Search - Francesco Rossi, Gregorian Chant, Francesco Provenzale :: Provenzale: Vespro

This delightful fifth volume of Opus 111's Treasures of Naples series presents a reconstructed Vespers service ca. 1671 for the feast of the popular Italian saint Philip Neri. The performers, the Cappella de' Turchini, are dedicated to reviving works from baroque-era Naples, one of the most famously musical cities in Europe at the time. The ensemble's devotion extends to singing with Neapolitan accents--with pungent results (especially from the tenors) that may take some getting used to. It's worth the effort, though: this is earthy, extroverted sacred music, as attractive as it is unfamiliar. The psalms and motets (for one to five singers, sometimes with strings) assembled here tend toward the theatrical, but there are some wonderful quiet moments and delicious dissonances (a favorite is the motet for three sopranos "Accipite jucunditatem," which alternates joyously animated passages with more subdued and reverent writing). --Matthew Westphal