For more than 26 years, the French vocal ensemble A Sei Voci has been exploring both the heart and fringes of early music, offering listeners repertoire not only by familiar composers but also an impressive body of unpublished works by virtually unknown names such as Bencini, Escobedo, and D’Helfer. The premise for this disc is director Bernard Fabre-Garrus’ desire to compile a representative sampling of the group’s recorded catalog, focusing on “the most important settings of Ave Maria and Agnus Dei” committed to disc since 1993. But for both first-time listeners and long-time fans of this world-class ensemble, the rewards are centered in the music itself, the clarity of delivery, the affecting interpretation, the technical mastery that separates merely good performance from the highest artistic achievement.
Most of the works (seven of the 13 tracks) are selections from masses by Josquin, but there are significant entries from others, such as the richly scored Agnus Dei from Bartholomeo de Escobedo’s Missa Philippus Rex Hispaniae, and another gorgeous Agnus Dei by Francisco Guerrero. The ensemble singing during the seven-year period of these recordings is admirably consistent, although there are recognizable differences in individual voices and in stylistic mannerisms–for instance, the Josquin Ave Maria from 1995 is more agitated and less cohesive in blend and balance than any of the later-recorded pieces. The sound varies only slightly from the earlier to more recent sessions, overall maintaing a very high standard of clarity, detail, and warm ambience. If you don’t know this group, this disc makes a good introduction, even though any of its more recent releases–the Bencini Ave Maria or Josquin Missa Pange lingua, for example–will serve that function equally well or better.
