Of those composers who held the highest positions at St Mark's basilica in Venice, Natale Monferrato (1610-85) is manifestly one of the most thoroughly forgotten nowadays. After working with the leading musicians of this prestigious institution, he succeeded Francesco Cavalli as maestro di cappella in 1676. His output, consisting exclusively of sacred music, includes some twenty collections published between 1647 and 1681. Although he wrote a great deal of polyphonic music, he also produced three collections of Motetti a voce sola. Most unusually, these three books accord an important place to compositions for the often neglected alto voice. They are so voluminous that only the Libro Terzo of 1666 was used for this recording. The motets are divided into varied and contrasted sections that range from the spirit of recitative to that of the aria, using very diverse forms in a manner that is bound to remind us of the models of opera as it developed in Venice from 1637 onwards. This world premiere recording blazes the trail for discovery of an undeservedly neglected composer.
Handel: Salve Regina / Roset, Alarcón, Millennium Orchestra
Ricercar
CD
$20.99Aug 26, 2022
Julie Roset, a young French soprano from Avignon, immediately attracted attention with her first recital for Ricercar (Nun danket alle Gott with Clematis) and went on to record a recital of works by Sigismondo d'India with Mariana Flores that met with great critical acclaim. In this new recording she tackles several of Handel’s masterpieces on religious themes: his Salve Regina, Gloria and the motet Silete venti were all composed at the time when the young Handel had been inspired to new heights by his discovery of Roman musical life.
Hasse & Porpora: Salve Regina / Linde, Les Muffatti
Ramee
CD
$15.99$20.99Save 25%Mar 25, 2022
Naples was in the mid-18th century the third largest European city and one of the greatest centers of political, commercial and cultural influence. The conservatoires there were founded by religious orders and were originally intended as charitable institutions for the accommodation and education of orphans, but soon became real centers of musical education and performance; many leading composers were pupils and teachers there and so contributed to the founding of the Neapolitan School. Porpora and Hasse are the greatest representatives of the Neapolitan style and both settled in Venice before rising to international fame. Their writing was strongly influenced by opera and reflects the Italian taste of the time; it is also present in their religious compositions. Les Muffatti and the South African countertenor Clint van der Linde present works of exceptional expressive power, with Hasse’s Hostes Averni and Porpora’s Nisi Dominus being recorded here for the first time.
Salve Regina Del Signor Monteverde - Newly Discovered Pieces
Brilliant Classics
CD
$13.99Sep 25, 2012
Claudio Monteverdi and Girolamo Frescobaldi were two of the most influential musical figures in 17th century Italy. This new recording celebrates the influence that these two composers continue to exert over performers and audiences today - and the fascination that their music inspires - through a selection of motets and instrumental pieces, performed with precision and authority by Il Pesago and Maurizio Croci.
Giovanni Battista Fasolo (1598-1664) took Franciscan orders as a young man and worked in Naples and Rome as a master of music at various chapels before moving Sicily, where he held the post of maestro di cappella to the Archbishop of Monreale, near Palermo, from 1659 until his retirement or death in 1664, when his name disappears from the historical record. Interspersed here with solo organ works are eight alternatim settings of the Magnificat, in which a choir intones a line of the hymn, followed by an instrumental fantasia based on the line of chant. Two organs are represented on the album, both of historical significance. The Magnificats, the Salve Regina, the Ricercate, and the Fughe sopra Girometta and Ut re mi fa sol la were recorded on the Antegnati organ (c. 1589) in Verona Cathedral; whereas the Canzoni are played on the organ at Trevi in Umbria, built in 1509 by Paolo Pietro da Montefalco. Despite subsequent alterations, the original nucleus of the pipes remains intact, such that when the instrument was restored during the 20th century the sound equipment was found to be pretty much as it was when it was first installed. Today it is recognized as one of the earliest organs in the world. This album is the latest in a series of successful partnerships on record between the organist and harpsichordist Federico del Sordo and the priest and conductor Alberto Turco. Together they have also recorded alternatim mass settings by Claudio Merulo (BC95145) and Giovanni Salvatore (BC95146). del Sordo has also accompanied the violinist Valerio Losito in Baroque sonata albums by Telemann (BC95131), Tessarini (BC94787) and Veracini (BC94822). The Merulo album was welcomed by MusicWeb International for its ‘stark beauty’ as ‘a fine experience… well worth exploring.’ There is much rewarding listening here for fovers of Renaissance and Baroque choral music as they explore another overlooked figure.
