Sweeter Than Roses

Director and keyboardist Julian Perkins and his acclaimed ensemble Sounds Baroque join with soprano Anna Dennis for this celebration of the songs of Henry Purcell. Known for his undisputed mastery in setting the English language, Purcell also absorbed influences from both French and Italian styles, and the programme is complemented with close contemporaries who also worked in London - a guitar suite from the Italian Francesco Corbetta and a harpsichord suite from Giovanni Battista Draghi, along with two songs from the earlier Stuart court composer Henry Lawes. Anna Dennis studied at the Royal Academy of Music, London. Notable concert performances have included Britten's War Requiem at the Berlin Philharmonie, Russian operatic operas with Philharmonic Baroque in San Francisco, roles in all three Monteverdi operas in John Eliot Gardiner's world tour of the Trilogy, Thomas Ades' Life Story accompanied by the composer, and many more.