Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra & Gyorgy Vashegyi – Conti: Missa Sancti Pauli (2018) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

The modern-day appreciation of Francesco Bartolomeo Conti takes a decisive turn in the direction of his church music with this early eighteenth-century composers Missa Sancti Pauli given an ideal recording on Glossa by György Vashegyi, the Purcell Choir and Orfeo Orchestra. Conti was a Florentine who worked for much of his career in the Imperial Court in Vienna, generating much attention there the ever-observant JS Bach and Zelenka were both known to have been attracted by his music.

Curiously, it was liturgical works like this 1715 Missa Sancti Pauli which kept Contis name known until near to the end of the nineteenth century rather than the operas, oratorios and cantatas with which he delighted the Viennese Court and which have hitherto been receiving the attention of artists and record labels today. If Contis church music is less fledgling Classical than his dramatic fare, there is much in the way of melodic tunefulness and concertato style for both voices and instruments to combine with fugal-imitative writing reminiscent of the stile antico. The work is a Credo Mass, with its rondo-like restatement of the word in the Credo section. The tone, control, presence and unity of the Purcell Choir have been amply demonstrated already on Glossa in music of the French Baroque Rameau and Mondonville in particular and the singers are given full opportunity to shine in Contis mass as are the orchestra, comprised mainly of strings, and the vocal soloists, who include Adriána Kalafszky, Péter Bárány, Zoltán Megyesi and Thomas Dolié. Bárány and Megyesi are also soloists in two additional works: the motet, Fastos caeli audite and the aria Pie Jesu, ad te refugio.

The Orfeo Orchestra’s taut strings are led expertly by violinist Simon Standage and there is judicious continuo-playing from theorbist István Györe and organist Augustin Szokos. The concise contributions of soloists are interwoven deftly with the Purcell Choir’s polished yet warmly sonorous singing of rich counterpoint…The contrapuntal details are balanced and projected with impeccable transparency.
Gramophone Magazine January 2019

This outstanding group of musicians, together with exceptional soloists, give a memorable performance of Conti’s Mass; perfectly phrased singing and cleverly articulated playing allows this tuneful music to flow with pure enjoyment. The disc ends with an aria for tenor and strings, Pie Jesu, ad te refugio. This CD should be one of the highlights of 2019.
Choir & Organ March 2019

Tracklist:
01. Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 1, Kyrie eleison
02. Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 2, Christe eleison
03. Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 3, Kyrie eleison II
04. Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 4, Gloria in excelsis Deo
05. Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 5, Et in terra pax
06. Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 6, Laudamus te
07. Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 7, Propter magnam gloriam tuam
08. Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 8, Domine Deus
09. Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 9, Qui tollis
10. Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 10, Qui tollis II
11. Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 11, Qui sedes
12. Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 12, Quoniam tu solus sanctus
13. Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 13, Sonata. Largo-Allegro assai
14. Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 14, Fastos caeli audite
15. Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 15, Exultent filii Sion
16. Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 16, Alleluja
17. Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 17, Credo in unum Deum
18. Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 18, Crucifixus
19. Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 19, Et resurrexit
20. Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 20, Et in Spiritum Sanctum
21. Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 21, Et vitam venturi
22. Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 22, Sanctus
23. Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 23, Benedictus
24. Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 24, Hosanna
25. Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 25, Agnus Dei
26. Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 26, Agnus Dei II
27. Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 27, Dona nobis pacem
28. Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 28, Pie Jesu, ad te refugio