Customer Reviews

Miserere

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What a disc. This music is both dense and simple, somber yet cheerful, complex and transparent, ornamented and very straightforward. Just like the Christianity it celebrates, this music is a mixture of the mysterious and the open, and makes an absolutely riveting CD.

The performances are sensational; these folks know this music. Recorded in Prague by a Czech chorus, the language flows and bubbles, the music never standing still and always going someplace interesting. And Zelenka, a massively underappreciated genius, is a man who wrote for the ages. Certainly not as influential as his great coevals Bach, Telemann and Vivaldi, his music is every bit as beautiful.

A flawless disc, one I listen to often with immense pelasure.

Jan Dismas Zelenka lived just about at the same time as J.S. Bach, with nearly the same life span, separated by only a few years as well as less than 100 miles, as Zelenka spent much of his working life in Dresden, as opposed to Bach in Leipzig. This CD includes 4 Psalm settings, and the notes claim first recordings for the 'Laetatus sum' setting of Psalm 122 and for the 'Memento Domine David' setting of Psalm 132. The 'Chvalate Boha silneho' setting of Psalm 150 is in Czech, but the other 3 settings have Latin texts. The original texts are included, without translations. However, having a Bible on hand will provide the translations, of course.

The performances are on period instruments and are good across the board. This may not be the easiest CD to find, but if you do come across it and are interested in exploring the Baroque beyond Bach and Handel, this is worth a listen. Incidentally, this CD is more properly titled "Psalmi", the Czech plural of "Psalms", although the second work on the CD is indeed a 'Miserere'.