Rating: 5/5
Review:
Another excellent disc from The Tallis Scholars
This latest addition to The Tallis Scholars' Josquin mass
cycle is, like the others, quite fabulous.
Here we have two early masses whose authorship is perhaps questionable,
but which are still very fine and worthy of inclusion under Josquin's name.
Both these settings and their respective performances are
excellent; slightly strangely, it is the more obscure (and more doubtful) Missa
Une Mousse de Biscaye which I find the more rewarding. Perhaps this is because it is new to me, but
its prominent lower register in particular makes a powerful impact on me and
the overall sound often puts me in mind a little of the opening of Josquin's
great motet Praeter rerum seriem. The
Missa di dadi is a little less visceral but still very potent, and both are
sung with The Tallis Scholars' trademark precision, beauty, engagement with the
text and wonderful fluency of line.
I ran out of superlatives to use about The Tallis Scholars
quite some time ago. I have bought each
disc as it came out for over 30 years now; I have never been disappointed and
have often been thrilled. This is
another truly excellent release in a series which will surely be the benchmark
for Josquin masses for many years. It
scarcely needs an endorsement from me, but I can still recommend this very
warmly indeed. It's another real gem.
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