R E C O R D E R S - Early Music America

Edited by Craig Zeichner
Johann Sebastian Bach
The Bach Masses, Volume I
Washington Bach Consort;
J. Reilly Lewis, music director
Loft Recordings LRCD 1068
57:29 minutes
The four Missae Breves (BWV
233-236) that Bach (1685–1750)
wrote—a.k.a. “The Lutheran Masses”—are less popular than his Mass
in B Minor (BWV 232), which started as a Missa Brevis in 1733 but
was expanded in 1748. The Missae
Breves were written later in the
1730s; all have six movements, but
after the Kyrie, the choice of Gloria
movements varies a bit. Many sections were adapted from pieces of
Bach’s cantatas.
Because these shorter masses
are less popular and vastly less prestigious,
they’re
much less
frequently
recorded,
and many
past recordings have
not been kept in print. Volume one
of this new cycle faces remarkably
few competitors in the United
States, although the recordings by
Philippe Herreweghe and Helmuth
Rilling are formidable. Washington
Bach Consort founder-director J.
Reilly Lewis sets his cycle apart by
emphasizing light textures and
rhythmic vivacity; one often feels
impelled to waltz around the room
to the triple-meter sections. There’s
a resulting sameness to many
sections, however, and a lack of
characterization.
The choir is well-disciplined, and
the soloists, if far from famous,
acquit themselves well, especially
mellifluous bass James Weaver. German pronunciation of Latin is used.
Strings are 3-3-2-2-1; continuo
organ, no harpsichord; two oboes,
bassoon, two horns; chorus is
4-4-4-5.
This isn’t a first-choice recording, and balances are sometimes
oddly artificial, but it’s worth consideration by collectors who want a
sleek, lively alternative to those
already available. It helps that the
earlier version of the BWV 233 Kyrie
is included, since it displays the way
Bach reworked his material for these
masses.
—Steve Holtje
William Byrd
Consort Songs
Emma Kirkby, soprano; Fretwork
(Richard Boothby, Richard Campbell,
Wendy Gillespie, Julian Hodgson,
William Hunt, Susanna Pell, viols)
Harmonia Mundi HMU 907383
74:37 minutes
Perhaps because of the deeply
introspective nature of some of the
song texts, the consort songs for
voice and viols of William Byrd
(1543-1623) are among his leastknown works. The ascendance of
the lighter canzonette and madrigal
might have had something to do
with this, too. The thicker textures
of Byrd’s Franco-Flemish consort
songs demand a bit more attention
from the listener. They are not easy
diversions.
On this recording, though,
soprano Emma Kirkby and Fretwork
offer compelling arguments for
this music.
Kirkby’s
voice still
has the
bright, nimble beauty that made her fans
legion, but she also serves up a
splash of tonal darkness, in “O Lord,
how vain” for example, that is surprising and very effective.
The viol consort Fretwork is
composed of excellent accompanists
who never overwhelm the singer
and are always tasteful. They have
their share of shining moments as
well: the two six-part Fantasias are
gloriously articulated and richly resonant, while the dance movements
(a pavan and a galliard) are elegant.
Some words of praise are due the
engineer, Nicholas Parker, who once
again has captured the warm,
woody sound of the viol consort in
all its glory.
—Craig Zeichner
Arcangelo Corelli
Six Concerti Grossi Opus 6
American Bach Soloists;
Jeffrey Thomas, conductor
ABS Records 16042
65 minutes
Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713)
was extremely influential on generations of violinists. Vivaldi (16781741) and Geminiani (1687-1762)
studied with
him, and
both passed
their knowledge on to
their students. Furthermore,
Corelli left an enduring compositional legacy. Today, violin students
begin to study his sonatas at a very
early stage, and his development of
the concerto form created a model
that was followed (or modified)
by most subsequent Baroque
composers.
