[ Harmonia Mundi SACD / Hybrid SACD ]
Release Date: Wednesday 1 March 2017
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Franco-Flemish composer Giaches de Wert wrote a considerable amount of sacred music during the late Renaissance, but little of it was published during his lifetime. Only three books of motets were released in 1566 and 1581. Stile Antico's new album introduces us to another side of this composer who, though Flemish-born, spent most of his life in Italy, primarily in Mantua, where he was to remain for the rest of his life, though not without maintaining connections (both musical and, during the mid-late 1580s, romantic) with the court at Ferrara, where the lively musical life must have been a welcome distraction from his not-always-happy existence at the Mantuan court. The unique and dramatic style of these remarkable motets cannot fail to ravish explorers of this 'divine theatre'.
"The rewards of this outstanding disc are double. On one hand, one is presented with the marvel of High Polyphony performed to perfection. On the other hand, there is a feeling that new doors have been opened...Monteverdi and all the magnificence of the new worldly celebration of the Baroque is just around the corner, and yet we still have our bearings in a splendid world that makes perfect sense." Audiophile Audition, 11th February 2017
"This selection of motets, mostly for five or six voices, is unexpectedly rich in imagination, variety, and often sheer joyful energy, and the performances boast a high-quality technical brilliance." Financial Times, 20th January 2017 ****
"It is a testament to Werts's emotional immediacy that this album is one of their (Stile Antico's) most engaging recording; polyphony to grab one's attention rather than to carpet a devotional daydream" Gramophone Award Nomination 2017 - Early Music
"Thirteen voices in varied choral and consort configurations explore effects ranging from architectural solemnity to madrigalian filigree, revelling in both conventional polyphony and experimental eccentricity. Theatre, certainly, and divine beyond question, there's magnificent intensity in these radiant performances, with brilliantly instinctive communication and that je ne sais quoi stemming from unconducted corporate responsibility." Choir & Organ
Gaudete in Domino
Hoc enim sentite in vobis
Saule, Saule
Vox in Rama
Amen, amen dico vobis
Egressus Jesus
Peccavi super numerum
O crux ave
Ascendente Jesu
Virgo Maria hodie ad coelum
Quiescat vox tua
Deus iustus, et salvans
O altitudo divitiarum