Rating: 4/5
Review:
A good recording
This is a good recording of one of Morales's masses, framed
by some lovely Marian motets and antiphons by Guerrero. It makes a fine programme which is well
performed here.
I hadn't come across Ensemble Jacques Moderne before this
recording; I was pleasantly surprised by how good they are. They are technically very sound with
excellent intonation and a good blend and balance. They engage very well with the texts and the
overall feel of the disc is very attractive.
My one reservation is the recorded sound. There's nothing wrong with it per se, but the
ensemble are recorded in a very resonant acoustic by what sound like quite
distant microphones. This gives a very
warm but slightly woolly, indistinct sound which can be very effective but the
lack of distinctness over a whole disc does make it begin to sound a bit
samey. After a while I began to yearn
for the clarity and variety of The Tallis Scholars or The Cardinall's Musick,
for example.
Your preferences in sound may differ from mine, however, and
this is an enjoyable disc of fine music in good performances which I can
recommend.
No comments:
Post a Comment