MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

REVIEW
Plain text for smartphones
and printers


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

Support us financially by purchasing this disc from:

Jean RICHAFORT (c.1480-after 1547)
Requiem à six voix (in memoriam Josquin Desprez) [34:33]
Lætamini in Domino à 4 voix [3:10]
Sufficiebat nobis paupertas à 4 voix [6:08]
Salve Regina à 5 voix [8:35]
Ne vous chaille mon cueur à 4 voix [2:12]
Tru tru trut avant à 3 voix [1:56]
Il n’est si douce vie à 4 voix [4:14]
Huelgas Ensemble/Paul van Nevel
rec. 2001 (?) before 2002. DDD.
Booklet enclosed, texts available online.
HARMONIA MUNDI MUSIQUE D’ABORD HMA1951730 [60:53]

Experience Classicsonline


 
The Original Harmonia Mundi Musique d’Abord LP series was a decidedly economical venture, in plain white sleeves like 78s and with a printed paper insert containing notes. Though it included some very desirable performances, such as that of the Deller Consort in the Prague Easter Play, a dealer – yes, there used to be such beings – once told me that people were wary of buying what looked like a cheap offering. On CD the series has hitherto looked elegant rather than cheap and has continued to offer much more than basic repertoire in reliable performances – often much more than reliable.
 
Now Musique d’Abord has been revamped in bright colours but once again in economy packaging, a simple tri-fold cardboard sleeve, slimmer than the usual for such packages since the CD is contained not on a plastic tray but slid into a pocket. The disc itself is black on both sides, with the label side made to resemble a miniature LP – where have we seen that before? The notes are easily missed because they reside in another pocket.
 
The economy, unfortunately, affects the value of the offering, since the tri-lingual notes are very sparse – not even Richafort’s presumed dates, for which I was indebted to Hyperion (below) until I saw them in small grey print not in the booklet on the back cover – and the promise of texts from harmoniamundi.com had not borne fruit at the time of writing. I’ve even had to guess at the date of the recording from the information (P) 2002 and the fact that the original CD appeared in March of that year. As for the illustration from the Rusconi Codex to which Paul van Nevel refers in the notes, that’s no longer included.
 
Actually we know very little about Richafort but in compensation the notes concentrate on guiding us through the music. What really matters is the quality of that music, performance and recording and the fact that there is only one other recording of Richafort’s Requiem for Josquin, a recent arrival from Cinquecento on Hyperion (CDA67959 – review and August 2012_1 Download Roundup).
 
Apart from the opening Requiem æternam, where the time difference is due to the Paul van Nevel’s failure to repeat the opening words, Cinquecento take all the sections of the Mass slightly more quickly than the Huelgas Ensemble; there is consequently a greater sense of grief and grandeur from the latter, though it’s not overdone. In fact, oddly enough, their performance of the first motet which follows, lætamini in Domino, though a setting of a joyful text (Rejoice in the Lord), actually sounds more stately than the Communio of the Mass, Lux æterna which precedes it on track 7. That’s not inappropriate since, despite the words of the text, the music is more intense than Purcell’s joyous response to the same words in the ‘Bell’ Anthem.
 
For the Requiem I could be happy with either performance; the more sumptuous presentation and documentation of the Hyperion comes at a higher price, around twice that of the Harmonia Mundi, which you should be able to find for around £5, though it’s possible to save on the Hyperion by downloading in mp3 or CD-quality flac, complete with the de luxe booklet and texts, for £7.99. (There’s also a better-than-CD 24-bit version for £12.) Don’t try to download the Harmonia Mundi recording; it’s likely to cost more than the CD!
 
The motets, sacred and secular, make an attractive coupling whereas Hyperion have music by Josquin and other contemporaries. Only on track 12, the jolly Tru, tru, trut avant, il fault boire, did I think that the Huelgas Ensemble were a little too large for the music, losing some of the jollity thereby – would a large crowd of drunkards ever sound so disciplined? In this motet, too, the recording, otherwise very good, sounds a little too reverberant. This track is available to sample on YouTube and there’s an online score here.
 
If you are looking for a cross-section of Richafort’s music, well performed and recorded, you need look no further than this Harmonia Mundi reissue. Its rival on Hyperion is a little more sprightly in the Requiem and comes with better documentation, but at a higher price and with music by other contemporaries rather than with Richafort’s own music which completes the Harmonia Mundi disc.
 
Brian Wilson

Support us financially by purchasing this disc from:


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Error processing SSI file



Error processing SSI file