Gabrieli, G: Magnificat

A welcome return to Hyperion for Ex Cathedra and Jeffrey Skidmore, whose exuberant recordings of Baroque music from around the world have made them one of the best-loved ensembles of today.

This latest release presents the music of Giovanni Gabrieli in his four-hundredth anniversary year. These magnificent liturgical settings from the heart of the Venetian polychoral tradition are full of drama, wonder and extraordinary spatial effects. His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts and Concerto Palatino provide the sonic gilding that would have been an essential part of the original performances, when extra musicians crowded the galleries of St Mark’s for special occasions.

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the death of one of the most influential musicians of the Venetian School, Giovanni Gabrieli, and this new hybrid SACD presents his ‘La Musica Per San Rocco’. A sequence written in 1608 to celebrate the feast of St. Rocco, it is performed by the vocal group Melodi Cantores and the early music ensemble La Pifarescha. They are directed by organist and conductor Elena Sartori.

Born in Ravenna in Italy, Elena Sartori studied with Daniel Chorzempa at the Musik Akademie of Basel and the Hochschule Mozarteum of Salzburg, and with Helmut Rilling at the Bach Akademie of Stuttgart. She set up the ensemble Melodi Cantores in 2000 in order to make a first reconstruction, performance and recording of Giovanni Battista Martini’s Requiem. Since then the group has been involved in many musical projects, and has become particularly known for performing rarely heard repertoire.

Once again Herald brings us a nicely themed CD of sacred choral music. Organist Paul Morgan and Conductor Stephen Tanner conduct the wonderful voices of The Girls Choristers and Gentlemen of Exeter Cathedral.