Orlando di LASSO (1532 - 1594)
Hymnus
Audi benigne conditor a 5 [5:29]
Christe redemptor omnium [5:22]
Vexilla regis prodeunt [7:33]
Ad coenam agni providi [4:11]
O salutaris hostia [1:31]
Ave maris stella [6:01]
Jesu nostra redemptio [6:27]
Veni creator spiritus a 5 [5:06]
Veni Creator Spiritus a 6 [7:12]
Hostis herodes impie [2:56]
Jesu corona virginum [7:11]
Conditor alme siderum [3:49]
Die Singphoniker
rec. 24-26 October 2011, Himmelfahrtskirche, München-Sendling,
Germany. DDD
CPO 777 751-2 [63:54]
The five-voice German ensemble, Singphoniker, has
been in existence for over a quarter of a century. With more than thirty
CDs to their credit, their stated aim is to 'balanc[e] solo …
voices in unified effort and present … a wide variety of repertoire'.
The ensemble consists of Markus Geitner, counter-tenor; Daniel Schreiber,
italianate tenor/alto; Henning Jensen, tenor; Michael Mantaj, bass-baritone;
Christian Schmidt, bass; plus Berno Scharpf - a 'vocal percussionist'.
Variety is certainly something that Singphoniker knows about: their
repertoire extends from Gregorian chant to 1970s 'pop'!
It is perhaps this relaxed, slightly stylish, 'off-beat' slant in the
approach to the dozen sacred works by Lassus which will strike you first
about this disc. True, Singphoniker's singing has precision and delicate,
sinuous articulation at the same time. It has gentle expressiveness,
undemonstrative projection of the faith and a rounded, open style of
delivery that reacts to the texts, rather than interprets them. Singphoniker
work their way through the longest piece on the CD, Vexilla regis
prodeunt [tr.3]. They are, for instance, aware of the hymn's many
resonances in Western liturgical music, of its many potential ways of
being sung, of its inspiration and how it has inspired later settings
and works.
In other words the approach on this CD is an actively reflective one,
rather than a pure reproduction of the world of Lassus. Although technically
nothing suffers - enunciation is excellent, melodic line trenchant,
textures are striking - the listener is conscious of having the music
presented, rather than exploring it with the performers. This
may be a by-product of Singphoniker's emphasis on accentuating individual
voices as much as on the ensemble's collective sound. Evocation of moods
is important for these performances although fortunately without specious
effects.
This is achieved by the group's awareness of the need for balance between
hints at parody - the music taking from and consciously giving back
to itself - and their own uninhibited enjoyment as they sing. After
all, the music of Lassus is extraordinarily beautiful and rich.
The hymns date from his period at the court of Duke Wilhelm V of Bavaria,
from the early 1580s. They mostly take the well-established alternatim
format: polyphonic strophes following monophonic ones. The scope for
contrast, variety and freshness is enhanced by the tessitura
of the voices used at each turn as the hymns develop.
Once again Singphoniker brings grace and stature to their performances:
one is never jolted from one world to the next, nor are spurious embellishments
used for effect. Transitions are natural; they reinforce the progress
of the musical and liturgical ideas. The works of Lassus do not emerge
as 'art songs' in these performances. On the other hand they are not
mere reproductions of historically-interesting manuscripts. Lassus is
brought to life without being over-coloured. One senses that this perception
is derived as much as anything from the singers' adherence and allegiance
to modern music and folk song. Their interpretations aren't quirky;
Lassus is always left 'in charge'.
The acoustic (Munich's Himmelfahrtskirche) is not so resonant as you
might expect or at least it has not been so balanced. Maybe this is
a nod in the direction of not overdoing the effects given Singphoniker's
oblique approach to the music and their determination to bring as much
to it as they feel they should. Clarity is uppermost. The texts are
reproduced in the CD booklet - in Latin, English and German.
If you don't know the wonders of Lassus, this is a quiet corner in which
to start. The modern feel of the singing style makes the music close
and easy. Most of these hymns are otherwise unavailable in the current
catalogue. The stylish and individually colourful performances here
make this a broadly welcome addition to the all too small corpus of
well-recorded Lassus.
Mark Sealey
