“Al Alva Venid” was originally released in 1995. The release sounds just as good now as it did then. Soprano Marta Almajano sings with a honeyed tone that blends beautifully with the vihuela and renaissance guitar. They’re played by José Miguel Moreno, one of the masters of early stringed instruments. His sensitive phrasing makes every […]
renaissance music
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Thomas Tallis, Katherine Parr, and Songs of Reformation
To fully appreciate the music on this release, you should read the liner notes. To appreciate Thomas Tallis’ artistry, you just have to listen. This release features Tallis compositions written for the nascent Church of England. The music reflects the latest scholarship, which shines new light on Tallis and his catalog. The text for Se lord and […]
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Vittoria Vittoria – beautiful restoration of 17th C. song
“Vittoria – Vittoria” is a DVD-Audio reissue of a 1997 release. Both the performances and sound quality are first-rate. Richard Wistreich is a well-established performer of 16th and 17th Century repertoire. This release presents a selection of Italian and English songs from approximately the same time period. Wistreich’s bass voice has an extraordinary range. Some selections, […]
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Alla Piffaresca – La Rossignol masters of the dance
La Rossignol puts together an engaging collection of Renaissance secular music. If you’re a fan of early music, many of their selections will be familiar. There are dances from Tielman Susato’s 1551 “Danserye” and Michael Praetorius’ 1621 “Terpsichore.” The selections from Thoinot Arbeau, Adrian Le Roy and Pierre Phalèse are also found on many releases. So what […]
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Masses from the Mysterious Master of the Polish Baroque, Bartholomiej Pekiel
During the transition from Renaissance to Baroque that began around 1600, contemporary musicians developed terms to capture the distinction — stile antico and stile moderno. To a date that runs surprisingly late into the seventeenth century, there were a number of composers that worked readily in both, and to that company belongs the little-known Polish […]
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Italian Lute Virtuosi of the Renaissance – Jakob Lindberg
There’s an art to putting a release together, especially one for a solo instrument. With only one instrumental timbre, the tracks can blend together into an uninteresting blur. But change up styles too much, and the album can sound disjointed. Lutenist Jakob Lindberg is a past master of program sequencing, and his latest album Italian […]
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Bernard Cuiller plays William Byrd
Pescodd Time is part of Alpha Classic’s ongoing reissue series of significant early music recordings. The disc was the first recorded by harpsichordist and conductor Bertrand Cuiller and showcases his love of English renaissance music — particularly that of William Byrd. I don’t have the original release, so I can’t say if it’s been remastered. […]
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Thomas Tomkins Anthems and Canticles
Daniel Hyde and the Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford, along with the early music ensemble Phantasm, present an interesting program of music by Thomas Tomkins. Five anthems for choir and viols (as opposed to just an organ) are the showpieces here, and rightly so. Tomkins’ use of the consort is more imaginative than just simply mimicking […]
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Viva Italia – Sacred music of the 17th Century beautifully recorded
This release focuses on the composers who trained, taught, or influenced the music at the Vatican’s Collegio Germanico during the 17th Century. It was a top-tier institution — Tomàs Luis de Victoria and Giacomo Carissimi taught at the college, and their sacred music is well-represented in this program. The 17th Century was a time of transition […]