Select a month

Back to The Archives

a cappella Archive

Giaches DE WERT: Divine Theater: Sacred Motets – Stile Antico – Harmonia mundi

by Audiophile Audition | Feb 11, 2017 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

Giaches DE WERT: Divine Theater: Sacred Motets – Stile Antico – Harmonia mundi SACD 807620, 67:19 (2/ 24/ 17) [Distr. by PIAS] ****: (Helen Ashby, Kate Ashby, Rebecca Hickey, (sopranos) Eleanor Harries, Kate Schofield, Emma Ashby, (altos) Jim Clements, Andrew Griffiths, Benedict Hymas, Ashley Turnell, (tenors) Will Dawes, Thomas Flint Matthew O’Donovan (basses)) Late Renaissance Polyphony from the Court of Mantua performed by the radiant Stile Antico ensemble. There are a number of first-rate a capella vocal groups specializing in Renaissance polyphony. Their virtues are the same: balance, purity of voice, the finest feeling for drama. The groups are supported by deep scholarship (evidenced in this recording by the substantial liner-notes, a veritable treatise on the late Renaissance) as well as superb sound engineering. Stile Antico is without doubt among the very best of our generation in this genre, having delivered a flawless series of polyphonic masterpieces in interesting programs. They differ from their peers in one attractive feature: they have no conductor. The picture on the disc back shows a group of 12 (one to take the picture?) in a circle, the emblem of completeness and balance. The sonics of all Stile Antico Super-Audio recordings place the listener inside […]

GAVIN BRYARS: The Fifth Century; Two Love Songs – Prism Quartet/The Crossing/Donald McNally – ECM New Series

by Audiophile Audition | Dec 26, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews

Music that sounds both ancient and modern and beautiful throughout. GAVIN BRYARS: The Fifth Century; Two Love Songs – Prism Quartet/The Crossing/Donald McNally – ECM New Series ECM2405, 50:58 [Distr. by Naxos] (11/18/16) 50:58 ****: I have always found Gavin Bryars’ music to be beautiful, mysterious, unique; sometimes a bit disturbing – but always worth investigating. Known for its often slow-paced and quiet kind of minimalist-inspired sound, his music continues this effect with The Fifth Century, a song cycle after the seventeenth-century English poet and theologian Thomas Traherne. The title is actually also the name of a treatise on the “essence of God” by Traherne. While the texts are steeped with imagery of the infinite, of the heavens and of eternity, the real attention-getting aspect of this piece is Bryars’ rich, yet sparse, chord progressions and voicings and the beauty they produce. The other aspect of this score that cannot be appreciated until heard is the use of a saxophone quartet to accompany the otherwise a capella choir. One would think that saxophone quartets in such a context would drown the vocals or be given some oddly out of place chordal progressions or exposed moments that sound very stereotypically “saxophone-like.” […]

Visions Eternal” = THOMAS JUNEAU: Four works – soloists/Summit Chorale/Scarlet Knight Brass & Perc. – Ravello

by Audiophile Audition | Jul 14, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews

The first disc from a new voice well worth exploring. “Visions Eternal” = THOMAS JUNEAU: Te Deum; Five Latin Motets; Magnum Mysterium; Gaudete – Tami Petty (sop.)/ Sharon Byrne (mezzo)/ Mark Boyle (tenor)/ Jonathan Mortensen (bari.)/, Eun-Hee Park (organ) Elaine Christy (harp)/ Summit Chorale/ Scarlet Knight Brass and Percussion Ensemble – Ravello RR7913, 49:31 [Distr. by Naxos] ****: Thomas Juneau is Music Director of Summit Chorale, one of New Jersey’s most venerable choral organizations, and the Juneau Vocal Alliance, founded in 2011. His music has been performed in many places, and the intensity of his expression is quite gripping. This recital, two big pieces for choir and instrumental ensemble, and including a number of a cappella works for both SATB and Women’s voices, is a good representation of his style and efforts. Though I certainly appreciate the large-scaled works, it is the Five Latin Motets and superb Magnum Mysterium for treble voices and harp that I find the most affecting. Juneau’s harmonies are nothing innovative or unique, but are constructed with such care so that no note is superfluous, and the results bring shivers and exaltation. All of the performers are top notch, obviously very familiar with the pieces, and […]