Tuesday 22 March 2016

Josquin Desprez - Missa Gaudeamus


Rating: 3/5

Review:
Thin sound and unengaged performances

I'm afraid this isn't a very good recording.  I have never got on well with A Sei Voci's recordings of Josquin; I have found them rather thin in sound and somewhat unengaged as performances.  The addition here of the children's choir, however well-intentioned, certainly doesn't help and I find the whole effect rather unpleasing.  It certainly doesn't show Josquin's magnificent music at its best.

There is now a truly excellent recording of this mass by De Labyrintho.  Rather than go on at length about why I find this A Sei Voci performance unsatisfactory, I will simply recommend that you try De Labyrintho.  You will find samples to play on Amazon's mp3 page HERE . I suggest that you try them and if you like the sound, snap up either the download or the CD.  It's a real treat.

2 comments:

  1. Sid - great to find your reviews appearing in a way that makes them more easily manageable than Amazon's unsorted list. It's always good to be pointed to something new and exciting, and I can't count the discoveries I've made through your reviews.

    Being selfish, though, is there any chance you could tag them a little to help us browse through? I particularly value your thoughts on the renaissance & earlier music, for instance, and a rough 'period' tag though hideously inaccurate (I can't see you employing 'baroque', 'romantic'...?!) would help us browsers leaf through the ones we really want to explore!

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  2. Hello, David.
    Thanks for your very kind comments - much appreciated.

    Er...tagging? I'm afraid you're dealing with a real Old Git here; setting up these blogs was about the limit of my techie capability, and even then I had to lie down in a darkened room afterward. :o) I will look into tagging because I can see the point, but I wouldn't advise holding your breath.

    If I do manage it, what categories would you suggest? I did actually wonder about Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern. Do you think that would do?

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