“A sei voci” seems a conspicuously inappropriate name for the present ensemble, which consists of 12 voices plus positive organs, theorbos and violone. In fact, there is a slightly Alice in Wonderland feel about numbers in general here, since the Cappella Giulia, for which Jommelli was writing at St Peter’s, had 18 singers; and the number of soloists credited for each item does not tally with that specified in the notes. (There is a similar confusion about dates, which in three languages have Jommelli leaving Rome some years before he was appointed.)
But what is important is the music, which comes from a couple of centuries later than the repertoire in which we have previously heard the group. These Vespers, put together from different sources around 1750, are presented with a fervour that at once disposes one in favour of this performance, despite an occasional small untidiness (which argues an enthusiastic spontaneity) or lapse in exactness of intonation, and a suspicion that the expressive shading, dynamic range and emphasis on verbal meaning are greater than would have been customary in St Peter’s. In the antiphons, however, some details of the present soloists’ melismata might with advantage have been neater.
The inclusion of two movements by Costanzi, Jommelli’s slightly older successor at St Peter’s (one of which, Laudate pueri, offers a spectacularly florid part to a solo soprano, in which Catherine Padaut shines), however, serves to throw into relief Jommelli’s greater melodic invention, polyphonic mastery and, particularly, his striking chromaticisms and bold harmony. Interesting, too, is the diversity of his structures. The Magnificat, which contains a remarkable section for three bass voices, makes use of the device of an echo chorus; the verses of the very fine Miserere alternate with plainchant; the Beatus vir begins with a ternary-rhythm section with a repeated refrain after the Monteverdi manner, and proceeds via solos and a fugue to a faster closing section, ending with a fugal “Et in saecula”. This disc makes a useful addition to the still limited general appreciation of Jommelli as a major figure.'