Amarae Morti

Record and Artist Details

Composer or Director: Orlande de Lassus, Tomás Luis de Victoria, Nicolas Gombert, Cristóbal de Morales, Giovanni Palestrina, Dominique Phinot, Manuel Cardoso

Genre:

Vocal

Label: Hyperion

Media Format: CD or Download

Media Runtime: 66

Mastering:

DDD

Catalogue Number: CDA68279

CDA68279. Amarae Morti

Tracks:

Composition Artist Credit
Incipit oratio Jeremiae prophetae Dominique Phinot, Composer
Dominique Phinot, Composer
El León de Oro
Peter Phillips, Conductor
Media vita in morte sumus Orlande de Lassus, Composer
El León de Oro
Orlande de Lassus, Composer
Peter Phillips, Conductor
Lamentatio tertia, primi diei Orlande de Lassus, Composer
El León de Oro
Orlande de Lassus, Composer
Peter Phillips, Conductor
Regina Coeli Orlande de Lassus, Composer
El León de Oro
Orlande de Lassus, Composer
Peter Phillips, Conductor
Media vita Nicolas Gombert, Composer
El León de Oro
Nicolas Gombert, Composer
Peter Phillips, Conductor
Lamentationes Jeremiae Manuel Cardoso, Composer
El León de Oro
Manuel Cardoso, Composer
Peter Phillips, Conductor
Regina coeli Tomás Luis de Victoria, Composer
El León de Oro
Peter Phillips, Conductor
Tomás Luis de Victoria, Composer
Magnificat primi toni Tomás Luis de Victoria, Composer
El León de Oro
Peter Phillips, Conductor
Tomás Luis de Victoria, Composer
Laudate pueri Giovanni Palestrina, Composer
El León de Oro
Giovanni Palestrina, Composer
Peter Phillips, Conductor
Here is a delightful disc made to an interesting recipe: Lamentation texts in alternation with joyful settings of Regina caeli sung with passion and puppyish intensity by a large and charismatic chamber choir directed by the éminence grise of Ars Perfecta, Peter Phillips. The result has the air of joyful adventure about it; proudly choral (as opposed to consort) but with absolutely captivating clarity.

Founded in 1997, El León de Oro (LDO) were the winners of Peter Phillips’s 2014 London International A Cappella Choral Competition under their regular director Marco Antonio García de Paz. Phillips has worked with them since, and this is their first album together. The programme presents Lamentations by Phinot (c1510-c1556), Lassus (c1530-1594) and Cardoso (1566-c1650) with motets, largely settings of Media vita or Regina caeli, by contemporaries Gombert (c1495-1560), Victoria (1548-1611) and Morales (c1500-1553). Their sound is soft and warm, and favours long, flowing phrases over bulging points of imitation. In short, they sound the way Mensurstrich looks. In comparison to many British ensembles their balance is slightly bottom-heavy but the lower voices make such an attractive sound in the resonant acoustic of Iglesia de Santiago el Mayor, Sariego, Asturias, that it often works in their favour. In particular, I love the passage ‘Cervicibus minabamur’ (‘Our necks were threatened’) in Phinot’s Lamentation setting in which the lower voices create great shimmering puddles of rich polyphony. The words are occluded but the sound is sumptuousness itself.

Victoria’s effusive Regina caeli is an interesting case in point. This is not the strident Victoria of British consorts, it is soft-footed and charming. While I still prefer a steelier soprano line, I find myself caught off guard by the simple passion of this choir. Less successful is Victoria’s Magnificat, which lacks the graceful touch found elsewhere on this album. LDO are perhaps at their best in the final motets, Morales’s Regina caeli and Palestrina’s Laudate pueri, where a broad, expansive approach brings a solidity and gravitas to their rejoicing.

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