Getting Tired?
Giordano Bruno | Wherever I am, I am. | 02/11/2010
(3 out of 5 stars)
""Infelix ego", volume 13 and the newest of The Cardinall's Musick's longtern project of recording all the works of William Byrd (1540-1625), is not up to the standard set by many of the previous issues. Here are my reasons for thinking so:
1) There's too much scooping and sagging (rising to the pitch or falling off the pitch), especially among the highest voices. But then, for me, any scooping and/or sagging is too much.
2) The tenors sound "neutral". Reserved. Supportive rather than expressive. Bad news. In this music the tenor line HAS to be full of expression.
3) There seem to be too many voices on too many parts, which is surprising because the ensemble has only twelve singers here. The result is that old 'choral' sound of broad-band tuning-by-committee.
4) Besides which, there's some outright bad tuning here and there, suggesting either inadequate rehearsal or a lack of draconian attention from the conductor, Andrew Carwood.
It's hard to separate the performance from the specific music on this CD. There are surely some distinctive small pieces - some of the Propers for the Feast of All Saints (Halloween to Americans) - and the longest single piece, the title track Infelix ego, has musical profundities in it. But the whole performance seems less 'committed' and energetic than I expected from this ensemble. The standard of excellence, to my ears, was volume 10, "Laudibus in sanctis", a set of polyphonic antiphons sung so well that I tossed a wad of money at five other volumes of the series. I'm hoping they all turn out closer to V. 10 than V. 13 in quality."
Superb conclusion to Byrd's Latin music
DR P. Dash | 03/28/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"First, my credentials for reviewing this. Though I can't claim to have the critical ear or musical knowledge of Mr. Bruno by a long shot, I do love Renaissance choral music and have an extensive collection of over 150 CDs of the genre, including everything the Tallis scholars published, the complete works of Thomas Tallis by the Chapelle du Roi, Ludford, Fayrfax etc. etc. and have listened to all of them many times. I have all the other CDs in this wonderful Byrd series except the masses, because I have two other performances of them. I have listened to this newest release four times, including after listening sequentially to all the other Byrd CDs in the series, and I have a hard time hearing what Mr. Bruno is referring to in his criticism of the disc. I find the performances on a par with the other discs. I think their performance of the Infelix Ego is comparable to that of the Tallis Scholars, which can be found as an appendage on their disc of Byrd's masses. If you're a fan of this music, I wouldn't hesitate a mouseclick to get it.
My only disappointment was I thought at first this was going to be the last in the series. However, it turns out this is only the last CD of Byrd's Latin church music. There is still his English choral music which I believe they are going to continue to record, or at least they promised this on the first disc in the series, where they said the Byrd series would conclude with The Great Service."
