Review by beardawgs January 18, 2005 (4 of 4 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics: |
Kevin Mallon and his band are admirable – just compare this Vivaldi disc with Charpentier’s: recorded in the same venue eight months apart and they sound and feel like two different choirs and orchestras, equally successful and authentic in French and Italian baroque: Mallon’s brisk tempi, orchestra’s firm attack and choir’s joyful singing are authentic Vivaldian as they can be. Opening Dixit Dominus is a set of short numbers, all but three under 2 miutes, offering fantastic variety in vocal and orchestral colours, executed with impressive musical momentum throughout. Fine set of soloists (so far unknown to me) are secure, well matched and perfectly in tune with the rest. Soprano Jane Archibald shines through a short motet ‘Nulla in Mundo Pax Sincera’. Gloria RV 588 is less familiar than RV 589, is also less exuberant, but it doesn’t lack any of the vocal or orchestral invention, again well executed.
It is interesting to compare the recordings of this disc and Charpentier’s, made in the same venue by the same team – this disc is closely recorded, choir and the orchestra are more present, there is still plenty of air, but some impression of the size of the venue is lost. If Charpentier’s disc sounded as if it was recorded in a long and narrow space, this one has none of those problems, but it still doesn’t sound particularly big. The music presented here is more intimate, but still some of the surround is missing. Otherwise, it is transparent and clear, with solid bass and not as shrill as the other disc in the high register. Overall impression is excellent, and for me slightly more enjoyable experience than Charpentier.
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