Opinions on the merits of recently issued CDs have been in demand here at the FAQ. Generally speaking, we try to concentrate on factually-based information. However, I am now doing the present editorializing. I will be writing some remarks every month on recordings which inspire me to make remarks.
These are brief remarks, not real reviews. The remarks may assume that the reader is familiar with various other items, or even the recording in question. I urge you to always look at "page of FAQ" links in the referenced files, as well as the CD files themselves. For more comments on what a "review" means to me, as well as links to some other opinions, see the bottom of this page.
Comments are updated at the end of each month, and appear in months during which the CDs actually make their way to me, allowing a few days at the end of the month to prepare the comments. I do not delay in requesting new releases of interest, but the vagaries of shipment from Europe can mean that items arrive here in later months. I do not consider CDs to be "new" if I did not attempt to hear them when they first appeared.
The first of two recordings received this month from Zoltán Kalmanovits in Hungary is an anthology taken from the Choralis Constantinus project. This is a grand project to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Isaac's Choralis Constantinus and its impact on the Habsburg Court and in turn on Hungary. The project essentially consists of a long series of concerts. The present recording, extracted from various live concerts, contains many enjoyable tracks by a variety of ensembles. My complaint is that it is not of great documentary value, because it does not detail its contents, in terms of when they were recorded and in what context.
Another recording is devoted to the Mellon Chansonnière. This fits in well with other recordings of secular music from around 1500 done by the Corvina Consort. There is enjoyable material here, nicely performed, including some sacred works by Tinctoris together with a variety of mostly well-known chansons.
The newest from Musica Nova arrived this month, their second recording featuring Machaut. This is an enjoyable recording & presentation, with good command and a pleasant flow. It is also repertory that has many other excellent interpretations. In this case, the highlight of the release may be the liner notes, with a superb discussion of the ballade form as it relates to Machaut. There is also the interesting performance decision to construct a couple of new voice parts.
The sound and the fury continues recording at a prodigious pace for ORF, this time with a 3rd Gombert album. Obtaining these recordings has been very expensive, and so I will openly lament that they are not being made more widely available by ORF. There are many superb & valuable recordings in this series, as witnessed by many of my earlier comments. In this case, while still appealing, I found the third Gombert CD a bit underwhelming. Both the energy and repertory are less striking, although generally speaking, some of Gombert's best music is in his motets.
A new production of an Obrecht mass has been released by Cappella Pratensis. The word "production" is appropriate here, because it comes with a DVD of the mass filmed in Bruges in period attire, as well as a conversational documentary. The latter seems particularly valuable to relatively uninitiated listeners. Personally, I would prefer being able to read about their approach, instead of watching them discuss it, but it does bring a human element to the production. Regarding the music, the St. Donation mass is not among Obrecht's very best, but certainly has enjoyable elements. Being able to pin it so precisely to a particular time & place is obviously crucial to creating the current production. The performance is worthwhile. Cappella Pratensis has a great command of plainchant, and this mass is based on 4 chants and a secular tune. Their linear style works rather well here, although I do prefer the more rhythmically animated style of A:N:S Chorus. For reference, Cappella Pratensis is about 20% slower, so it's not a huge difference in tempo. Watching the singers can really clarify how the vocal lines interact, for those readers who might otherwise feel a bit overwhelmed by this material.
The latest from Cantica Symphonia continues their interest in large-scale polyphonic works from Italian sources, in this case the Neapolitan manuscript containing a cycle of six L'homme armé masses. These are most often attributed to Busnois, as they are here. This is fascinating and likely influential music, put together in a well-conceived program. The recording was added to my personal list.
A recent release from Musica Ficta is devoted primarily to Perotin (by length of the program), and performed by an all-female choir. The emphasis here is on sonority, and they do achieve some interesting resonance effects in the Notre Dame pieces, which are worth hearing. There is not a lot of linear coherence, though, and the secular items are particularly uneven in this regard. This item continues a recent trend for 2009 releases to have been recorded a few years (or more) earlier.
This month highlights Ars Nova secular music, although admittedly it is less about coincidence and more about how I chose to break up the recordings from over the summer. The most canonical in terms of repertory is Machaut's complete Remède de Fortune. I enjoy hearing these longer monophonic works done in full, as the unnamed ensemble (directed by Pierre Hamon) had done with their earlier Eloquentia release. I do not know about repeated exposure, but at least in the short term, it is enjoyable to get a full perspective on these items, especially as contrasted with the shorter polyphonic forms. These performers bring a great deal of expertise, and I appreciate the sound of Marc Mauillon's voice in this repertory.
