Roma Aeterna - Two Roman Masses
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PALESTRINA / VICTORIA
Roma Aeterna - Two Roman Masses
New York Polyphony with Tim Keeler (countertenor) Andrew Fuchs (tenor) and Jonathan Woody (bass-baritone)
[ BIS SACD / CD ]
Release Date: Friday 1 July 2016
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The widely acclaimed vocal ensemble New York Polyphony has on its previous recordings for BIS focussed on Franco-Flemish polyphony (endBeginning, BIS-1949), the English Renaissance (Times go by Turns, BIS-2037) and Christmas (Sing thee Nowell, BIS-2099). Each of these discs - which have been highly praised by the critics, receiving no less than two Grammy Award nominations - has also included contemporary works, resulting in striking resonances between music from across more than half a millennium. With their new album, Roma aeterna, the ensemble follow the example of so many musicians before them and go on a pilgrimage to the 'Eternal City', but this time they remain in the 16th century throughout the disc, constructing a programme centred on two of the greatest composers of the era - Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Tomás Luis de Victoria. Palestrina's polyphonic art has influenced composers throughout the ages and continues to do so today, and his Missa Papae Marcelli is often regarded as the crowning glory of vocal music from the era. His slightly younger colleague Tomás Luis de Victoria was born in Spain, but went to Rome to study in 1765 and remained there for two decades. During that time he published a number of works, including Missa O quam gloriosum and the motet Gaudent in cœlis. The programme includes works scored for four as well as for six voices, in which the four members of New York Polyphony are variously joined by Tim Keeler (countertenor), Andrew Fuchs (tenor) and Jonathan Woody (bass-baritone).
"As for style, well, the first thing you notice is that the performances are infused with an enthusiasm and energy that lifts the music from cassock and surplice and dresses it for the concert hall. They don't just sing these two famous masses; they perform them. The sound, from the resonant space of St. Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha, Nebraska, gives the voices a vibrant presence while capturing the very important detail of each line. Don't be afraid to turn up the volume on this-even without a true surround system, you'll be (most pleasantly) surrounded." (ClassicsToday 9/10 September 2016)
"In their single-voice performances New York Polyphony distinctly avoid any suspicion of thinness in their sound. With excellent matching of timbre and intense detail in terms of expressive delivery, these male voices are all moving in the same direction musically so that the choral sound is greater in effect than you would expect. As ever, the more you dig into the substance of each piece the more there is to appreciate. You can just put this on at the end of a long day and enjoy it with a streaming bath and a glass of port, but it always proves rewarding at every level - from its polished surface to the limpid reflections deep within." (MusicWeb Sept 2016)
Tracks:
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina:
Missa Papæ Marcelli; Tu es Petrus
Gaudent in cœlis
Sicut cervus/Sitivit anima mea
Francisco Guerrero:
Regina cæli
Tomás Luis de Victoria:
Missa O quam gloriosum; Gaudent in cœlis
