The_Monteverdi_Choir_(John_Eliot_Gardiner)--Pilgrimage_To_Santiago-2006-i8

Section

MP3/FLAC

Group

i8

Size

100,88 MB

Files

21

Date

2006-11-25

NFO

      a r t i s t : The Monteverdi Choir (John Eliot Gardiner)
        t i t l e : Pilgrimage To Santiago
          d a t e : 2006
        l a b e l : Soli Deo Gloria
        g e n r e : Classical
  r l s.  d a t e : Nov/2006
      t r a c k s : 21
    b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
          s i z e : 100,8 MB

   _______________________________________________________________________

     In 2004, the Monteverdi Choir celebrated its 40th anniversary
     with a trek through France and Spain to the shrine at Santiago
     di Compostela.

     This excellent disk is a recording of the programme that was
     sung on the pilgrimage, and it is just about the highlight of
     the year for choral music.

     I say "just about", for while the performances are of a
     staggeringly high quality, the sound is often muffled by the
     unresponsive (or perhaps evocative) acoustic of the London
     recording venue. The opening of Dum pater familias in
     particular seems to have been recorded from behind a
     particularly thick glove.

     Yet even with this issue, the CD is one of the most exciting
     things to have been released in a while. The Monteverdi Choir
     are famed for their interpretative abilities, but they surpass
     even their own high standards with this collection of
     Renaissance and earlier choral music.

     The six pieces from the 12th century Codex Calixtinus are
     especially fine. The chant Dum pater familias is delivered in
     appropriately decisive manner, while the glistening polyphonic
     lines of the Congaudeant catholici are whipped through with
     masterly confidence and understanding. The soprano of Elin
     Manahan Thomas in the Alma perpetui may not be the clearest
     thing (again, I sense a problem with the acoustic rather than
     poor diction) but it embraces the shape of the text and offers
     shiveringly persuasive tone.

     Alongside works by Morales, Palestrina and Victoria, to name
     but three, the presence of these works is exceptionally
     pleasing, and is demonstrative of the effort that has been put
     into this programme. And nowhere is this effort better shown
     than in the appearance of a piece from the Llibre Vermell (Red
     Book), the manuscript of which is preserved in the Benedictine
     monastery of Montserrat today.

     Throughout the CD the choir shine, not only in quality of
     singing, but also in range of dramatic expression. One need
     only listen to the Sanctus of Clemens non Papa, and hear the
     sound swell and contract in response to John Eliot Gardiner's
     spacious conducting. The canon has never seemed so poignant;
     so ecstatically beautiful.

     This is choral music of the highest quality - intelligently
     researched and perfectly sung - and this reviewer can
     confidently claim that Gardiner has another defining recording
     under his belt.

   _______________________________________________________________________

      01-Dum Pater Familias                                     [02:59]
      02-Congaudeant Catholici                                  [02:34]
      03-O Virgo Splendens                                      [02:46]
      04-Parce Mihi Domine                                      [05:22]
      05-Alma Perpetui                                          [01:55]
      06-Jesu Rex Admirabilis                                   [01:40]
      07-Rite Majorem                                           [03:47]
      08-O Quam Gloriosum                                       [02:39]
      09-Kyrie                                                  [02:20]
      10-Psallat Chorus Caelestium                              [01:40]
      11-Gloria                                                 [04:09]
      12-O Lux Et Decus Hispaniae                               [01:40]
      13-Sanctus                                                [03:03]
      14-Benedictus                                             [02:21]
      15-O Venerande Christi                                    [00:56]
      16-Agnus Dei                                              [05:14]
      17-Nesciens Mater                                         [06:52]
      18-O Maria Vernans Rosa                                   [05:50]
      19-Vadam Et Circuibo                                      [13:53]
      20-Justorum Animae                                        [03:47]
      21-Sanctus                                                [02:32]
                                                                -------
                                                                 77:59 min

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