Richafort/Willaert Sacred Choral Works
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Adrian Willaert, Jean Richafort (Richefort, Richaulfort)
Label: Naxos
Magazine Review Date: 4/1999
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 56
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 8 553211
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Missa Christus resurgens |
Adrian Willaert, Composer
Adrian Willaert, Composer Jeremy Summerly, Conductor Oxford Camerata |
Magnificat sexti toni |
Adrian Willaert, Composer
Adrian Willaert, Composer Jeremy Summerly, Conductor Oxford Camerata |
Ave Maria |
Adrian Willaert, Composer
Adrian Willaert, Composer Jeremy Summerly, Conductor Oxford Camerata |
Christus resurgens |
Jean Richafort (Richefort, Richaulfort), Composer
Jean Richafort (Richefort, Richaulfort), Composer Jeremy Summerly, Conductor Oxford Camerata |
Author: Fabrice Fitch
Reviewing a recent disc from the Renaissance Singers containing several of Willaert’s motets (ASV, 1/99), I remarked on how little of his work is available on CD. Right on cue comes this disc entirely devoted to him from the Oxford Camerata. As one of the most influential composers of his day (Rore and Zarlino were numbered among his students) and the first of a line of famous directors of music at St Mark’s in Venice, Willaert is of undeniable historical importance. The works offered on this disc are certainly worth hearing, though at first blush they are perhaps not as distinctive as one might expect; the Mass is the most ambitious in scale and in conception. Particularly interesting is the extended setting of the Kyrie, which is nearly as long as the Gloria; intriguing, too, is the almost Palestrinian rectitude of its counterpoint. It is always fascinating to observe the strategies by which a composer reworks another’s work. In this respect one cannot overpraise Jeremy Summerly’s consistent practice of including the models on which Masses are based. The Oxford Camerata’s reading has the clarity and confidence one associates with its performances of sixteenth-century music in particular, and a beguiling mellifluousness. Certain details might have been more forcefully put across, but these performances are serviceable and lucid, and it cannot be stressed too often how important it is that this little-known music be made available to the wider public Naxos aims to capture. I hope that future recordings with this ensemble may take place in a venue that allows its full and sweet sound greater play, however. The sound here is clear enough, but a little lacking in bloom and staying-power.'
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