Notes and Editorial Reviews
LA FIESTA DE PASCUA EN PIAZZA NAVONA
•
Albert Recasens, cond; La Grande Chapelle
•
LAUDA LAU 012 (2 CDs: 105:07
Text and Translation)
Music of
GIOVANELLI, KERLE, PALESTRINA, VICTORIA, BENDINELLI, RAZZI, FERNANDO DE LAS INFANTAS, ASOLA, RODIO, CLAVIJO, GUERRERO, ANIMUCCIA, CONFORTI
I have seen this label, usually with two lavishly packaged discs for each issue, only in Spain, so the arrival of this new import is encouraging. The
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same performers were also responsible for the several sets that I acquired there. While only the composer Tomás Luis de Victoria appears on the cover, the program draws on a variety of sources for an Easter celebration from the time of Victoria’s residence in the Eternal City. The piazza Navona was in the center of Renaissance Rome with the church of St. James at one end, facing away with its apse toward the piazza equipped with entrances added by the Spanish pope Alexander VI. Hence the Spanish residents of Rome could celebrate their feast days with outdoor processions in the large piazza. The most important were the Feast of St. James (the patron of Spain), Corpus Christi (always the occasion for outdoor processions everywhere), and Easter, as observed in this program. Victoria was certainly involved in the festivities by 1573 at the latest. An engraving of the procession was made in 1592, presumably the view reproduced on the cover of this package.
As a reconstruction of a historical event, this program contains little that is familiar. There are three sections: Matins and Lauds; procession in the piazza; Mass, Vespers, and Compline. The only proper Mass music is the Easter sequence, and the hours of the Office are represented by motets and psalms that do not follow the shape of the Office. There are many interesting but unfamiliar pieces here, the largest (at 15 minutes) a Te Deum by Jacobus de Kerle that is oddly placed at the beginning of Vespers rather than the end of Matins. A work for six voices, it is a fine addition to this neglected composer’s slim discography. Among the unfamiliar names, Ruggiero Giovanelli has a
Jubilate Deo
for eight voices that leads off the program, while one of the few familiar works is Victoria’s eight-voice
Regina caeli
, also recorded by Harry Christophers (Coro 16035), that concludes the program. Put this on the shelf with other liturgical reconstructions of various kinds that juxtapose music from a period that might have been performed on a specified occasion. Beautifully realized.
FANFARE: J. F. Weber
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Works on This Recording
1.
Jubilate Deo for chorus by Ruggiero Giovannelli
Conductor:
Albert Recasens
Orchestra/Ensemble:
La Grande Chapelle
Period: Renaissance
Venue: Augustinus Miziekcentrum, Amberes
Length: 3 Minutes 25 Secs.
3.
Haec dies, motet for 8 voices by Giovanni Palestrina
Conductor:
Albert Recasens
Orchestra/Ensemble:
La Grande Chapelle
Period: Renaissance
Venue: Augustinus Miziekcentrum, Amberes
Length: 2 Minutes 12 Secs.
4.
Fanfarria by Cesare Bendinelli
Conductor:
Albert Recasens
Orchestra/Ensemble:
La Grande Chapelle
Period: Renaissance
Venue: Augustinus Miziekcentrum, Amberes
Length: 2 Minutes 29 Secs.
5.
Ad coenam Agni providi by Giovanni Palestrina
Conductor:
Albert Recasens
Orchestra/Ensemble:
La Grande Chapelle
Period: Renaissance
Written: 1589
Venue: Augustinus Miziekcentrum, Amberes
Length: 7 Minutes 47 Secs.
6.
Victimae paschali laudes, for 6 voices by Fernando de las Infantas
Conductor:
Albert Recasens
Orchestra/Ensemble:
La Grande Chapelle
Venue: Augustinus Miziekcentrum, Amberes
Length: 3 Minutes 33 Secs.
9.
Te Deum laudamus, hymn for 6 voices by Jacobus de Kerle
Performer:
Nicholas Mulroy (),
Helen Neeves (),
Simon Wall (),
David Allsopp (),
Jesús García Aréjula (),
Ingeborg Dalheim (),
Gerardo Lopez Gamez ()
Conductor:
Albert Recasens
Orchestra/Ensemble:
La Grande Chapelle
Period: Renaissance
Venue: Augustinus Miziekcentrum, Amberes
Length: 14 Minutes 57 Secs.
11.
Victimae paschali by Giovanni Palestrina
Performer:
Ingeborg Dalheim (),
Helen Neeves (),
Simon Wall (),
David Allsopp ()
Conductor:
Albert Recasens
Orchestra/Ensemble:
La Grande Chapelle
Period: Renaissance
Written: 16th Century; Italy
Venue: Augustinus Miziekcentrum, Amberes
Length: 3 Minutes 31 Secs.
12.
Si tus penas no pruebo, villanella for 3 voices by Francisco Guerro
Performer:
Gerardo Lopez Gamez (),
Nicholas Mulroy (),
Jesús García Aréjula ()
Conductor:
Albert Recasens
Orchestra/Ensemble:
La Grande Chapelle
Period: Renaissance
Venue: Augustinus Miziekcentrum, Amberes
Length: 6 Minutes 2 Secs.
