|
Comprising six professional singers from five European countries, Cinquecento takes its name from the Italian term for the sixteenth century. The pan-European structure of the ensemble (its members are from Austria, Belgium, England, Germany and Switzerland ) harks back to the imperial chapel choirs of the 16th century, whose members would have been chosen for their musicianship from Europe 's most prized musical establishments.
Formed in Vienna in October 2004 the ensemble aims to bring the lesser known 16th century choral repertoire from the courts of imperial Austria to a wider public, as well as performing a varied range of Renaissance polyphony with a view to illuminating to audiences the kaleidoscopic diversity of compositional styles operating within Europe over the period. With “Beauty and Dissonance”, a programme contrasting English and Flemish works, the group launched its first concert series in May 2005 to great acclaim. Further performances in Vienna and a festival engagement for the Paul Hofhaymer Gesellschaft, Salzburg were followed in August 2005 by a promotional CD recording. Recent tours in Austria, Poland and Switzerland have included performances in Salzburg cathedral, Klangräume (Waidhofen/Ybbs), Orgelfest Stift Zwettl, Styriarte (Graz), Festiwal Muzyki Sakralnej (Gdynia, Poland) and ..Habsburger Musik..(Muri, Switzerland). Since September 2005 Cinquecento has been ‘Ensemble in Residence' at the church of St Rochus and Sebastian, Vienna, performing a polyphonic mass setting each week.
Since 2006 Cinquecento has been making records with the British label Hyperion. January 2007 saw the release of their debut Music for the Court of Maximilian II to great critical acclaim, hailed as "revelatory" and "outstanding". Their second CD Jacob Regnart: Missa Super Oeniades Nymphae, released in August 2007, continues the exploration of Austrian Habsburg composers. Receiving four star reviews in The Times and Guardian, this second release looks set to win the group yet more friends and attention! May 2008 has seen the release of their third Hyperion CD, with works by Philippus De Monte. (See reviews below!)
!!! NEW CD RELEASE MAY 2008 : MASS & MOTETS OF PHILIPPUS DE MONTE !!!
(International Record Review)'
An unusually gifted ensemble, both vocally and musically … Here is a group whose tone, vocal flexibility, collective and individual musicianship and commitment to thier chosen repertoire places them at the very forefront of modern-day specialists in the performance of Renaissance vocal music … A disc which is not only a real treat to the ears but a most valuable and worthwhile exposé of little-known repertoire … Unfailingly compelling and absorbing performances … It is the Mass which, at 25 minutes, dominates the disc and shows most obviously the many strengths of this outstanding vocal ensemble … At the start of the Kyrie, for example, we have a layered texutre the subtle balance of which, while seeming entirely natural, must have taken a great deal of effort to achieve. As it unfolds there is the impression of clouds parting to reveal a vast landscape as viewed from a montain top, a sense of spaciousness and a grandeur which is profoundly moving. This is a veritable jewel of a disc'
P. de Monte: Missa Ultimi miei sospiri (Telegraph, 4th July 2008)
Hyperion CDA67658, Despite being one of the 16th century's most prolific composers, with more than 1,000 madrigals and a substantial sacred output to his name, Monte is perpetually overshadowed by better known contemporaries such as Palestrina. His madrigalian talents are attractively in evidence in the motets which, along with the Mass, provide an enticing snapshot of his versatile musical personality. Detailed word-painting and an imaginatively dramatic response to his texts' changing moods are displayed in pieces such as Ad te levavi and Miserere mei. (Elizabeth Roche)
P. de Monte: Missa Ultimi miei sospiri
the-transcontinental.blogspot.com TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2008
Today I'm going to get around to doing something I had planned to do when I began to blog - review CDs! Here's to hoping, unlike all my other "regular" features on this blog, this one sticks!
It is a fact of musicological life here in North America that in music survey courses, the Renaissance is represented by a triumvirate of composers. For the Early Renaissance you get Dufay, in the middle finds Josquin, and one finishes the Renaissance with Palestrina, pace Monteverdi, who lived too long to stay a Renaissance composer.
Really though, in sheer popularity, Palestrina appears to have cornered the market on the whole Renaissance. People know of some of his late-Renaissance contemporaries, like Lassus, Byrd, and of course, everyone's favourite dissonance-loving wife-killing prince , but it's Palestrina who usually gets the most play.
Given the lock Palestrina has, it was a real pleasure to discover the work of his Vienna-based contemporary Philippe De Monte on a recent Hyperion CD by the Vienna-based Cinquecento.
Their third CD for Hyperion (my first encounter with them), Cinquecento is the house choir for St. Rochus in Vienna, which means you can listen to them singing live on a weekly basis, provided you don't mind sitting through a church service. (Not now though - it's summer break!)
I will refrain from giving you background on the CD, because the magic of the Internet and the kindness of Hyperion let me link to the CD's full liner notes.
The CD is a treat. Their vocal texture is wonderful, alternatively molten and granite, and it is hard not to think of the Hilliard Ensemble while listening to them. This is a blessing and a curse - they are wonderfully balanced and in tune, and although every opening unfolds sumptuously, I felt they often lacked drive towards the cadence that would have made some of this music thrilling to the end, something I have grown very accustomed to in listening to the Hilliard Ensemble over the years.
The Credo, for instance, just walks to its finish, despite the forward momentum right there in the music. However, you forget this quickly because the opening of the Sanctus which follows is so gossamery.
Indeed, this is a beautiful and delicate recording, one that bears repeated listening. I intend to pick up their earlier recordings, and I look forward to their exploration of more music from this era of the Hapsburg court- did those Viennese ever have to contend with mediocre music?
Ah Vienna...why must you be so far from Toronto?
POSTED BY ANDREW W.
|
