Coming Soon, Sistine Chapel Choir

Big news for early music fans! A groundbreaking album from DG is in the pipeline that will feature the Sistine Chapel Choir (one of the oldest, if not the oldest, religious choirs in the world) singing in the Chapel itself. Its list of alumni is long and impressive, with one of the most recent being contemporary tenor Vittorio Grigolo.

Incredible as it may sound, this is one of the first recordings ever made in the Sistine Chapel, and the first non-live recording to feature the Chapel Choir. This recording is by special permission of the Pope, and features music that was written for the Chapel by Victoria, Lassus and others. All the composers on the disc have a strong connection to the Vatican – Felice Anerio and Palestrina each serving as official composers to the choir for part of their careers, Allegri singing as a countertenor there, and Lassus holding the musical reins at the Lateran Basilica.

The original version of Allegri's well-loved Miserere has pride of place, alongside the world premiere recording of a Nunc dimittis attributed to Palestrina which is still used to this day in Papal ceremonies.

This really is the Renaissance equivalent of a Ring Cycle from Bayreuth – hearing this music sung in the building it was written for. The Sistine Chapel has been one of the central points Western Christianity for over half a millennium, and the influence of the Roman Catholic Church on the evolution of Western music generally would be hard to overstate.