Padilla: Music of the Mexican Baroque

Juan Gutierrez de Padilla (Composer), Peter Rutenberg (Conductor) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Conductor: Peter Rutenberg
• Composer: Juan Gutierrez de Padilla
• Audio CD (June 15, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rubedo Canis Musica
• ASIN: B00000JC7Z
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #172,950 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Flowering of the Mexican Baroque, January 7, 2000

By 

Timothy Mount (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Padilla: Music of the Mexican Baroque (Audio CD)

To the uninitiated, the quality of choral music composed and performed in Mexico during the first half of the 18th century is astounding. Spanish-born composer Juan Gutierrez de Padilla was thoroughly versed in the "a cappella" style of the High Renaissance before moving to Mexico. Once there he may have felt like Haydn during his years in Eisentadt: voluntarily exiled to musical backwaters where he was free to experiment and nurture his unique musical personality. Careful listenings to this excellent recording reveal some exquisite compositional characteristics of the nascent Baroque, but the overall impression is late Renaissance, in all its glory. Conductor/producer Peter Rutenberg has shaped Padilla's music -- much of it for double choir -- beautifully. Phrases are finely modulated and dynamics enhance their direction. The straight-tone intonation of the Los Angeles Chamber Singers' Cappella is spot on: you could drive a truck through some of their final chords. And the rhythmic interplay between duple and triple -- so important in any performance of Renaissance polyphony -- is carefully interpreted throughout. In all, this fine recording is a welcome introduction, to quote Rutenberg's well-written liner notes, to "the first flowering of Mexico's Golden Age in a garden that was to reach full bloom with the music of Manuel de Zumaya and Ignacio de Jerusalem 100 years later."

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Musical Magic, December 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Padilla: Music of the Mexican Baroque (Audio CD)

Music of the Mexican Baroque is collection of haunting songs of voice. This one is perfect for that candlelit dinner for two. If you forgot anyone these past holidays, give them the treasure of Mexican Baroque and their musical lives will never be the same.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Padilla: Music of the Mexican Baroque, December 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Padilla: Music of the Mexican Baroque (Audio CD)

if you haven't heard it, you don't know what you're missing. It's exhilarating to hear 8 part a capella music performed so impeccably. My favorite piece is #7 "Circumdederunt...". It is so pristine, gives me goosebumps. Too bad there's no sample to hear.