of Purcell's complete Odes, Solo Songs and Sacred Music established TKC as the world's leading performers of this composer's music. TKC is also renowned for its recordings of more than a dozen Handel oratorios and operas.

TKC's recent CD projects include the much acclaimed Complete Sacred Music of Monteverdi, including the Vespers of 1610: this series follows the success of ten volumes of Vivaldi's complete Sacred Music. Similarly fêted have been the best-selling recordings of The Coronation of King George and Handel's colourful Ode for St Cecilia. Other critically-acclaimed recent recordings include Michael Haydn Requiem (winner of BBC Music Magazine’s Best Choral Recording) and Mozart Sacred Music with soprano Carolyn Sampson.

In the world of Hollywood The Choir of The King's Consort feature in the sound tracks of Ridley Scott's epic The Kingdom of Heaven, and in The Chronicles of Narnia, Pirates of the Caribbean, Flushed Away and The Da Vinci Code.

TKC's projects over the coming season include Bach St Matthew Passion at the Lucerne Easter Festival, in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and in Madrid's Auditorio Nacional, together with projects both large and small across the UK and Europe.

OCTOBER 2009

Learn much more about The King's Consort and listen to numerous musical extracts on their website at: www.tkcworld.org

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