BENEVOLI Missae Angelus Domini. Dum complerentur
I Fagiolini / Robert Hollingworth
CORO COR16219
This is surely peak I Fagiolini? Having enjoyed all of their large-scale recording projects so far - Striggio, Viadana, Monteverdi - this third and final instalment of Benevoli’s ‘Colossal Baroque’ multi-choir masses is quite superb. So, a quick recap if you're new to this: I Fagiolini turn forty this year and following a suggestion from musicologist Hugh Keyte, their director Robert Hollingworth has been editing multi-choir masses by Orazio Benevoli (mid 17th-century, Roman, director of the Capella Giulia in St Peters) as a three-album anniversary project.
The two masses on this third and final Benevoli album are for Easter and Pentecost. The Easter mass, Missa Angelus Domini, seems to have been based on a motet which is now lost so I Fagiolini open with an engaging Easter drama instead by the Venetian composer, Alessandro Grandi. Plorabo die ac nocte - it's for four singers and comprises many drooping, lamenting phrases that make huge demands of each singer's range. Grandi creates a stark expression of grief (and shock, frankly) setting Mary Magdalene's words 'they have taken away my Lord...' and thanks to a flexible, responsive performance these words hit home strongly. [...]
To read the full text of this review please visit Gramphone.co.uk (May 2026)
Comments
Post a Comment