To date, Ensemble Doulce Memoire’s discography has been fairly evenly divided between French and Italian repertories. Here the group associates itself more firmly still with a specific location and repertory, that of Naples in the mid-16th century. One finds here the usual suspects of the popularising trend with which Naples is associated: Gian Domenico da Nola, Adrian Willaert (represented by his infamous Vecchie letrose and the delightful Madonna mia fa) and the young Lassus, on whom the city’s popular musical culture clearly made a lasting impression. Indeed, the imaginative and entertaining programme notes invite us to imagine Lassus masterminding an evening’s entertainment at the home of his Neapolitan employer, of which this is the programme. Some recent releases have shown that such recreations are by no means easy to carry off convincingly; but Denis Raisin-Dadre and his ensemble do just that.
Similarly, this disc’s other theme, the villanella and its more learned polyphonic offshoots, has been generously treated by native Italian ensembles in the last year or so (notably on the Opus 111 label); it is a great compliment to these French musicians that they can hold their own in their Italian masquers’ outfits. There is hardly a track that fails to convince; the diminutions in Madonna mia pieta, in common with the instrumental contributions in general, are skilfully done (even if they place more rhythmic constraints on the voices than one would like), and Vecchie letrose is as nasty as it ought to be. Even when the improvisatory licence is occasionally exceeded, the general tenor of this recital is strong enough to be convincing. As I mentioned before, the ensemble takes great care to present the booklet-notes as integral to the disc’s conception; and after an hour’s entertainment, a little unscripted surprise awaits the listener … which I won’t give away. As I’ve already suggested, this repertory is slowly gaining decent representation on disc, but I doubt that you’ll find a better-judged recital than this one.'