Camerata Antonio Soler and its conductor Javier José Mendoza draw us into the heady world of 18th-century music from ‘New Spain’ – which encompassed parts...

Camerata Antonio Soler and its conductor Javier José Mendoza draw us into the heady world of 18th-century music from ‘New Spain’ – which encompassed parts of the Spanish Empire including present-day Mexico and Cuba. This elegant ‘galant’ repertoire includes non-liturgical Christian works performed by the cathedral choirs of the time, written by composers including Davide Perez, Luis Misón and José Herrando, all of whom made their careers on the Iberian Peninsula. We also hear from two Italians who served as chapel masters in present-day Mexico: Santiago Billoni and Ignacio Jerusalem. The cultural and ceremonial life of New Spain is vividly evoked by these works, which, though devotional, show the influence of the dramatic theatrical and secular music of the time.

The album also features three secular sinfonías from the Iberian peninsula, written in the tradition of the Italian opera overture. Camerata Antonio Soler is joined for this sumptuous recording by sopranos Molly Netter and Eleanor Ranney-Mendoza, countertenor José Hernández Pastor, tenor David Trillo, and flautist Laura Quesada.