Yet, aside from five volumes of
sonatas, he left behind only one volume of 12 concerti published at the
end of his life. The Opus 6 concerti
are eight concerti da chiesa and
four concerti da camera, which
roughly follow the church and
chamber sonata forms. Each concerto pits a pair of violins and continuo
against a band of ripieno strings
and continuo. An alternative orchestration was published in London in
1725, which uses various recorders
to replace the two solo violins.
The American Bach Soloists
recording gives us a selection of five
of the church concerti and one of
the chamber concerti; of these, half
are in the original orchestration and
half use the recorder transcription.
Being able to compare the two
orchestrations on one disk is interesting. Since the tempi taken are
reasonable for the period (that is,
they avoid the extremes of more
romantic interpretations) and the
ensemble of period instruments is
directed with elegance and lucidity,
both orchestrations get a fair shake.
The clear and expressive recorders
(Dan Laurin, Hanneke van Proosdij)
are a lot of fun, but the tracks using
the poised yet ravishing violins (Elizabeth Wallfisch, Katherine Kyme)
really sound like Corelli.
—Stephen Dydo
Thomas Crecquillon
Fortune Helas…
Egidius Kwartet; Egidius Consort
Etcetera KTC 1274
59:47 minutes
Are we in the middle of a Crecquillon revival? We’ve had two
excellent recordings of his sacred
works by Boston’s Church of the
Advent Choir, and now this lovely
disc of chansons performed by the
Dutch Egidius Kwartet, a male vocal
ensemble, augmented by soprano
Maria Luz Alvarez and an instrumental ensemble of viols and
recorder.
Crecquillon (c.1480-c.1557)
wrote approximately 220 chansons
to mostly anonymous texts. His subject matter comes primarily from the
courtly love tradition, which is not
surprising. But his treatment of text
and his gift
for spinning
rich, darklycolored,
free-flowing
vocal lines
with some
interesting
harmonies, are mesmerizing. A
number of the chansons are
grouped in chanson-response pairs.
A good example is the sublime
“Quand me souvient de ma triste
Early Music America magazine welcomes news of recent recordings.
Please send CDs to be considered for review and pertinent information to Craig M. Zeichner, Reviews Editor, 69 Poplar Street, Apt. 2C,
Brooklyn, NY 11201; recordings@earlymusic.org. Early Music America
cannot guarantee the inclusion of every CD sent for review. All published reviews reflect the personal opinions of the reviewer only.
Early Music America Summer 2005
17
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fortune” (When I recall my sad fortune) and its response “Ung triste
cueur remply de fantasie” (A sad
heart filled with imaginings), which
has a Josquin-like flavor and rich
viol accompaniment.
The Egidius Kwartet is not a
household name in America, but if
you know any of their earlier recordings, such as Leal Amour (Et’cetera
KTC 1218), a collection of Flemish
sacred and secular works, you know
their voices are exquisitely blended
and oh-so-beautiful. In fact, the
sheer beauty of their voices might
distract you from the genius that
Crecquillon brings to each of these
little treasures. It’s probably best to
enjoy the chansons in little sips like
a rich cordial—you will be just a
little intoxicated.
—Craig Zeichner
Summer 2005 Early Music America
Claire Lefilliâtre, soprano;
Le Poème Harmonique;
Vincent Dumestre, director
Alpha Productions 030
76:30 minutes
Music for the office of Tenebrae
(Latin for “shadows”), the solemn
ritual of extinguishing candles that
is observed during Holy Week, was
very popular toward the end of the
reign of Louis XIV. This recording
features a Miserere and the only
surviving Tenebrae music by MichelRichard de Lalande (1657-1726).
The Miserere follows the traditional form by alternating ornate
solos with chant passages, although
on this recording the alternate verses are sung in fauxbourdon (a kind
of improvised polyphony). This is
difficult music, demanding a soloist
who must conjure up some rather
un-churchlike expressiveness; except
for some shaky entrances where she
struggles to find pitch, soprano
Claire Lefilliâtre does fine.
