a capella Archive

TOMAS LUIS DE VICTORIA: Works for Six Voices – Nordic Voices – Chandos

by Audiophile Audition | Jul 23, 2017 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

TOMAS LUIS DE VICTORIA: Works for Six Voices – Nordic Voices – Chandos SACD – 55:40, (6/16/17) : ****½ (Tone Elisabeth Braaten, Ingrid Hanken; sopranos / Ebba Rydh; mezzo-soprano / Per Kristian Amundred; tenor / Frank Havroy; baritone / Rolfe Magne Asser; bass) Sparkling a cappella one-voice-per-part performances of Renaissance polyphony at its zenith. This outstanding six-person ensemble from Norway has been performing choral music, ranging from plainchant to modern works commissioned especially for them, over the course of twenty years. They are surely happiest when they are singing with one voice per part as here, for they possess robust individual voices. This Chandos SACD deserves the closest attention and  headphones to register the full impact, in terms of both separation and integration, of this exquisite group. The expertly crafted virtual sound-stage positions the listener twenty feet back, facing the half-circle with lower voices to the right, higher to the left. The choice of recordings, works by Tomas Luis de Victoria, is obvious enough; he is perhaps the most dramatic of the Renaissance Masters. This recital comprises Motets from a 1572 publication as well as three pieces from Liber Primus qui Missas, Psalmos, ad Magnificat Virginem. Most of our readers […]