Here’s one that almost slipped unnoticed among legitimate candidates for 2010 “best of the year” releases. Although recorded in 2004 and previously issued by Universal Spain, this exemplary program seems to have made its first true North American appearance only this past fall (2010), following its best-selling companion, Pilgrimage to Santiago. The 10 selections–representing composers such as Guerrero, Lobo, and Victoria–are among the more impressive, if not so well-known, examples not only of the high refinement of sacred music of the period, but also of the music’s unique emotional disposition.
Guerrero’s Duo Seraphim–for 12 voices in three choirs–must have been a big hit at Seville Cathedral, its grand antiphonal effects seeming to resonate in eternal, heavenly harmony. Likewise, Lobo’s motet Versa est in luctum (Lobo was Guerrero’s successor at Seville) is the embodiment of the full flower of Spanish Renaissance sacred music, its soaring melodic lines and sensual chordal movement reflecting the magnificent, harmonious proportion exemplified in the great cathedrals where such works were performed.
At first I thought Gardiner conducted some of these pieces too slowly–but repeated listening proved me wrong. The truth is, not just any choir can sing these long-phrased, extended works so convincingly, with such confidence and technical skill; but when you have an ensemble like Gardiner’s Monteverdi Choir, you can push the boundaries and get away with it, which they do here.
As described in the liner notes, “this is an anthology of Golden Age ‘classics’…in turn moving, intimate, spectacular, and awe inspiring”–and that comment gets no argument from me. Here Gardiner goes back to what he and his exceptional choir do best, captured in a very favorable acoustic (a London church) by a first-rate sound engineer (Mike Hatch). This is one of those discs you’ll never tire of hearing. [1/4/2011]