The three Tenebrae lessons are
unforgettable. De Lalande’s harmonic daring (the “darkness” effects
in the Maundy Thursday lesson are
chilling) and shifts in tempo and
mood are stunning. The Italian
influence is clear, particularly in the
plummeting chromaticism in passages of the Holy Wednesday
lesson. Lefilliâtre occasionally fudges
a trill or top note, but there’s also a
fetching clarity and freshness in her
performances. The support she
receives from the continuo forces is
superb. Le Poème Harmonique, led
by Vincent Dumestre, is marvelously
restrained, yet brings vivid color to
everything it plays.
The companion disc in this set,
an hour-long enactment by the
actor-director Eugène Green of a
Lenten sermon by the bishop and
orator
JacquesBénigne
Bossuet
(16271704), an
interesting
but odd
addition, is probably not something
that will draw you to the repeat
button on your CD player.
—Craig Zeichner
George Frideric Handel
An Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day
Carolyn Sampson, soprano;
James Gilchrist, tenor; Choir of the
King’s Consort; The King’s Consort;
Robert King, director
Hyperion CDA 67463
77:53 minutes
The contributions of George
Frideric Handel (1685–1759) to the
canon of works honoring the patron
saint of music, Saint Cecilia, include
an Italian
cantata,
“Cecilia, volgi un sguardo,” and
settings of
two odes by
John Dryden—Alexander’s Feast (1736) and,
as it was advertised at its premiere,
A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day (1739).
This recording by The King’s Consort
features the cantata and the work
we now call An Ode for St. Cecilia’s
Day.
The cantata was originally written to be performed between the
halves of Alexander’s Feast because
Handel’s treatment of Dryden’s text
was too short to fill an entire
evening at Covent Garden. The cantata makes pressing demands on
both tenor and soprano soloists,
with its elaborate vocal line and
challenging runs, and tenor James
Gilchrist and soprano Carolyn Sampson meet the challenges nicely.
The centerpiece of the recording
is Handel’s setting of Dryden’s ode.
Handel borrowed from another
composer, Gottleib Muffat (16901770), and from himself while writing the work. He raises the preexisting material to a higher level. The
passages in the text that describe
the attributes of various musical
instruments offered Handel marvelous opportunities to write some
fine solos. For example, there’s a
gorgeous cello solo (representing
Jubal’s lyre) that’s eloquently played
by Jonathan Cohen, and a pulsequickening martial trumpet featuring the superhuman Crispian SteelePerkins.
Handel was generous to his
singers as well. Sampson sings some
of the softest, sweetest passages
I’ve heard in ages in the lovely “The
soft complaining flute,” supported
beautifully by Rachel Brown on flute
and Lynda Sayce on lute. Gilchrist
goes all out in “The trumpet’s loud
clangour”; although he strains at
times, it’s an undeniably exciting
performance. At the heart of it all
are Robert King and his splendid
ensemble. With King’s grasp of
rhythm, the overture snaps along
marvelously, and his intelligent support of singers makes this an essential Handel recording.
—Craig Zeichner
Pierre de Manchicourt
Volume I: Missa Non
conturbetur cor vestrum
and Motets
Choir of the Church of the Advent,
Boston; Edith Ho, director;
Mark Dwyer, associate conductor
Arsis Audio SACD 400
58:22 minutes
Pierre de Manchicourt (c.15101564) was greatly admired in his
time: his works were preserved in
important manuscripts, his music
was published widely, and he finished his life as Chapelmaster in the
Madrid court of Philip II of Spain,
son of Holy Roman Emperor Charles
V. Yet his
popularity
has not survived.
There’s only
one other
CD still available that’s
dedicated to the music of this Franco-Flemish composer—a Huelgas
Ensemble disc on Sony Vivarte with
the Mass Veni Sancte Spiritus, four
motets, and three chansons (entirely
different repertoire than this CD).
Manchicourt’s style is staunchly
Flemish—flowing counterpoint
bursting with imitation—but also
suavely melodic and crystalline. The
disk includes five motets; the fourvoice “Non conturbetur cor
vestrum” gives the parody mass
here its name and melodic material.
