Canticum Ad Beatam Virginem Mariam Missa Assumpta

Another exquisite recording by Jordi Savall with singers and instrumental ensembles of gorgeously melodic and moving polyphonic sacred music (plus a viol quartet). The notes on the back cover are a bit confusing, so I'll try to explain a few points.Included is a DVD of a 91-minute concert held in the royal chapel at Versailles in 2004. Savall explains in this performance that he was repeating much of an earlier concert from 1989. That earlier performance was held in l’Église Notre-Dame du Travail in Paris, and included the singing of his wife, Montserrat Figueras. Although she was to die in 2011 she was still alive at the time of the Versailles concert, but her soprano role was taken by her daughter Ariana Savall, also a magnificent soprano. Although pictures of Ariana are prominent in the booklet, her name is not listed among the performers on the cover of the album.The 2-SACD Paris concert recording is a reissue and although it contains several of the same pieces, they are not the same performances. Added to fill out the second SACD is a recording of two instrumental works from a completely different 2013 concert held in Cardona, Spain. See p. 18 of the booklet for details.So for the quite reasonable price you get a magnificent DVD in stereo and two fine SACD's in 5-channel surround sound. All the music is gorgeous, but the sound is quite different. The Paris concert on the SACD's was miked rather distantly, presumably to capture ambient sound, but the effect is somewhat distancing. My wife and I found the DVD enthralling visually and musically, and I can't recommend it highly enough.The DVD was in contrast miked close up, in only two channels, but the close-up camera work fits this perfectly and results in a very involving performance. I sometimes am annoyed by "restless camera syndrome," especially in opera productions, but in this case the constantly shifting images are beautifully choreographed to reflect what's happening in the music. The camera focuses almost exclusively on the performers' faces and creates a real sense of involvement. There is none of the "tour the church" sort of imagery that some video recordings indulge in.There's a typical thick, profusely illustrated Alia Vox booklet; but the notes are actually quite brief, though translated into a number of different languages. There are no subtitles on the DVD, but complete texts and translations are included in the rear of the booklet.The principal works from both concerts are the Canticum ad beatam virginem mariam and the Missa Assumpta est Maria.

This is an excellent set of discs from one of the top European ensembles for period instrument music. If you like music of the time of King Louis XIV, you get a top rate rendition of what he liked. The singers enunciate clearly (if you like male, and the multilanguage presentation leaves nothing to be desired. It must be said that male altos are not to everybody's taste but they do not domineer the presentationThe only drawback is that the DVD cannot be played on U. S. equipment, because it is encoded in PAL for Region D (which is Europe). That takes away from the value and is really inexcusable in the early 21st century. Watching this on the computer is a bear. Hence one star less.