Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

Until recently Alessandro Striggio (c 1536-1592) was best known for his influence on Thomas Tallis who, having heard the Italian's monumental setting of the Mass responded with his famous 'Spem In Alium' of 1567. Striggio's Mass was lost for several centuries but since its recent rediscovery by Davitt Moroney it has become justly popular. My first encounter with it was through Robert Hollingworth's I Fagiolini 2011 recording on Decca (reviewed elsewhere on this site) which was coupled with 'Spem In Alium', a useful collection of other pieces by Striggio and an excellent "Making of" documentary on DVD and this remains my preferred recommendation. However that is not to diminish the merits of this new recording by the French ensemble Le Concert Spirituel directed by Herve Niquet. The singing is very good indeed but my slightly less than rapturous comparison with I Fagiolini is due mainly to what is offered along with the Striggio. Although Striggio is the featured composer here he gets about 38 out of 64 minutes of CD so the other material is significant. What Niquet has done is to try and use Striggio's music along with other works that may have been heard in 17th century Florence, home of the composer's patrons, the Medici family. Thus we open with an anonymous Plainchant "Beata Viscera", meet Orlando Benevoli (1605-1672) and Francesco Corteccia (1502-1571) before we hear the Kyrie from Striggio's 'Missa Sopra Ecco Si Beato Giorno'. On one hand this context makes for fascinating listening but on 'tother it is Striggio I want to hear. It is easy enough to reprogram my CD player to hear the Mass through in one sitting but by, in effect, deleting about half of the material I am wondering whether this is such good value. Musicologists will appreciate comparing the different editions and instrumentation used by Niquet and Hollingworth and the performances by Le Concert Spirituel and I Fagiolini are both first class but the secondary material tips the balance in favour of I Fagiolini, at least for this reviewer.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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