MIELCZEWSKI, M.: Vocal Music
Marcin Mielczewski: Triumphalis dies; Laudate Dominum; Audite et admiramini; Currite populi; Canzona primna a 3; Veni Domine; Deus in nomine tuo; Sub tuum praesidium; Salve Virgo puerpera; Canzona terza a 3; Vesperae dominicales (arr. R. Gilmour for vocal ensemble and chamber ensemble)
Aldona Bartnik – soprano, Jonathan Brown – bass-baritone, Jerzy Butryn – bass-baritone, Maciej Gocman – tenor, Karol Kozlowski – tenor, Tomáš Král – baritone, Tomáš Lajtkep – tenor, Piotr Łykowski – countertenor, Bogdan Makal – bass-baritone, Piotr Olech – countertenor, Agnieszka Ryman – soprano, Aleksandra Turalska – soprano, Matthew Venner – countertenor, Wroclaw Baroque Ensemble, Andrzej Kosendiak – cond.
CD Accord ACD227
Andrzej Kosendiak, who serves as General Director of Wrocław Philharmonic and the International Festival ‘Wratislavia Cantans,’ recently found himself experiencing a renewed fascination with repertoire from 17th and 18th century composers with whom he’d been acquainted with at the beginning of his musical path. During his preparation for this release, he was torn between the availability of knowledge about the works in question and the sensibilities of a performer living in the second decade of the 21st century. The idea of performing Mielczewski’s vespers in the way they were performed in larger and richer centers like Gdańsk or Wrocław in the second half of the 17th century seemed highly appealing.
In the double choir works, Kosendiak was particularly mindful of the ensemble’s spatial arrangement (placed opposite each other) and that it be reflected in the sound of the recording. For space plays an exceptionally vital role in Mielczewski’s works written in the spirit of the Benetian polychoral tradition. The acoustics of the National Forum of Music in Wrocław offered fantastic opportunities of realizing the composer’s spatial concepts.
[Sources: press release, naxos.com]