Probably the most interesting disc repertory-wise is that devoted (mostly) to De Vitry and Lescurel. Here we hear the very beginnings of the Ars Nova style, as well as earlier transitional material. I have yet to hear a recital I consider truly definitive in articulating these changes, but the selection here is quite appealing. It does not have quite the smooth flow of e.g. Ensemble Gilles Binchois' Lescurel disc, but the sort of angularity displayed here has an appeal of its own. Sonorities are pleasing, as are the instrumental pieces written by Christophe Deslignes.
Finally a more conventional program from a previously unknown group, recorded in 2003, has also appeared. This is an enjoyable program of mostly well-known music, performed in a very capable & currently typical way. Sonorities & articulation are well done. Perhaps other programs by this ensemble will appear.
This has been a busy month for me personally, including the various musical items of interest continuing to appear. I am going to have to put off discussing some of them until October.
The release of an Opera Omnia recording for Regis was certainly a high point. This is a well-done production by The Clerks (who seem to have dropped the word "Group" from their name at some point), and highlights some very appealing music. The previous recording of the Regis masses by Schola Discantus was a favorite here, and so I have enjoyed this music for a while. This was added to my personal list. The other comment I have is that, although the book format in which it comes feels & looks very nice, it is challenging to get the CDs themselves out of the plastic sleeves. Since I will do this many times, and only consult the book occasionally, I would like to ask labels to consider more practical packaging.
Another major release was that devoted to Caron by The Sound and the Fury. This ensemble continues to put out programs of high interest and with a great deal of skill. In this case, it is the first recording ever devoted to Caron, or even to mention him in the title. The neglect was bewildering, and even more so after hearing this music, which is first rate. The recording was added to my personal list. Both of these are major releases, the former less so because I was familiar with the earlier release, but its obscurity may have meant that Regis' music is brought to more people this time. In the case of Caron, of course there was no previous option, and ORF recordings are not widely available around the world (not that Musique en Wallonie is exactly filling shelves here in the US), so again I want to underscore how impressive this music is.
A recording of Josquin motets by Ensemble Jachet de Mantoue features many of his more famous items. Here we find a clear "16th century" perspective in both the performance and liner notes... lots of unqualified talk about Josquin being the greatest composer of the era, etc. And performance-wise, this means less rhythmic punch than I'd like, a tendency to slow down lines, the sort of sighing cadence style, etc. It's what I'm going to call the deification of repertory, performing it with a self-consciousness around "look how great this music is" instead of just playing it. We see this in a lot of areas. I believe it was first pointed out with Beethoven, but this is a classic example, especially alongside the intriguing 15th century choral music above.
I intend to keep 4 to 6 months' worth of comments on this page, depending on the length of the individual entries. Once the comments expire, they are gone forever, and rightly so.
My opinion of "reviews" is as such: It takes a good deal of work to write a proper review. Simply paraphrasing the liner notes and adding something to the effect of "It sounds cool to me; check it out!" or "It doesn't seem like the performance from which I learned the work" does not do the job justice. Any time someone is asked to churn through a long list of recordings to regularly write reviews, there is almost no chance that the reviews will be fully informed. The only chance is if the reviewer is intimately familiar with the music in question, the requisite interpretive decisions, and the intentions of the performer. This can only be true rarely, even for a scholar. We do not attempt to write regular reviews for the FAQ, nor do we call them that. Beyond not wanting to inject more opinion than necessary into our information, this is an admission of our own failings, and frankly, many reviewers should admit the same instead of pretending to write reviews about something with which they have little familiarity (that this happens frequently is patently obvious).
I sometimes write reviews, but I am not attempting to write any here. Hopefully the editorializing I am doing will, however, be interesting. I usually restrict FAQ comments to be positive only, but here I will give some negative comments too, if that is the notable thing about a release. As for what silence says? I leave it to you to infer.
To more of Todd McComb's personal opinions:
See also: discussion of "progress" in interpreting this music, or links to other recordings lists.
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Todd M. McComb <mccomb@medieval.org>