I mentioned only recently (6/08) the lukewarm quality of Philippe De Monte’s modern reputation, however eminent he may have been in his lifetime. The announcement of an anthology from this talented young ensemble promised as fair a hearing as he’s had in a while. In this “Mass-and-motets” menu, the former grabs the attention less readily than the latter, in common with all similar De Monte recitals I can call to mind. Restraint seems to have been his stock-in-trade, and corresponds with what little we know of him personally. Touches of affective writing there assuredly are, but they can hardly be described as vivid.

Given his undoubted, innate conservatism, it’s perhaps on the level of textural handling that one might look for signs of variety and flair, but even among the motets there are a number of pieces (the Magnificat setting, for instance) that one struggles not to describe as workaday. Significantly, even the experienced writer of the booklet-note seems stand-offish in his advocacy, and that’s surely not from any lack of eloquence. It’s beginning to look as though De Monte, the painstaking craftsman, finally lacks the imagination consistently to be found in Lassus or in De Monte’s near neighbour in Prague, Jacobus Gallus. Truth to tell, Cinquecento seem a touch subdued themselves, sure-footed as before, but not quite as full-voiced as on preceding outings. For all that, the most affective pieces here do indeed find the mark, and on repeated listenings I found myself warming to the Mass: a case of catch-as-catch-can, perhaps?