Never mind the title: like the Lobo recording from La Grande Chapelle (Lauda, 3/14), this new offering takes its inspiration from turn-of-17th-century Toledo and its resident genius, the painter El Greco. Both projects feature Lobo’s fine Mass on Guerrero’s motet Prudentes virgines, a work whose canonic workings earned high praise for its composer.

All four composers featured on this recording worked in Toledo over the space of some 80 years. Versa est in luctum is sung with a poise and restraint. If for his Mass I prefer La Grande Chapelle’s interpretation, Plus Ultra’s exploration of Lobo’s musical environment is attractive and persuasive. Morales, in particular, is a composer whose music is always worth hearing. In his excellent notes, Michael Noone points out that his Lamentations (part of which are included here) continued to be sung in Toledo 50 years after his death. It’s easy to hear why, for here he brings out the best in Plus Ultra. His distant successor, Alonso de Tejeda, is represented by a couple of penitential motets. Lobo’s Ave, regina caelorum concludes this enjoyable disc on a more optimistic note.