A Venetian Coronation 1595

This CD won several awards

The other reviews here are spot on and i agree! This is a very special disc.
May i also add that it was awarded Record of the Year 1990 by ABC-FM Stereo
here in Australia and Gramophone (UK) 1990 Early Music Award.
I also suggest looking at abcshop dot com dot au for a superb selection of High quality classical music most of which is produced in Oz and not seen in huge quantities overseas. Amazon does have a few also. Type in ABC Classics
and browse through the selection.

March 24, 2007

Venetian Coronation CD

The item arrived in a good time and was well packed and in excellent condition. It was less than ordering it elsewhere. I learned of the music on PBS radio and was enchanted by it. Having a copy is a joy. January 9, 2007

Wow! This is the best I've heard Gabrieli

The performance of Giovanni and Andrea Gabrieli is quite amazing. The acoustical effects of brass, organ and voices bouncing of the walls in natural stereophonic sound is really beyond description. A good mix of brass ensemble, vocals, organ and gregorian chant. I had not listened much to Andrea Gabrieli before I bought this CD and I have to admit that his contributions to this CD are very powerful.

The "omnes" at the end of the cd has extraordinary musical power. It builds to an amazing climax that has caused many a chill to go up my spine. On a personal note, I listened to this song on my way to see my alzheimer's stricken mother who had died just moments earlier. The finale to this CD represents the finale to my mother's life to me and will always be an important piece of music to my soul. I truly love this cd. January 18, 2005

5 stars doesn't do this recording justice

There is little to say about this superlative recording that hasn't been said before. It represents the high point of the recording career of Paul McCreesh and his Gabrieli Consort and Players. This recording happens to be one of the best recordings of the music of Giovanni and Andrea Gabrieli available.

If you only ever buy one recording of Gabrieli's music, make it this one. There are a few good recordings of Gabrieli's music but none are better that 'A Venetian Coronation'. The recording 'Venetian Church Music', by the Taverner Consort & Players, is similar in quality to 'A Venetian Coronation', only Andrew Parrott did not choose to present the music as a recreation of an event.

The cornetts, Baroque violins, Baroque trombones and organs are all played with great style and panache in this recording. The choir features men's voices - from soprano to bass, and the sound blends beautifully with the cornetts and sackbuts.

Listen to 'Deus qui beatum Marcum' and you'll buy this recording.

This recording was a miracle and a wonder in its time and it is still the most impressive recording of its kind.


December 28, 2004

Superb reconstruction, glorious sound, overwhelming beauty

This 1989 recording for Virgin Classics is the one that made Paul McCreesh and his Gabrieli Consort and Players famous. And what a superb disc it is! Although it is no longer possible to establish exactly what music was played at the coronation of the Doge of Venice in 1595, Paul McCreesh has examined all the available evidence and come up with a sparkling programme of music by Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli, complemented by Gregorian chant and also by fanfares by Bendinelli and Thomsen. Contemporary reports indicate that the service held in St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice was overwhelmingly beautiful, and McCreesh has certainly done his best to enable a modern listener to re-live the scene. He recorded the service at Brinkburn Priory in England with its wonderful 'churchey' acoustics and using over thirty instrumentalists and a sixteen-voice all-male choir (falsetto, tenor, baritone, bass). The lessons are chanted in Latin with a Venetian accent by Peter Harvey, Charles Daniels and Angus Smith. In accordance with all the historical records, McCreesh also uses four organs distributed about the church building, and no less than twelve natural trumpets for the fanfares! The sound engineers have also done a tremedous job, capturing the whole service from a position which I would estimate to be immediately behind the Doge himself. If you have excellent hifi-equipment and the opportunity to listen to this CD at a fairly loud volume, then go ahead and enjoy! But beware, the fanfare at the entrance of the Doge starts softly and gets louder ... and louder ... and LOUDER!

As the booklet is also first class, this is a disc I can only recommend. Fans of McCreesh, of Gabrieli and of Venetian church music at the end of the 16th or beginning of the 17th century will definitely not be disappointed! November 5, 2004

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