It is joyfully festive, as are the sixpart motets “Regina coeli” and
“Jubilate Deo,” the five-part motet
“Ego sum panis vivus,” and
Manchicourt’s only known eightvoice motet, the vividly depictive
and harmonically lush “Vidi
Speciosam.”
The Choir of the Church of the
Advent is a professional 18-member
group with considerable recording
experience (this is their 10th album).
They are captured by an audiophile
label in excellent, realistically spacious sound at the choir’s home
church in Boston. This is gorgeous
music, unavailable elsewhere and
beautifully performed, making the
disk a must-have. And this is volume one, which means there’s
more to come.
—Steve Holtje
Georg Philipp Telemann
Quartets and Trios
Ensemble Voltaire
Catalpa Classics ND-30605-2
63:27 minutes
This new collection of chamber
works by Georg Philipp Telemann
(1681-1767) is indication of a propitious rebirth of the spirited Midwestern group Ensemble Voltaire
(formerly known as Ensemble
Ouabache).
Telemann was in a league with
Mozart in his ability to crank out
perfectly
good music
at an astonishing rate.
One byproduct of this
was that his
music generally has strong formal coherence; he
must have been able to visualize
entire pieces more or less instantaneously in order to keep up the
compositional pace. This is especially evident in the advanced structure
of some of the pieces on this
recording. Another Mozartean characteristic is the gorgeous inventiveness of the interiors of much of
Telemann’s work. The five pieces on
this CD appeared in the decade
between 1730 and 1740. The first
three, two concertos (in D and G)
and a sonata in A, are from the
Paris Quartets of 1730. A trio for
oboe and violin in G minor is from
the Essercizi musici of 1740, and
the final quartet (for flute, oboe,
violin, and continuo, in G) is from
Tafelmusik (1733).
Throughout the set there is a
wide range of techniques, from the
delicate and sensuous affetuoso of
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Early Music America Summer 2005
19
the Concerto in D through the contrapuntal density of the fast movements of the Concerto in G to the
crazy canons of the G minor Trio’s
allegro.
None of this would be so evident without the clarity of phrasing
brought to the recording by all of
the performers. The ability of
Ensemble Voltaire to polish the
ends, to make the joins, and to
execute the ornamentation meaningfully brings Telemann’s formal
mastery into high relief. Vive
l’Ensemble Voltaire!
—Stephen Dydo
Tomás Luis de Victoria
Second Vespers of the Feast
of the Annunciation
The Exon Singers;
Matthew Owens, director
Delphian DCD 34025
68:46 minutes
Tomás Luis de Victoria (15481611) wrote a great deal of music
for Marian use, but there’s no evidence that he left any through-composed music for the Marian Vespers
(á la Monteverdi in his 1610
Vespers). What we have on this
recording by the Exon Singers is a
collection of Marian works arranged
in a liturgical context suitable for
the Feast of the Annunciation. This
is Victoria at his best, and that
means it’s as brilliant as anything
that came out of the Renaissance.
These are multi-choir settings
whose foreshadowing of the early
Baroque is inescapable. For example,
there’s a glorious antiphonal setting
of the Laudate pueri Dominum
where high
voices
engage in a
celestial
joust with
the SATB
choir. Victoria pulls out
all the stops in this music, with
supernovas of polychoral splendor
and marvelously varied writing—his
shifts in texture and rhythm are
breathtaking.
The Exon Singers, a mixed voice
ensemble, are not as well known as
some of the high-profile British
ensembles, but they easily surpass
many of them. They sing with a
wonderfully full-blooded, youthful
vigor when both SATB choirs get
going, yet they are also knockout
gorgeous in the reduced voice sections. The thrilling alterations from
duple to triple time are seamless—a
tribute to the excellent leadership of
the ensemble’s conductor, Matthew
Owens. This exciting and beautifully
produced recording presents a side
of Victoria that may surprise many
ears.
