Sances Archive

“Viva Italia: Sacred Music in 17th Century Rome” – Duke Vespers Ens., Mallarmé Ch. Players, Washington Cornett & Sackbut Ens./ Brian Schmidt – MSR Classics

by Audiophile Audition | Oct 19, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews

“Viva Italia: Sacred Music in 17th Century Rome” – GIOVANNI FELICE SANCES: Missa Sancta Maria Magdalenae and music by CARISSIMI, CHARPENTIER, PALESTRINA & VICTORIA – Duke Vespers Ens., Mallarmé Ch. Players, Washington Cornett & Sackbut Ens./ Brian Schmidt – MSR Classics MS 1580, 58:28 (4/13/16) *****: A terrific concert of vocal music from Rome. Recorded live in concert in April 2015, Durham’s excellent Duke Vespers Ensemble, with the help of equally accomplished colleagues, show a healthy bright-eyed enthusiasm and vocal splendor in music by Carissimi, Charpentier, Palestrina, Victoria and the always intriguing Giovanni Felice Sances, whose Missa Sancta Maria Magdalenae provides a thrilling world premiere. Born in Rome and subsequently a composer and tenor, Sances moved to the Hapsburg court in Austria where he served for more than 40 years, eventually rising to Master of the Imperial Chapel. His large-scale Mass, with its seven voices, six strings, two cornetti and four trombones, is a grand affair appropriate to only the second North American performance and the first recording. The easy expertise and wide knowledge of the musicians plus their roots in the Duke and Triangle communities, allows them to respond authentically for their listeners, as Sances did for his, and […]