Striggio: Missa Ecce Si Beato Giorno
Published:
COMPOSERS: Galilei,Striggio,Tallis
LABELS: Decca
WORKS: striggio Missa Ecce Si Beato Giorno; Ecce beatam lucem; Fuggi, spene mia; O giovenil ardire; Altr’io che queste spighe; D’ogni gratia et d’amor; O de la bella Etruria; Caro dolce ben mio; Misero ohimè ; Galilei: Contrapunto Secondi di BM; Tallis: Spem in alium; plus Sarum plainchant Spem in alium
PERFORMER: I Fagiolini/Robert Hollingworth
CATALOGUE NO: 69:19 mins plus DVD
The instruments transfigure much of this music. They do the heavy lifting for some of the choir parts in the Mass and Ecce beatam lucem, contribute to the spacious sonorities, and add delicate moments of colour. In the madrigals the effect is less happy, especially in Fuggi spene mia where a nimble soprano valiantly competes with what seems to be a stodgy arrangement of a lute intabulation.
Without instruments, the I Fagiolini voices can be tender and nuanced, as in Caro dolce, though tuning problems are then a danger. The accompanying DVD contains three excellent surround-sound tracks, some murkily shot but informative pieces-to-camera by Hollingworth and Adian Hunter (recording producer), and all-to-brief glimpses of the performances. Anthony Pryer
