Italian ensemble Cantica Symphonia consists of a chamber choir and a small instrumental group, but this disc features only an a cappella vocal quartet. The singers, soprano Laura Fabris, tenors Giuseppe Maletto and Fabio Furnari, and baritone Marco Scavazza, perform music of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries written in honor of the Virgin, as well as two new pieces dedicated to Cantica Symphonia. The Renaissance is represented by composers such as Isaac, Senfl, Willaert, Mouton, and Josquin, as well as good old ...
Read More
Italian ensemble Cantica Symphonia consists of a chamber choir and a small instrumental group, but this disc features only an a cappella vocal quartet. The singers, soprano Laura Fabris, tenors Giuseppe Maletto and Fabio Furnari, and baritone Marco Scavazza, perform music of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries written in honor of the Virgin, as well as two new pieces dedicated to Cantica Symphonia. The Renaissance is represented by composers such as Isaac, Senfl, Willaert, Mouton, and Josquin, as well as good old Anonymous. The album is unified by the mood of radiant serenity that each piece evokes. The contemporary works, Stella del nostro mar by Carlo Galante and Benedicta et venerabilis by Yakov Gubanov, naturally fit into the program; they are gorgeous expressions of barely contained ecstasy. Each of the soloists has a remarkably fine voice -- pure, warm, and piercingly focused -- and each soars through the polyphonic writing with passion and finesse. The singers achieve the ideal for this size...
Read Less