On the strength of its title alone, this disc has much to recommend it: seventeenth-century music from the 'regions' habitually lurches towards the newfangled ways of the baroque without completely abandoning older styles or local customs. This happy hybrid is widely admired in the distinct and colourful musical language of central European instrumental music, especially the masterpieces of Schmelzer and Biber, but less easily recognized in the sacred repertoire of the Viennese Imperial Court and south German prince-bishoprics.
The range of works by the 13 composers represented on this enterprising recording is striking to say the least. Konrad Ruhland, the director, is clearly dedicated to the cause of this inexhaustible corpus since he has carefully chosen works representative of four main archives and ordered them in such a way as to offset the functional with the occasional. Yet however honest a cross-section of liturgical repertoire, quality is not universal and Schmelzer's finely-wrought Inquietum est comes as a welcome relief after 15 minutes of pretty variable stuff at the outset. Few of the pieces reveal a particularly affecting treatment of the text, though there is no end of textural variety (best observed in Vinzenz Fux's Justorum animae) and clever use of dance metres. Each of the motets displays compositional competence and in several cases momentary inspiration but not sustained formal or melodic interest.
If this is my main misgiving then the performances follow close behind. The Niederaltaicher Scholaren are disappointing: soft-centred in tone despite a clarity of ensemble. Intonation, too, is often unsettled and there is rarely the interpretative conviction to accompany the belief behind the project. Muted recommendations all round then for all but the staunchest collector.'