Search - Empire Brass & Gusts, Smedvig :: Glory of Gabrieli: Antiphonal Music Brass Choirs

The Glory of Sloppy Ensemble

Valentine | 01/04/2003

(1 out of 5 stars)

"In short, this CD is abysmal. Ensemble precision and togetherness is extraordinarily sloppy, the playing styles from choir to choir do not match at all, balance is abominable (Choir 1 is 'in your face' while Choirs 2 & 3 sound like they're a football fields away), and the most reverberant space in the universe could not hide the fact that Rolf's chops sound fried from the very first note of the CD!! What is Telarc thinking anyways??? Don't they know that it's over??? Anyways, if you want a truly great recording of Gabrieli, buy their 1988 release entitled "The Music of Gabrieli" on Telarc CD-80204. This was recorded in 1988 when the quintet was in its prime and is, perhaps, the greatest recording of Gabrieli's music ever made."

Astonishing

Christian Ellithorpe | Streamwood, IL United States | 02/11/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Absolutely the most breathtaking recording yet of Gabrielli, in a very crowded field of superb choices. Telarc's engineers no doubt are deserving of praise, but the playing by the Empire Brass is just stunning & your speakers will shake on deep notes at times. This fine ensemble has surpassed the already World-Class recordings of these same works of Gabrielli by the Phillip Jones Brass Ensemble, the London Brass, and even the fine recordings by the Canadian Brass. Again, I simply cannot say enough about Empire Brass' performances & Telarc's recording methods. Don't hesitate; this is the one Gabrielli disc to buy."

Togetherness? What band camp did you just roll out of?

Christian Ellithorpe | 02/05/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is, quite simply, the finest brass ensemble recording to be released in the last decade. In addition to several radiant choir pieces by Gabrieli, this CD also features the handsome Renaissance polyphony of such English masters as Thomas Tallis and William Byrd. But the finest piece, perhaps appropriately, is an anonymous Gloria from 1500, which evokes that ageless celebration of the divine with a solemn religious grandeur that has seldom been equalled."