Cristina Fanelli (s), Maria Eleonora Camnada (s), Ilaria Molinari (m-s), Blagoj Nacoski (t), Leo Zappitelli (t), Alessandro Ravasio (b), Intende Voce Ensemble, Orchestra Da Camera Canova / Mirko Guadagnini (dir)

Urania Records ★★★

This is the first recording of the elaborate 14-movement Gloria by Antonio Caldara (1670-1725), written while he was in the service of the Duke of Mantua. The autograph score, inscribed ‘Venice, 1707’, is in the National Library in Vienna and was recently rediscovered and transcribed by musicologist Luca Della Libera.

It’s a really inventive, engaging setting, but unfortunately a lively instrumental introduction to this performance leads to disappointment when the choir enters as if wearing hobnailed boots. The lower voices are cumbersome throughout, with some unstable tuning, and over-long pauses between the movements interrupt the flow of the piece. The upper voices are much more pleasing and the performance is redeemed by Cristina Fanelli’s virtuosic solo in the ‘Quoniam...’ , embellished by sparkling trumpets and oboes and leading to a simply splendid ‘Cum sancto spiritu’. This is the second project by this team contrasting baroque and 20th-century repertoire, following a previous disc of Scarlatti and Howells; it’s a shame the vocal forces aren’t more refined, especially as the Berlin Radio Choir released a version of the beautiful Respighi Nativity anthem a few years ago that has all the lightness of touch that is missing here.

This review originally appeared in the Spring 2024 issue of Choir & Organ magazine. Never miss an issue – subscribe today