—Craig Zeichner
Antonio Vivaldi and Others
Andromeda Liberata
Simone Kermes, soprano; Max
Emanuel Cencic, countertenor;
Katerina Beranova, soprano; Anna
Bonitatibus, mezzo-soprano; Mark
Tucker, tenor; La Stagione Armonica;
Sergio Balestracci, chorus master;
Venice Baroque Orchestra;
Andrea Marcon, conductor
Archiv B0003456-02
97:65 minutes (2 CDs)
Nothing is as exciting for early
music lovers as the discovery of a
new work that may somehow link
to the canon of a well-established
composer. In this case, the composition is a serenata (an occasional
cantata with a dramatic component)
that includes at least one aria attributable to Antonio Vivaldi (1678-
1741). The rest, according to Olivier
Fourés, who discovered and edited
the work, is a mystery. Does the
presence of this aria imply that
Vivaldi composed the whole serenata? Or is it a pasticcio (suggested by
the attribution of the music to Vivaldi and others)? Fourés has an interesting task before him. In the meantime, however, we can enjoy this
gem in a world-premiere recording
featuring a fine cast of soloists and
the Venice Baroque Orchestra under
the baton of Andrea Marcon.
Singing Andromeda is Simone
Kermes. Generally, she handles the
role well. At times, however, she loses control of the vocal line. One
obvious example is in the cadenza
with Max
Emanuel
Cencic at
the conclusion of
their duo,
“Sposo
amato/
Cara sposa.” While Cencic hits each
pitch, Kermes is far enough from
her note to set the teeth on edge.
More sure and indeed more pleasant to the ear is Katerina Beranova
in her aria, “Con dolce mormorio.”
Anna Bonitatibus performs well with
O
f all Mozart’s piano concertos there are two that are counted
as more artful, more delightful, or, in modern parlance,
simply more popular than their fellow masterpieces. In our own
time, the D minor concerto (K.466) and the A major K.488) have
dominated taking its name from the classical god of music and
the sun, Apollo's Fire is dedicated to the performance of 17th
and 18th century music on the period instruments for which it
was written. The ensemble unites a select pool of renowned
early music specialists from throughout North America and
Europe. Music Director Jeannette Sorrell is widely recognized
as a leading voice in the new generation of early music conductors.
KIC-CD-7575
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20
Summer 2005 Early Music America
the chorus in the work’s opening
aria, “In queste sponde.” Kudos,
too, to tenor Mark Tucker, whose
two arias are well interpreted.
Whether by Vivaldi alone or with
others, this serenade is a wonderful
addition to the Baroque vocal
repertory.
—Denise Gallo
also piercingly human. The rest of
the cast is excellent, with Larmore
and countertenor Philippe Jaroussky
just a slight cut above the others. As
on other Vivaldi operas in this series
(it’s part of the Tesori del Piemonte
series of Vivaldi works), Ensemble
Matheus provides striking support.
—Craig Zeichner
Antonio Vivaldi
COLLECTIONS
Orlando Furioso
Marie-Nicole Lemieux, contralto;
Jennifer Larmore, mezzo-soprano;
Veronica Cangemi, soprano; Philippe
Jaroussky, countertenor; Choeur
“Les Éléments”; Ensemble Matheus;
Jean-Christophe Spinosi, director
Naïve OP 30393
183:00 minutes (3 CDs)
In the autumn of 1725, Antonio
Vivaldi (1678-1741) returned to
Venice after five years of artistic successes in Milan and Rome. Vivaldi
re-established contacts with the
Teatro Sant’ Angelo and, in 1726,
became its direttore delle opere in
musica. While Vivaldi was away,
Neapolitan opera, with its vocal
acrobatics,
had slowly
come to
dominate
the Venetian
stage. So his
Orlando
Furioso, set to a libretto by Grazio
Braccioli (1682-1752), was, in
some ways, the last gasp of the
highly dramatic Venetian operatic
tradition.
