Soloists; Goldberg Baroque Ensemble; Andrzej Szadejko
Description
Continuing MDG's pioneering 'Musica Baltica' series, this new SACD recording presents works by Johann Valentin Meder, who was Kapellmeister at St. Mary's church, Gdansk, until 1698, including motets with up to three choirs.
It must have been spectacular when the Council was newly
elected in Gdansk - music was played on all organs in St.
Mary's Church, and the responsible Kapellmeister had to
deliver festive multi-choral works for the occasion.
Andrzej Szadejko and his Goldberg Baroque Ensemble
convey a fascinating impression of this baroque practice
in a splendid premiere recording of Meder's Sacred Music.
Elsewhere, multi-choir singing had long since gone out of
fashion, but in Meder's music, this opulent and therefore
harmonically mostly simple movement style of earlier
times is combined with the highly topical concertante
style of the Italian Baroque. Meder was always at the forefront of musical styles; one of the first operas in German language was written by him.
This lavish production highlights the large, recently reconstructed late baroque Merten-Friese organ on the rood screen of Gdansk's Trinity Church which is also used for the three-choir motets.
Together with kettledrums, trumpets and trombones, it completes the tonal triangle with the top-class vocal choirs on the right and left, using the full-sounding pedal work - an exciting sound celebration, which can of course be experienced most impressively in three-dimensional reproduction via MDG's 2+2+2 SACD superb recording technique.
Tracklisting
Cologne Chamber Choir, Collegium Cartusianum, Peter Neumann
Stephen Marchionda
Christian Euler, Paul Rivinius
Caterva Musica, Erdal Akkaya
Leipzig String Quartet
Andrzej Szadejko, Agnieszka Budzinska-Bennett, Cracow Singers
Lea Suter
Wolfgang Sawallisch, Leopolder-Quartett, Munchner Klaviertrio
Real Camara; Officium Ensemble
Dionysos Now!
Ensemble ArtChoral; Matthias Maute
Die Radierer
St. Florianer Sangerknaben; Ars Antiqua Austria; Gunar Letzbor
La Colombina; Schola Antiqua
Patrick Demenga; Latvian State Academic Choir; Youth Choir Kamer; Riga Cathedral Boys Choir; Andres
Chor "Astrolabium", Tomasz Drozdek T.ETNO, Kinga Litowska
