EMA Recording & Book Reviews

A sacred 'parody Magnificat' pays homage to another composer's smaller work, such as a secular madrigal. The parody's craftsmanship and originality display reverence for the original. A recent album of Magnificats by Orlandus Lassus, alongside the pieces that served as inspiration, is a brilliant game of matched pairs.

Influential at the Bavarian court in the 16th century, Ludwig Daser and his music were overshadowed by his posthumously more celebrated contemporaries. But Daser's lyrical gifts and structural innovations are gaining adherents, including the pan-European vocal ensemble Cinquecento. Their latest recording capture all the tension and exuberance of this remarkable music.

The great recorder virtuoso, conductor, and early-music pioneer Frans Brüggen died a decade ago, but his legacy remains strong. One of today's brightest stars borrowed rare instruments from Brüggen's collection. With limited time on fragile instruments, she plays to each of their strengths, often with 'breath-taking intimacy.'

Medieval ensemble Trobár celebrates women in 14th and 15th c. song, centered on poet Christine de Pizan and her musical circles, including (male) composers who are now famous, obscure or anonymous. It's a "he said/she said" dialogue on love, equality, and courtly virtues.

Countless works, preserved only in partbooks, remain unheard to modern ears because one or more of the books are lost. Now Jacob Obrecht's Mass on the 'Scaramella' tune has been completed with best-guess scholarship and recorded by the outstanding Binchois Consort.

The Butter Quartet, who met as students at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague, released their debut recording with 'Scintilla: Early Italian String Quartets.' In buoyant, impeccable playing, they capture the galant spirit of music by Pugnani, Boccherini, Lombardini Sirmen, and Giardini. Excellent performances of attractive, varied repertoire.

With a lively writing style, Katherine Butler Schofield's 'Music and Musicians in Late Mughal India: Histories of the Ephemeral, 1748-1858' offers a deeply researched study of early Hindustani musical practices in courtly and colonial settings. The era is one of sociopolitical transition during the century of the powerful British East India Company’s conquest of India.

Canadian violinist Marie Nadeau-Tremblay plays with uncommon immediacy, spontaneity, and rhetorical ease. In her latest recording, the violinist and her outstanding partners obsess over music by Biber, Buxtehude, Guillemain, and Francoeur -- all delivered in three full dimensions and with real Baroque fire.

With Notre-Dame set to reopen in December, this fine new recording celebrates sacred music linked to the cathedral, anchored by André Campra’s beloved Requiem. But the most interesting listening may be the handful of rarely heard motets, hymns, and mass settings by earlier composers at Notre-Dame.

Toronto's Tafelmusik, led by British violinist Rachel Podger, wholeheartedly embrace the 'Sturm und Drang' of Haydn's middle period symphonies. Their razor-sharp ensemble and deep musicality make these live recordings thoroughly satisfying.