The libretto was taken from
Ariosto’s great epic poem and was
one of the very best Vivaldi had to
work with. The composer took great
care in selecting his cast of singers,
particularly the two lead characters,
Orlando and Alcina. Much of the
same care is taken on this recording, which boasts the French Canadian contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux
in the title role and America mezzo
Jennifer Larmore as Alcina.
Orlando Furioso surprises with
its pure dramatic power—not easy
to say about most post-Monteverdi
Baroque operas. Sure, there are
plenty of vocal fireworks, but Vivaldi
took tremendous care in the recitatives (secco and accompanied), and
his sense of drama reaches its peak
in the extended mad scene for
Orlando at the conclusion of the
second act. Lemieux has the technique that conquers in the ornate
music (her ornamentation is elaborate but tasteful), and her singing is
also blessed with warmth and sensitivity. Her mad scene is brilliant but
Epiphany: Medieval
Byzantine Chant
Cappella Romana;
Alexander Lingas, artistic director;
Ioannis Arvanitis, guest director
Gothic Records G49237
71:14 minutes
Byzantine chant, now generally
associated with the Eastern Orthodox Church, developed in the Eastern Roman Empire and is based on
first-millennium Christian traditions.
These were codified and further
developed with the help of Byzantine musical notation, which
appears in Greek sources starting in
the 10th century. This recording features Byzantine chant edited from
Medieval sources for January 1st
and 6th, two of the major feasts of
the Christmas season.
Cappella Romana, based in Portland, Oregon, has long been devoted to exploring the Byzantine repertoire, combining impeccable scholarship with a genuine passion for
presenting this music as authentically as possible. The current collaboration with Ioannis Arvanitis, a prominent Greek musicologist, is a case
in point.
The singing is exquisite—clear,
often haunting, with superb blend
and breath. But it is liturgy and
therefore comes with the caveat
attached to all recordings of liturgy:
it was never written purely for your
listening pleasure. Chant more often
works as an
experience
than as a
concert. I
have stood
listening to
it for two
hours in an
Eastern Orthodox Church service
and been transfixed. The booklet
accompanying this disk describes
the liturgical context of these works
in detail, but not so vividly that you
can imagine yourself in Hagia
Sophia on the Feast of the
Epiphany.
—Beth Adelman
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LAUS POLYPHONIAE 2005
A unique festival dedicated to polyphonic music
Ensemble in residence: Capilla Flamenca
20-28 August 2005
Jacob Obrecht
(Ghent 1457/58 – Ferrara 1505)
Lecture, interview & workshops
Capilla Flamenca, Dirk Snellings, Rob C. Wegman,
Stratton Bull and Wim Diepenhorst
Concerts
Capilla Flamenca, Psallentes, Joris Verdin, Piffaro, Mikado,
Corvina Consort, La Folata, The Clerk’s Group,
Wim Maeseele, Jurgen de Bruyn, Liam Fennely, Ars Nova
Secunda Chorus, La Morra, Currende & Oltremontano,
Huelgas Ensemble, Wim Diepenhorst, The Binchois Consort,
Psallentes, Modena Consort, Odhecaton & Jacob Lindberg,
Cappella Pratensis, Camerata Trajectina, Obsidienne
Introductions to the evening concerts & round-table
conferences
International Young Artist’s Presentation-Historical Wind
Instruments
Coach: Barthold Kuijken
Music theatre course for teenagers: Red shoes
Inquiries & brochure
Flanders Festival-Antwerp - Tel. + 32 3 202 46 61
www.festivalvanvlaanderen-antwerpen.be
Continued on page 39
Early Music America Summer 2005
21
University of Iowa • Temple University, Pennsylvania
St. Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue • Yale University
Christ Church, Charlottesville, Virginia • St. Clement Church, Chicago, Illinois
Taylor and Boody
Organbuilders
Innovative Design
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A = 440 or 415
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We invite your inquiry:
Taylor and Boody Organbuilders
8 Hewitt Road
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www.taylorandboody.com
Rutgers University
•
20th
Anniversary
The series was introduced
in 1985 at the Boston Early Music Festival
and has just published
its 250th title
•
BROUDE BROTHERS LIMITED
22
Spring 2005 Early Music America
Continued from page 21
Puzzles and Perfect Beauty:
Italian Music at the End of
the Middle Ages
The Newberry Consort
(Mary Springfels, director, vielle,
citole; David Douglass, rebec, vielle;
Ellen Hargis, voice; Drew Minter,
voice; Mark Rimple, lute;
Najib Bahri, percussion)
Noyse Productions
75:17 minutes
The work of musicologists such
as Howard Mayer Brown and F.
