Benevoli: Missae Angelus Domini & Dum complerentur
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ORAZIO BENEVOLI
Benevoli: Missae Angelus Domini & Dum complerentur
I Fagiolini, Robert Hollingworth
[ Coro / CD ]
Release Date: Friday 3 April 2026
This item is only available to us via Special Order. We should be able to get it to you in 3 - 6 weeks from when you order it.
Two multi-choir masses from mid-17th-century Rome (one for Easter, the other one based on Palestrina's motet for Pentecost) complete I Fagiolini's dazzling series exploring the 'Colossal Baroque' and tribute to the 'lost' music of Orazio Benevoli.
Maestro of the Cappella Giulia at St Peter's, Rome, Benevoli's mastery of surround-sound is clear in these very different works. The sheer quality of his music shines through and, sung by a group at the height of its powers, changes our view of 17th-century multi-choir music.
All the masses in I Fagiolini's Benevoli series are premiere recordings.
"This is surely peak I Fagiolini. Having enjoyed all of their large-scale recording projects so far - Striggio, Viadana, Monteverdi - this third and final instalment of Benevoli's 'Colossal Baroque' multi-choir Masses is quite superb. A quick recap if you're new to this: I Fagiolini turn 40 this year, and following a suggestion from musicologist Hugh Keyte, their director Robert Hollingworth has been editing multi-choir Masses by Orazio Benevoli (mid-17th-century, Roman, director of the Capella Giulia in St Peter's) as a three‑album anniversary project.
The two Masses on this third and final Benevoli album are for Easter and Pentecost. The Easter Mass, Missa Angelus Domini, seems to have been based on a motet that is now lost, so I Fagiolini open with an engaging Easter drama instead by the Venetian composer Alessandro Grandi, Plorabo die ac nocte - it's for four singers and comprises many drooping, lamenting phrases that make huge demands of each singer's range. Grandi creates a stark expression of grief (and shock, frankly) setting Mary Magdalene's words 'they have taken away my Lord', and thanks to a flexible, responsive performance these words hit home strongly." Gramophone Award Nomination 2026 - Choral
"Hollingworth gets it: this music of exquisite imagination and devotional depth deserves his subtle, intelligent, respectful approach… the singers sound like true believers. The voices are sublime… balanced, immediate, detailed and flooded with light" Choir & Organ Five Stars
Tracks:
Benevoli, Orazio:
Missa 'Angelus Domini'
Missa 'Dum complerentur'
Grandi, Alessandro:
Plorabo die ac nocte
Palestrina, Giovanni Pierluigi da:
Dum complerentur