No one has described Pergolesi’s vocal works more splendidly and with more understanding than the philosopher and pedagogue Jean-Jacques Rousseau, author of the Dictionnaire de musique that was extremely widespread in the 19th century, when he wrote: "Here everything contributes to deepening the effect of the text: the harmony serves only to shape it more forcefully, the accompaniment embellishes it without distorting it. In a word, the whole work of art simultaneously communicates one melody to the ear and only one idea to the mind.“ This CD offers 3 Masterpieces recorded by the long time Duo Regina Klepper and Martina Borst, accompanied by the Bamberg String Quartet.
Hummel: Mass In D Minor; Salve Regina / Hickox, Collegium Musicum 90
Chandos
CD
$21.99Oct 01, 2005
The third eagerly awaited volume of the masses by Johann Nepomuk Hummel. The first volume featuring the celebrated period performance ensemble Collegium Musicum 90 under the inspired direction of Richard Hickox scooped 'best choral recording' at the Gramophone Awards. Both works on this disc are premiere recordings. The CD features an impressive line-up of soloists, including Susan Gritton who constantly receives rave reviews.
Ludford: Missa Regnum Mundi; Pygott: Salve Regina / Blue Heron
Blue Heron Renaissance Choir
CD
$21.99Mar 30, 2012
The second installment in Blue Heron’s 5-CD series of Music from the Peterhouse Partbooks features Nicholas Ludford’s radiant Missa Regnum mundi, sung in a musical context like that of its probable original occasion, a festal mass for St Margaret, with plainchant items from the Proper according to the Use of Salisbury. The disc concludes with Richard Pygott’s extraordinary Salve regina, one of the longest votive antiphons extant and a marvel of rhetorical expression.
Werner: Salve Reginas - Pastorellas / la festa musicale
Audite Musikproduktion
CD
$20.99Jan 07, 2022
With this recording, la festa musicale follows up on the outstanding success of its first release with works by Venturini and once again devotes itself to high-quality but unknown repertoire: Gregor Joseph Werner (1693-1766), a titan on the threshold of Viennese Classicism, was Kapellmeister and immediate predecessor of Joseph Haydn at the Esterházy court. He was above all a supreme master of Latin musica sacra, though most of his instrumental music has been lost. Werner's compositions, including his Salve Reginas and Pastorellen presented here, display beguiling melodic invention and bold harmonic expressivity combined with enormous contrapuntal skill. Haydn profited considerably from his predecessor and actual teacher; the gallant, erudite synthesis of the late Mozart is already largely preformed in Werner. Werner's œuvre, which is difficult to access and has survived almost only in individual parts, has been researched by Lajos Rovatkay - also conductor of this recording - in decades of work. Together with the top-ranking ensemble of soloists and la festa musicale, impressive interpretations of the works of this unjustly neglected master have emerged.
Libera, a boys choral group based in south London making beautiful, progressive albums in the classical and the ambient/new age style, have recorded "Beyond", their eagerly-anticipated new album - a transformative and spiritual musical experience. This comes hot on the heels of their successful 2017 "Hope" album. Even with 50 million hits on You Tube, performances for Popes and Presidents, Classical Brit nominations, and their most recent USA and Japan tours a triumph with the critics and at the box office, Libera remain one of the UK's best-kept secrets. "Beyond" includes "Sanctus" with it's extraordinary vocal range and heavenly serenity, the breathtakingly beautiful melodic elegance of "Salve Regina", the exciting and uplifting "Benedictus Deus" and, as an antidote to the angst and pressures of modern life, "Voca me" - and the exquisite voices and harmonies of Libera. "Beyond" is an inspirational journey to the depths of your own consciousness, away from the noise and bustle to find a quiet place to relax and rejuvenate the spirit. The distinctive sound of Libera has travelled the world in the last few years. The group's albums have topped both mainstream and classical charts in many countries, and their recordings hold their place in top 10s alongside major artists. Libera's unique sound has endeared the group to fans all over the world, particularly in the USA, the UK, the Philippines, South Korea and Japan, where their CDs top the mainstream and classical charts and where they pack concert halls appearing in their trademark flowing white robes on imaginatively lit stages. The boys who make up the vocal band Libera normal South London kids aged 7 to 16. However, as their recordings and performances demonstrate, the music they produce is truly extraordinary. With shimmering, mystical chords and ecstatic harmonies, they are unlike any other group you have ever heard.