Alberto Gallo on Italian Medieval
music has provided rich sources for
performers. The latest offering of
the Newberry Consort, Puzzles and
Perfect Beauty (appropriately dedicated to the memory of Brown,
who died in 1993), is a selection of
vocal and instrumental works from
this repertory. Even though the
recording highlights Italian sources,
it includes works from the French
tradition copied into manuscripts
by musicians who freely crossed
the Alps with their noble patrons.
Thus, the Newberry Consort’s new
collection
includes
samples of
Italian ballata and
dance
music as
well as
works in the French formes fixes.
This recording preserves historical integrity so carefully and is so
beautifully performed that it is hard
to single out tracks. Surely some of
the most noteworthy are Ellen Hargis, Mark Rimple, and Drew
Minter’s performance of the virelai
“Sus un fontayne,” complete with
all the marvelous free-flowing lines
and occasional gorgeous dissonance. The period’s vivacious dance
rhythms are heard in the musicians’
version of the “Istampitta Ghaetta,”
with Najib Bahri on percussion. Perhaps the most delightful track,
however, is Hargis, Rimple, and
David Douglass’s interpretation of
the virelai “En ce gracieux temps,”
with its echoing cuckoo calls.
Countertenor Drew Minter performs ably in the ballade “Pres du
soloil,” his long lyrical lines vying
luxuriously with the vielles of
Springfels and Douglass.
For those who wish a sample:
six tracks, program notes, and song
texts and translations are available
at the Noyse Productions website
(www.noyseproductions.com),
where the disc may be ordered.
—Denise Gallo
Venezia Stravagantissima
Capriccio Stravagante Renaissance
Orchestra; Skip Sempé, director
Alpha Productions 049
53:35 minutes
A quote from the liner notes
(an interview with Skip Sempé by
Laval University history professor
Denis Grenier) sets the stage for
this recording: “We have rediscovered this extraordinary Renaissance
Orchestra sound that has not yet
been heard in our time,” says Sempé. That’s a bold statement (one of
many in an interview that’s sycophantic, somewhat self-congratulating, but also fascinating). It is
mostly backed, however, by the
California-born Sempé and his
big band, which is an expanded
version of his excellent Capriccio
Stravagante.
Hyperbole aside, what we have
here is a survey of Italian music,
some originally written for the
voice, some for various instruments, and all performed with
vitality, verve, and splendid sound
that serve an expressiveness that
may well have “not yet been heard
in our time.” Familiar music such as
“Canzon II” by Giovanni Gabrieli
(15551612) is
exhilarating
when the
cornetto
(Doron
David Sherwin delivers masterful performances throughout) and trombones
blend so perfectly with strings and
keyboard. The superb blend of all
the instruments is a constant
delight—the “Pass’e mezzo Antico”
by Giorgio Mainerio (1535-1582)
and “Canzon Vigesimaquarta a 8”
by Gioseffe Guami (1540-1611) are
textbook studies in rich Renaissance
sonorities. The recording also has
its share of unbuttoned, exuberant
toe-tapping with a “Ballo Anglese e
Saltarello” by Mainerio and a giddy
take on “So ben mi ch’ha bon
tempo by Orazio Vecchi (15501605).”
This is the kind of recording you
can use to make a convert to early
music and the glorious sound of
Renaissance instruments.
—Craig Zeichner
,
Leslie Ross
bass and tenor curtals
at A-440Hz and A-466Hz
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classical bassoon after H. Grenser
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Early Music America Summer 2005
39