ストリッジョ: 40声&60声のミサ曲《かくも幸せな日が》

イギリスの実力派古楽系アンサンブル、
イ・ファジョリーニの名録音が復刻!

ロバート・ホリングワースによって1986年にオックスフォード大学で結成され、2006年5月にはロイヤル・フィルーハーモニック協会から"アンサンブル・アウォード"を授与されたイギリスの実力派古楽系アンサンブル、イ・ファジョリーニ。ザ・シックスティーンの自主レーベルであるCoro第3弾は、2011年にデッカからリリースされ、グラモフォン・アーリー・ミュージック賞やディアパゾン・ドール賞を受賞したアレッサンドロ・ストリッジョの名録音が復刻。

イタリア後期ルネサンス音楽の作曲家、アレッサンドロ・ストリッジョは、膨大なマドリガーレや劇音楽を作曲するとともに、その両者を融合させた「マドリガル・コメディ」の発案者としても知られています。本アルバムでは、約400年間消失しており現代になってパリで発見された、40声&60声のミサ曲 《かくも幸せな日が》 を中心に、トマス・タリスの傑作、《御身よりほかにわれは》 など、数多の声部が緻密に絡み合い壮麗な盛り上がりを魅せる16世紀の偉大な合唱芸術を取り上げています。
東京エムプラス

Writing in The Guardian, conductor and musicologist Robert Hollingworth finds a terrific metaphor that confronts head-on the elephant in the room (or the church) when it comes to performances of renaissance polyphony written in many, many parts: its often experienced as just a lovely gooey noise and a rich tiramisu of sound that is layered, sweet, and sensually complex, but exceptionally dense and usually best consumed in small portions. To counter this virtual inevitability when voices are singing 40 (or in one movement, 60) separate parts, on this recording Hollingworth substitutes instruments for some voices. The voices are divided into four or five antiphonal choirs, and Hollingworth creates further textural variety by having instruments double some of the choirs. Anticipating the objections of purists, he asserts that this was an accepted performance practice when the works were written, and offers evidence that the 1567 performance of the 40-voice mass, Missa Ecco si beato giorno (1566), by Alessandro Striggio (c. 1536/7-1592) in Munich, where Orlando di Lasso served the court, certainly included instrumental parts. The centerpiece of this album is Striggios long-lost, recently rediscovered mass, the inspiration and model for Thomas Tallis famous 40-voice motet, Spem in Alium, which is also included, along with Striggios 40-voice motet, Ecce beatam lucem. The editions that Hollingworth uses (by himself, Hugh Keyte, and Brian Clark) are subtle and inventive in their application of instruments to the choral mix. Even the most massive movements, like the Sanctus from Striggios Mass have enough timbral diversity to keep the forces from coming across as monolithic slabs of sound. In contrast to the gigantism of the three featured works, Hollingworth brilliantly programs the rest of the CD with contrasting music for more modest forces, including a lovely Contrapunto for two lutes and lirone by Vincenzo Galilei, a set of madrigals by Striggio, and the late Medieval unison Sarum plainchant, Spem in alium. The performances should prove revelatory to anyone who loves Renaissance polyphony, and even to choral fans who might have been resistant to the music of that era. The crispness of the counterpoint and the differentiation between the groups of the 8 or 10 vocal and instrumental performers in each choir have rarely sounded so clear, making the structure of the music far easier to follow than is usual. The addition of instruments in no ways diminishes the grandeur of the music. The performances are warm but precisely articulated, a marvel of musical and engineering coordination. The recording was made with the intent of being heard in surround sound so that the listener is surrounded (as were early audiences) on all sides by the musicians. The album includes a DVD with audio tracks of the three large works in surround sound, as well as a video documentary about the music, the performance, and the recording. Highly recommended.