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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
My favourite Gabrieli Consort/Players recording, February 16, 2001
This review is from: A Venetian Coronation 1595 (Audio CD)
This recording presents a hypothetical reconstruction of the service of coronation of the Doge of Venice. Like all of Mr McCreesh's "reconstruction" recordings of late, the concept is thoroughly grounded in good research and sublime execution. While it may be true that the Praetorius Christmas Mass CD has more raw energy and joy, I find that the acoustic of Roskilde Cathedral tends to wash out some of the tuttis on that recording, and blur the rhythmic articulation and contrasts of sonority. Fortunately on this recording we have a perfect acoustic for the music selected. It is crisp, clear and yet resonantly rich when needed. The ceremony is presented with the appropriate gravity. Perhpas the choice of polychoral Mass-Settings by Andrea Gabrieli highlights this. They are simpler and more austere than the slightly later works of Giovanni Gabrieli. However, for the pure thrill of sonorous majesty listen to the closing (third) section of the Kyrie. The instrumentalists are on top form, with the timbre of the sackbutts particularly well-shaped in this recording. As in the Kyrie, the vast closing motet "Omnes Gentes" features some cracking sonorities from them (especially some particularly flatulent bass notes near the end!). This track is, in my opinion, the single best performance of any piece in this repertoire comitted to record, and I have returned to it again and again with never diminishing joy - the balance of static sonority and crisply articulated rhythms, chamber-like intimacy and grandiose rhetoric, is perfectly handled by both performers and recording engineers. Like Mahler 8, only shorter I suppose. To pick diamonds from amongst pearls may be unneccessary, but another unique joy is the new arrangement for two organs of the motet by Andrea Gabrieli "Benedictus Dominus Deus". This is given a glittering performance and imitates the improvisations of the two basilica organists written about by contemporaries but never comitted to manuscript. The balance between chant and polyphony is not going to bore anyone in this recording and the small amounts of plainchant are sung with great shaping and sensitivity. If you want a recording of this repertoire, don't buy the San Rocco recording (I find the acoustic too dry and the performances a little too "intimate" apart from in the very large-scale works), get this one or the Easter Mass at San Marco by the same performers. Why the Counter Reformation failed with such music behind it will remain a mystery.
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb reconstruction, glorious sound, overwhelming beauty, November 5, 2004
This review is from: A Venetian Coronation 1595 (Audio CD)
This 1989 recording for Virgin Classics is the one that made Paul McCreesh and his Gabrieli Consort and Players famous. And what a superb disc it is! Although it is no longer possible to establish exactly what music was played at the coronation of the Doge of Venice in 1595, Paul McCreesh has examined all the available evidence and come up with a sparkling programme of music by Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli, complemented by Gregorian chant and also by fanfares by Bendinelli and Thomsen. Contemporary reports indicate that the service held in St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice was overwhelmingly beautiful, and McCreesh has certainly done his best to enable a modern listener to re-live the scene. He recorded the service at Brinkburn Priory in England with its wonderful 'churchey' acoustics and using over thirty instrumentalists and a sixteen-voice all-male choir (falsetto, tenor, baritone, bass). The lessons are chanted in Latin with a Venetian accent by Peter Harvey, Charles Daniels and Angus Smith. In accordance with all the historical records, McCreesh also uses four organs distributed about the church building, and no less than twelve natural trumpets for the fanfares! The sound engineers have also done a tremedous job, capturing the whole service from a position which I would estimate to be immediately behind the Doge himself. If you have excellent hifi-equipment and the opportunity to listen to this CD at a fairly loud volume, then go ahead and enjoy! But beware, the fanfare at the entrance of the Doge starts softly and gets louder ... and louder ... and LOUDER!
As the booklet is also first class, this is a disc I can only recommend. Fans of McCreesh, of Gabrieli and of Venetian church music at the end of the 16th or beginning of the 17th century will definitely not be disappointed!
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
5 stars doesn't do this recording justice, December 27, 2004
This review is from: A Venetian Coronation 1595 (Audio CD)
There is little to say about this superlative recording that hasn't been said before. It represents the high point of the recording career of Paul McCreesh and his Gabrieli Consort and Players. This recording happens to be one of the best recordings of the music of Giovanni and Andrea Gabrieli available.
If you only ever buy one recording of Gabrieli's music, make it this one. There are a few good recordings of Gabrieli's music but none are better that 'A Venetian Coronation'. The recording 'Venetian Church Music', by the Taverner Consort & Players, is similar in quality to 'A Venetian Coronation', only Andrew Parrott did not choose to present the music as a recreation of an event.
The cornetts, Baroque violins, Baroque trombones and organs are all played with great style and panache in this recording. The choir features men's voices - from soprano to bass, and the sound blends beautifully with the cornetts and sackbuts.
Listen to 'Deus qui beatum Marcum' and you'll buy this recording.
This recording was a miracle and a wonder in its time and it is still the most impressive recording of its kind.
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