Early Music - Palestrina: Choral Works / Oxford Camerata

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Music reviews of Early Music - Palestrina: Choral Works / Oxford Camerata

Music Review: Overall Excellence
Rating: 5 Stars

The whole of the Pope Marcellus Mass is a model of artfully managed simplicity; it is a glorious sound -- the Kyrie and the Sanctus especially are wonderfully serene and ethereal.

The other Mass is fine, too; a bit more rythmic activity, something more of the jauntiness of the madrigal, than the monumental Pope Marcellus Mass, but all the same, a lovely piece, and well sung here.

The Oxford Camerata here have a lovely, warm sound, very nicely blended; there is excellent rhythm in the ensemble, as well.

The Stabat mater is an exquisite work, one of those unnecessarily well-kept secrets; a fantastic piece which is marvelously suited to Holy Week observances (he writes, in Eastertide ....)

The Allegri Miserere is beautiful, as well. I have both this, and the Tallis Scholars; I don't want to get into the "this one is better than the other" swamp ... they have somewhat different characters, much as two people have different tones of voice, and yet both voices may be perfectly pleasant. The high soprano in the figure which is the trademark of the Allegri, has good control; I have an idea that the corresponding singer in the Tallis Scholars recording may be a little "rounder," a little more covered in tone. But as I say, both are fine, and wondrously musical.

Description of Early Music - Palestrina: Choral Works / Oxford Camerata

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