Volume 3 of this important series is here, and not surprisingly it proves as finely sung and played as its predecessors. Beginning with the double-choir Dixit Dominus II (Monteverdi’s second setting from his “Selva morale” collection) we’re transported to a privileged seat at a Vesper service on one of St. Mark’s more exalted feast days (albeit via the excellent acoustics of London’s St. Jude-on-the-Hill), and from there we hear various motets written both for Vespers and other services, configured for a wide variety of voice/instrument combinations. Among the highlights are soprano Carolyn Sampson’s Confitebor tibi, a performance whose ideal combination of technique and artistic expression results in six extraordinarily pleasurable minutes of solo singing. Such thorough command of style, facility of phrasing, and dynamism in bringing the psalm text to life–combined with a bright, clear, centered tone–are a rare achievement in this repertoire. The following choral motet, Christe, adoramus te, is another gem, and Sampson shines again along with her two soloist colleagues James Gilchrist and Peter Harvey in Nisi Dominus. The instrumental players are all outstanding, Robert King’s direction is consistently sensitive and dynamic, and the sound is tops. If you don’t already have this, don’t hesitate. [3/29/2005]
