Pioneering the Gabrieli movement
scott | Calgary, Canada | 05/25/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is a recording that I have known about for many years, but has not been available since the mid 1980s. In the meantime, I have acquired quite a few Gabrieli discs, and come to love these large scale motets. The recordings of Gabrieli by McCreesh, Parrott, King, Wilson, Eichhorn, and others have brought me great pleasure, but in the back of my mind the existence of this early L'Oiseaux Lyre disc has always sort of nagged me. Being recorded in 1978, it was on the cusp of the historically informed movement in Britain, and something of a breakthrough. Not to mention that many of the performers went on to become the pillars of the HIP scene internationally.
Finally, last year, this seminal disc was re-released, and I like how the packaging matches the (quite attractive) original exactly. I picked it up immediately, and am glad I did. Every movement except one is already in my collection, but that just makes the comparisons with newer recordings easier. And that is the amazing thing; this 30 year old performance competes very well with much newer ones.
This was the first Gabrieli disc to use historic instruments, and scaled-down forces that are closer the that which were used in 16th century Venice. Andrew Parrott practically nailed it dead on with his first try. I keep having to remind myself when this was actually made, because the performance is just about as good as others made now.
I can't say that any one of these motets is my favourite version, but taken as a whole, this set is so very worth having, for it's own merit as well as its historical value. And so inexpensive. Any fan of Gabrieli really should get a copy of this."
Gabrieli Symphoniae sacrae II, 1615
Ron Kickasola | 02/09/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"A magnificent recording. Although the first by this ensemble, it still remains the best!"
Gabrieli a little different
Scott Schwartz | 03/06/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This disk nicely bridges the gap between the older, modern-brass, big-choir, slow-tempo interpretations and the lilting "authentic" small-force productions of today. While I honestly prefer the more stately older versions as done by E. Power Biggs, I find that the innovations of this disk are very inviting: (1)The version of "Suscipe" with 6 male (low) voices and 6 trombones is glorious in its sonorous twisting of phrases, (2) Emma Kirkby singing in her rich tonality against a brass choir is gorgeous, (3) "Buccinate" with some ornamented antiphonal passages, and (4) the glorious 17-voice Magnificat using thematic material from "Nunc Dimittis" was unexpected. The richly dignified "big" sound is not lost here. The disk is a tribute to Gabrieli's genius and the performers seem dedicated to that tribute, not their own virtuosity. One of the best unsung (excusing the lousy pun) heroes of Early Music Discography!"
Track Listings (9) - Disc #1
