Search - Adrian Willaert, Giovanni Gabrieli, Orlande de Lassus :: Musica Sacra (Box Set)

Early "Early"

Giordano Bruno | Wherever I am, I am. | 06/02/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This box contains five CDs recorded between 1988 and 1993 on the Accent label, all with the original artwork and notes, leading me to wonder if the 'bargain set' here isn't actually a bundle of the original releases that remained unsold. I have no objection if that's the case, though I doubt that current sales will enrich the performers at all. The performances all feature the ensemble Currende, conducted by Erik van Nevel, with the collaboration of the cornetto/trombone ensemble Concerto Palatino on three of them. The composers include Orlando di Lasso, Giaches de Wert, Adriaan Willaert, Giovanni Gabrieli, Peter Philips, Domenico Scarlatti, and Joao Rodrigues Esteves. This is all music of the highest genius, and virtually none of it is available on any other recording. The music itself is the whole justification for my five-rating rating.



However, these older recordings by Accent sounded 'stuffy' and compressed when I first heard them years ago, and that just-better-than-mediocre sound hasn't improved with age. It's notable that the Willaert/Gabrieli disk, the most recent, has the best sound quality. To be honest, the conducting of Erik van Nevel has always been on the 'stuffy' side also. His tempi are almost uniformly ponderous and his vocal ensemble has a way of sounding like a large choir even when it isn't. I'm sure what he intends is "grandeur", but much of the time what I hear is "grandiosity."



The remarkable exception is the CD of motets and other music by the English-born Peter Philips (1560-1628). Philips was a devout Catholic who fled from Elizabeth's England around age 20. He studied in Rome, and his vocal music, as recorded here, is as 'Roman' as any Italian's. Given his dates, Philips was a remarkably 'advanced' composer, well ahead of other 'northerners' on the road to the Baroque. This CD is gloriously sung and probably worth the price of the whole box.



So my five-star rating is highly qualified. The box is already available, by the way, almost everywhere except on amazon USA. You can order it from amazon GB, and the postage will be modest."