At their best, The Sixteen and their director Harry Christophers strike an exciting balance between informed historical performance and broad public appeal. The Call of Rome falls into this group, with limpid performances of some Renaissance favorites, including the most favorite of all, the Miserere of Gregorio Allegri. There will be plenty of listeners who will be more than satisfied with this work and with the serene Tenebrae Responsories for Holy Saturday of Tomás Luis de Victoria. Yet there is an innovative side to ...
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At their best, The Sixteen and their director Harry Christophers strike an exciting balance between informed historical performance and broad public appeal. The Call of Rome falls into this group, with limpid performances of some Renaissance favorites, including the most favorite of all, the Miserere of Gregorio Allegri. There will be plenty of listeners who will be more than satisfied with this work and with the serene Tenebrae Responsories for Holy Saturday of Tomás Luis de Victoria. Yet there is an innovative side to Christophers' program here. For one thing, he devises a hybrid version of the Miserere, labeled "its evolution": the original version of this mysterious piece was lost, and what is heard now is the product of centuries of reworking according to preference, earnest attempts at reconstruction, and sheer imagination. Christophers ingeniously gives the listener a look into this process, without even using the common version in which the singers ascend to the high C (the final strain heard...
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