Chandos first issued this disc of
Catherine Bott and the Purcell Quartet back in 1997 as Vivaldi: In furore. Here it comes again, this time with a snazzier, more exotic front cover as Vivaldi: Laudate Pueri, Dominum. Nothing else about the package or contents have changed, and this is good news as this disc is one of the best Baroque offerings to be found in Chandos' early music series, Chaconne.
This is still one of the finest discs of
Antonio Vivaldi's sacred solo music one is likely to find, similar recitals by
Patrizia Ciofi and
Cecilia Bartoli notwithstanding.
Catherine Bott sails over the spindly textures of the Purcell Quartet like a siren's song aloft in the night, as sailors struggle with a storm-tossed vessel.
Bott's voice is sweet, airy, and transparent, whereas the Purcell Quartet keeps itself profitably busy in the two vocal motets (the title work and In Furore iustissimae irae). The Quartet lets it all hang out in the Concerto a Quattro Op. 12/3, RV 124, the Concerto Madrigalesco, RV129, and the Sonata and Sinfonia al Santo Sepulcro, RVs 130 and 169, respectively. The Sinfonia al Santo Sepolcro is heard in its most bracing performance here -- this unusual little piece begins on a pungent discord, the minor second, and the Purcell Quartet makes you feel it, like a dagger going in. These pieces are often played with full string sections, but were intended as chamber concerti; the Purcell Quartet definitively makes the case that smaller dimensions fit the music more comfortably.
Vivaldi: Laudate Pueri, Dominum also includes excellent notes by topmost
Vivaldi scholar Michael Talbot, in itself a sign of quality. If you take a long, hard look at your music collection and decide you have only room for three or four
Vivaldi discs, Vivaldi: Laudate Pueri, Dominum should be one of them.