13.
Christus resurgens, for 5 voices by Giovanni Animuccia
Performer:
Gabriel Diaz Cuesta (),
Ingeborg Dalheim (),
Richard [Bass-Baritone Vocal] Savage (),
Nicholas Mulroy (),
Jan Van Elsacker ()
Conductor:
Albert Recasens
Orchestra/Ensemble:
La Grande Chapelle
Period: Renaissance
Venue: Augustinus Miziekcentrum, Amberes
Length: 2 Minutes 19 Secs.
14.
In exitu, salmi passaggiati by Giovanni Luca Conforti
Conductor:
Albert Recasens
Orchestra/Ensemble:
La Grande Chapelle
Period: Renaissance
Venue: Augustinus Miziekcentrum, Amberes
Length: 6 Minutes 38 Secs.
15.
Crucem sanctam subiit by Giovanni Palestrina
Performer:
Gabriel Diaz Cuesta (),
Ingeborg Dalheim (),
Richard [Bass-Baritone Vocal] Savage (),
Nicholas Mulroy (),
Jan Van Elsacker ()
Conductor:
Albert Recasens
Orchestra/Ensemble:
La Grande Chapelle
Period: Renaissance
Written: by 1569; Italy
Venue: Augustinus Miziekcentrum, Amberes
Length: 2 Minutes 53 Secs.
16.
Christo ver'huom' e Dio, for 3 voices by Serafino Razzi
Performer:
Nicholas Mulroy (),
Jan Van Elsacker (),
Gabriel Diaz Cuesta ()
Conductor:
Albert Recasens
Orchestra/Ensemble:
La Grande Chapelle
Period: Renaissance
Venue: Augustinus Miziekcentrum, Amberes
Length: 2 Minutes 32 Secs.
17.
Anima mia, che pensi?, for 3 voices by Anonymous
Performer:
Gerardo Lopez Gamez (),
Nicholas Mulroy (),
Simon Wall (),
Jesús García Aréjula (),
Greg Skidmore ()
Conductor:
Albert Recasens
Orchestra/Ensemble:
La Grande Chapelle
Period: Renaissance
Venue: Augustinus Miziekcentrum, Amberes
Length: 4 Minutes 39 Secs.
18.
Tantum ergo, hymn for 5 voices by Tomás L. de Victoria
Conductor:
Albert Recasens
Orchestra/Ensemble:
La Grande Chapelle
Period: Renaissance
Venue: Augustinus Miziekcentrum, Amberes
Length: 2 Minutes 52 Secs.
19.
Surrexit Pastor Bonus, motet for 6 voices by Tomás L. de Victoria
Conductor:
Albert Recasens
Orchestra/Ensemble:
La Grande Chapelle
Period: Renaissance
Venue: Augustinus Miziekcentrum, Amberes
Length: 2 Minutes 58 Secs.
20.
Ardens est cor meum, motet for 6 voices by Tomás L. de Victoria
Performer:
Ingeborg Dalheim (),
Nicholas Mulroy (),
Simon Wall (),
David Allsopp (),
Jesús García Aréjula (),
Greg Skidmore ()
Conductor:
Albert Recasens
Orchestra/Ensemble:
La Grande Chapelle
Period: Renaissance
Written: 1576
Venue: Augustinus Miziekcentrum, Amberes
Length: 3 Minutes 8 Secs.
21.
Ego sum panis vivus, motet for 4 voices by Tomás L. de Victoria
Conductor:
Albert Recasens
Orchestra/Ensemble:
La Grande Chapelle
Period: Renaissance
Venue: Augustinus Miziekcentrum, Amberes
Length: 3 Minutes 8 Secs.
22.
Jesu nostra redemptio, hymn for 4 voices by Tomás L. de Victoria
Performer:
Richard [Bass-Baritone Vocal] Savage (),
Gabriel Diaz Cuesta (),
Jan Van Elsacker (),
Nicholas Mulroy ()
Conductor:
Albert Recasens
Orchestra/Ensemble:
La Grande Chapelle
Period: Renaissance
Venue: Augustinus Miziekcentrum, Amberes
Length: 5 Minutes 18 Secs.
23.
O sacrum convivium, motet for 4 voices by Tomás L. de Victoria
Performer:
Greg Skidmore (),
Javier Jimenez Cuevas (),
Nicholas Mulroy (),
Jesús García Aréjula ()
Conductor:
Albert Recasens
Orchestra/Ensemble:
La Grande Chapelle
Period: Renaissance
Written: Spain
Venue: Augustinus Miziekcentrum, Amberes
Length: 3 Minutes 21 Secs.
24.
Regina coeli, antiphon for 8 voices & organ by Tomás L. de Victoria
Conductor:
Albert Recasens
Orchestra/Ensemble:
La Grande Chapelle
Period: Renaissance
Written: Spain
Venue: Augustinus Miziekcentrum, Amberes
Length: 4 Minutes 22 Secs.
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