Search - Tomas Luis de Victoria, Edith Ho :: Tomás Luis de Victoria: Requiem

A landmark early music recording, reissued

marais | Boston, MA USA | 10/09/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When this recording by the Advent Boston choir of the Victoria Missa pro defunctis was first issued on an AFKA LP in 1985, it was nothing short of breathtaking. The sound of this choir under Edith Ho (who retires from the Advent in 2007 after 30 years of service) has been admired and imitated, but never equalled for its purity of sound, its attention to phrasing and tuning, and above all its fidelity to the spirit of what it performs---this stuff isn't museum work, it is the active music of the Advent's liturgy week by week, and the choir then and now is totally invested in the music.

What comes across in this performance of the Victoria Requiem is fine technique, with profound emotion rippling just under the surface and barely controlled. You will find the occasional catch in the sopranos' phrasing which manages to convey just the right amount of pathos---and check out the very Spanish sense they bring to the end of the Kyrie, nice touch. For the Sequence, where else will you hear a complete plainchant Dies irae? The Libera me is, due to its restraint, most powerful. Overall, this welcome reissue on CD should find a home with any lover of polyphony or of Victoria's music in particular. Most highly recommended!"