The disc begins with a long (five-minute) Sarum plainsong hymn, “A solis ortus cardine”. This may have made perfect intellectual/textual sense vis-à-vis the program’s design–a chronological progression through the 12 days of Christmas; but, although very well sung, this fairly repetitive, melodically rather “plain” chant amounts to a pretty-sounding but musically weak opener. The six singers even try to spiff it up with some added parallel fourth/fifth harmony in the middle, but it doesn’t work. Groups such as Anonymous 4, who’ve done many recordings of similar repertoire, knew long ago that even if you’re singing plainchant, you’ve got to open with one of your most ear-catching numbers. But Lionheart–one of the world’s premier male vocal ensembles–saves those pieces for later, as in track 2, a lively carol “Nowell, nowell”, or track 9, the motet “Nesciens mater”, with its gorgeous, striking harmonies, or “Eya, martir Stephane”, a carol for the December 26 Feast of Stephen.
Most of the program, however, comes across as more dutiful than inspired: we get the medieval carols and motets, sure enough, but unlike Anonymous 4 (with whom Lionheart has shared concert tours), these singers don’t captivate or enthrall us with sound and interpretive sensibility. Compare Lionheart’s “Ecce quod natura” and “A solis ortus cardine” with Anonymous 4’s (On Yoolis Night), for instance, and you’ll hear different worlds of nuance and attention to details of harmonic “color” and expressive phrasing. Sonically, the producers chose a very reverberant acoustic that creates an undesirable sensation of distance between listener and performer. Yes, Lionheart is a terrific group of superb singers, and overall this disc certainly shines; but medieval Christmas music gets a lot of attention on disc, and I only wish the intangibles here–inspiration and enthusiasm–had come across as convincingly as the singing technique and ensemble precision. I was hoping for a knockout here, but the verdict was a split decision.