On this new recording, Stefan Parkman and his specialist ensembles present some of the most spectacular and serene music heard at St Mary’s. It features music by the two composers who held the post of Organist there from 1641-1707 – Franz Tunder and Dietrich Buxtehude – alongside works by German and Italian composers that were acquired by the church. All the music is held in collections compiled by chapel master to the Swedish Royal Court, Gustav Düben, or at St Mary’s Church itself. This album contains three World Premiere Recordings: Salve Regina and Magnificat by Simone Vesi, and Jesu ex penetralia cordis by Paolo Quagliati. The splendor of the music is matched by performances both pristine and hearty. Stefan Parkman is Director Cantorum at the University of Uppsala and Chief Conductor of the WDR Radio Choir in Cologne. He assembled singers from both institutions for his recording, together with the period-instruments of the Uppsala Consort. The result is a total immersion in the spatial resonance of this splendid yet relatively unknown Baroque music, presented in full DXD super high resolution – and available in surround.
Coupling powerful interpretations with path-breaking scholarship, Contrapunctus presents music by the best-known composers as well as unfamiliar masterpieces. The group’s repertoire is drawn from England, the Low Countries, Spain, Portugal and Germany, particularly in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The scholarly facet of the group’s work – including the discovery of long-lost music and reconstructions of original performing contexts – allows audiences to experience the first performances of many works in modern times. Owen Rees is both an acclaimed choral director and an internationally recognized scholar of Renaissance music, particularly from Spain, Portugal, and England. His scholarship consistently informs his performances in exciting and revelatory ways. He has brought to the concert hall and recording studio substantial repertories of magnificent Renaissance and Baroque music, including many previously unknown or little-known works, and he has played a leading role in revealing the glories of Portuguese Renaissance polyphony to an international audience. His interpretations have been acclaimed as ‘revelatory and even visionary’ (BBC Music Magazine) and as ‘rare examples of scholarship and musicianship combining to result in performances that are both impressive and immediately attractive to the listener’ (Gramophone). During the 16th century, the music of Josquin Desprez became hugely sought after. Large quantities of his music were published in cathedral music books and instrumental anthologies (a huge step in this period of history). This inspired three of the greatest Spanish composers of this age - Morales, Guerrero and Victoria. In this new Signum recording, Contrapunctus and Owen Rees explore the repertoire which was produced as a result of this inspiration.
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REVIEW:
Although he includes only one piece by Josquin – the celebrated Salve regina – Contrapunctus’s director, Rees, ingeniously illustrates in this recital how the great man’s work influenced that of three of his finest Spanish Renaissance successors. The connections are sometimes arcane, but device always serves expressivity in this music. These singers give unfailingly shapely, touching performances.
There have been rare CD recordings exclusively dedicated to the organ works by Flor Peeters in recent years. Therefore, our new SACD-release with Peter Van de Velde playing the symphonic Schyven Organ (1891) of Antwerp Cathedral, is dedicated to the grand organ works of this main protagonist of the Belgian organ tradition in the 20th Century. The symphonic Pierre Schyven organ is an ideal instrument for Flor Peeters's large scale works. During his lifetime the composer even premiered some of his works on this organ. Peter Van de Velde, the titular organist of the Antwerp cathedral, choose a wise program across the entire compositional works by Flor Peeters, starting with the early Symphonic Fantasy op.13 and ending with the paraphrase of Salve Regina op.123. Between the monumental works he inserts some of the beautiful Chorale preludes from op.68 to complement the program in an excellent manner.
