Customer Reviews

Musik Fur San Marco In Venedig/Musique Pour Saint Marc De Venise/Music For San Marco In Venice

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

... said Winston Churchill once, when chided for his usage of a dangling preposition. Well, I have certain personal reasons for being outraged when the instrumentalists are not mentioned in program notes on roughly equal terms with singers, and we're all outraged these days when CD marketers omit texts of music intended to be expressive of words. This time, however, DHM/Sony has taken outrage to a new level! The one-fold artwork in the CD case has: no notes, no texts, no instrumentalists, no singers, and NO COMPOSERS! An inexperienced listener might be led to suppose that conductor Thomas Hengelbrock wrote this "Music for San Marco" all by himself, which would make him easily the greatest living composer of the 17th C.

For a change, even amazoo provides better info:

1. Dixit Dominus II, motet for 8 voices, 2 violins & 4 violas/trombones (from Selva morale et spirituale), SV 264 'Composed by Claudio Monteverdi
2. O Jesu mi dulcissime, motet for 8 voices (1615) 'Composed by Giovanni Gabrieli
3. Psalm "Lauda Jerusalem," for 8 voices & ensemble 'Composed by Pietro Francesco Cavalli
4. Canzona à 8 'Composed by Pietro Francesco Cavalli
5. Incipite Virgini (from Sacrae cantilene concertate) 'Composed by Giovanni Croce
6. O viri Veniti (from Sacrae cantilene concertate) 'Composed by Giovanni Croce
7. Plorabo die ac nocte, for 4 voices 'Composed by Alessandro Grandi
8. Sonata a 3 "La Foscarina", for chamber instruments & continuo, Composed by Biagio Marini
9. Gloria, motet for 12 voices 'Composed by Giovanni Gabrieli
10. In convertendo, for 2SATB & continuo 'Composed by Pietro Francesco Cavalli
11. Canzon Decima Ottava 'Composed by Claudio Merulo
12. Canzon 23 'Composed by Claudio Merulo
13. Deus, Deus meus, ad te, motet for 10 voices 'Composed by Giovanni Gabrieli
14.Magnificat, for 8 voices & strings 'Composed by Pietro Francesco Cavalli '

And the hideous shame is that the CD offers a monumental performance, one of the best ever recorded of this repertoire. It's a composite concert, not a liturgical recreation, and as such it's extra exciting to hear, with fine agile singing, elegant instrumental ornamentation, flawless tuning of all participants, beautiful organ continuo, and amazingly good sound recording quality. The composite includes several famous pieces beginning with Monteverdi's Dixit Dominus, and several gems that have never been recorded elsewhere. It's a five-star performance, even despite the shabby lack of notes.