Canto gregoriano
CD-review
Cantemus Domino - The intoning of the soloist during the mass
Nova Schola Gregoriana o.l.v. Alberto Turco
| N° | Mod. | Index | Track | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 8 | Canticum | Cantemus Domino | 03:38 |
| 02 | 2 | Graduale | Haec dies ... Confitemini | 17:54 |
| 03 | 2 | Tractus | Domine exaudi | 07:36 |
| 04 | 1 | Graduale |  Ecce quam bonum |
03:20 |
| 05 | 3 | Graduale | Tu es Deus |
05:22 |
| 06 | 5 | Graduale | Bonum est confiteri |
04:06 |
| 07 | 7 | Graduale | Liberasti nos |
03:52 |
| 46:32 | ||||
Review
| In contrast to what many people may think, the Gregorian repertoire was not solely intended for choirs or congregation singing. A fairly large part of the repertoire was conceived for well-trained soloists. One of these gifted singers is Alessio Randon of Alberto Turco's Nova Schola Gregoriana. He brings a selection of the finest soloist chants Gregorian chant has to offer : a Canticum, a tract and some five graduals. In the graduals, he is assisted by the choir. This is undoubtedly one of the finest performances available on CD at this moment. Randon's beautiful voice takes the most difficult musical turns in sheer perfection and meanwhile manages to take the neumes into account. His conductor, Turco, is one of the world's authorities in the field of semiology, studying the midaeval neumes that render the subtle Gregorian rhythm in a unique way. The CD's booklet is particularly interesting : next to the text of the chants, the reader is presented with the square-note notation and the neumes of the St.-Gallen tradition. Thus, even an unexperienced reader can experience the inextricable link between neumes and text. These midaeval singers were obviously highly-skilled professionals who had to go through many years of training before being allowed to perform as soloists. The crowing glory of this recording is no doubt the magnificent Easter gradual Haec Dies, featured with all 6 verses, heard all but too often. Unjustly so, however : the verses are simply incredible, bursting with Easter joy. The chant takes almost 18 minutes, but time really flies when listening to it. A totally different emotion is expressed in the tract Domine, exaudi. This chant is typical for the more modest and austere approach during the Holy Week, expressing the fearful supplications of Christ in very strict melismas. This is a truly rejuvenating performance of these ancient chants. The music possesses a souple movement, the melodies are bursting with vivid expression and yet the importance of the text is never forgotten. Highly recommended. Willy Schuyesmans - 14th of March 1999 |
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