Amazon.comPalestrina recordings are relatively plentiful but it's usually the same handful of works that get programmed, often appearing in routine, "let's do Palestrina" performances. The Tallis Scholars never leave you in doubt as to their intentions--whether it's regarding tone quality, phrasing, ensemble balance, dynamics, tempo, or any aspect of interpretation. This takes a great deal of detail work, which few ensembles have enough time to do. But it really shows in performances such as this--an affecting and technically impressive rendering of one of Palestrina's late masterpieces, the Missa Assumpta est Maria. Much of the ensemble's success here lies in the uniform tone quality and in the balance among the voice parts--distinct lines in the polyphonic sections, and perfectly weighted chords in homophonic passages. Performances of Palestrina rarely get better than this, and chances are, if they do, it's the Tallis Scholars outdoing themselves. --David Vernier