Golden Renaissance: Palestrina in Bloomington, MN

The year 2025 marks (probably) the 500th anniversary of
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
's birth year, and it has kicked off with several new recordings of his music.
Palestrina
has gone through cycles of popularity and neglect, but there are some works that have persisted even through the lean times. Those are the subject of this release by the small choir
Stile Antico
, which reached classical best-seller lists early in the year. The program is built around the most famous
composition of all, the
Missa Papae Marcelli
("
Pope Marcellus Mass
"), which is a quintessential expression of his style. It is a large but clear work, with a serene mood and vast musical spaces filled with complex polyphony but remaining transparent thanks to the composer's careful stepwise counterpoint and skillful treatment of the text. The voices of the small choir have some grain; this work is often sung with the most ethereal quality choir directors can get from their singers, but the small forces of
, with three singers per part, allow a bit of grain and cohere well in a way that defines the polyphony sharply. (There is no director.) The mass movements are interspersed with motets, as would have been done in the composer's own time, and these too are among
's most famous;
Tu es Petrus
and
Sicut cervus
("As the deer desires the fountains") are powerful, economical illustrations of biblical texts, with sparser textures than in the masses. There is nothing so brilliantly new about the performances here, although they do show that
works well with a smaller choir, which is indeed just a bit smaller than what the composer had at his disposal. This release might well make a good introduction to
for listeners just becoming acquainted with the composer in his quincentenary year. ~ James Manheim