Blitzstein: Regina / Krachmalnick, Lewis, Carron, Brice, Hecht
Sony Masterworks
CD
$24.99Jul 09, 2010
Opera News Review:
Like so many musical works that originated on the Broadway stage, Regina exists in several different versions. Basing his score and libretto on Lillian Hellman’s familiar play The Little Foxes, composer— librettist Marc Blitzstein created a hothouse musical melodrama that eventually, after many changes, found a home in the opera house. But with its tuneful, easily accessible score, its dance, jazz and folk elements and its abundance of spoken dial ogue, Regina resists easy classification, occupying a middle ground between opera and musical theater. Regina has been treated best by New York City Opera, where two successful revivals, using the original 1949 Broadway sets, took place during the 1950s. This classic recording was made during the second of these revivals, in 1958. Although the version of the score used here differs substantially from both the Broadway original and the more complete recording conducted by John Mauceri in 1992, this remains an uncommonly satisfying souvenir of a great, neglected American opera. Blitzstein was very much a man of the theater, and the vibrancy of this work and this performance leap out at the listener across six decades. Dramatic soprano Brenda Lewis had created the key supporting role of Birdie when Regina had its premiere on Broadway in 1949; at City Opera she assumed the title role and made it her own. She wields her gutsy, multi-hued voice to stunning effect, and she stints not one bit on delivering this character’s full quotient of vileness. Frequently descending into nasty chest tones and leaping up into blazing high notes, she creates a vocal aura that is rarely pretty yet always exciting. Bette Davis used the subtlety of screen technique to make her own Regina Giddens so effective; Lewis knew that in this vastly different arena she needed to pull out her full operatic arsenal. She delivers a thrilling performance. Elizabeth Carron is a touching Birdie; she makes a fine, poignant moment of her “Lionnet, Lionnet” aria. As Regina’s daughter Zan, Helen Strine is clearly in vocal trouble. Although she acts the role well, her top is strident and beset by a wiry wobble, which threatens to destroy the sublime “Listen to the Rain” quartet. Carol Brice, as the maidservant Addie, brandishes the kind of authentic contralto sound we don’t hear much anymore. George Irving and Emile Renan etch sharp characterizations as Benjamin and Oscar Hubbard; so does Loren Driscoll as Oscar’s whiny son, Leo. Joshua Hecht is moving as the doomed Horace Giddens, though he drops the southern accent and reverts to pretentious mid-twentieth-century operatic diction during his sung passages. Samuel Krachmalnick takes a very spirited approach to conducting the New York City Opera Orchestra and Chorus. This disc’s accompanying booklet contains brief informative articles by Frank Loesser, Lillian Hellman and Leonard Bernstein; what it lacks is Blitzstein’s libretto. That’s a shame, because Blitzstein did not simply set Hellman’s play to music — he was a poet who adapted it into a true libretto.
The ensemble Pandolfis Consort, the countertenor Nicholas Spanos and the Czech Ensemble Baroque Choir present works by the Neapolitan composer Nicola Antonio Porpora on this album entitled "SALVE". The music on this album forms an imaginary concert program: In the first part, there are three Marian antiphons framed with introductory and connecting individual sonata movements composed a few years earlier in London. The second part features Psalm 127 "Nisi Dominus". Together, this is the music composed by Porpora for the feast of the Assumption for the Ospedaletto in Venice in 1744. Common to all the vocal pieces is the concentration on the sonorous, uplifting voice with infinite coloratura, the virtuoso part of the first violin and, in one case, the counterpart of the choir, which is scored here as soloist voices. This reduction to the essentials, to solo instruments, to the core of the music, has for many years been the focus of the Pandolfis Consort, founded by violist Elzbieta Sajka-Bachler, performing on period instruments
Hassler: Regina Angelorum / Schuen, Ensemble Vox Archangeli
Gramola Records
CD
$21.99Jan 14, 2022
Hans Leo Hassler is considered one of the most significant personalities among Late Renaissance composers in the German-speaking world. A striking number of his works have been published as printed editions early on, for instance in 1590, when he only was aged 24, the “Canzonette a quatro voci” in Nuremberg and one year later in Augsburg the “Cantiones sacrae“, where among others the motets Dixit Maria and Beata es virgo Maria as well as the Magnificat octavi toni have first been released. In his Missa octo vocum, the mass for eight-part double choir, Hassler follows the sequence of the Catholic mass with its six parts that comprise its ordinary: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei. The Ensemble Vox Archangeli is directed by bassist Manuel Schuen, who is also performing on the Sieber-organ at St. Michael’s Church in Vienna.
