Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra & Gyorgy Vashegyi – Conti: Missa Sancti Pauli (2018) [Official Digital Download 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. Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, György Vasheghyi – Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 1, Kyrie eleison (04:38)
02. Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, György Vasheghyi – Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 2, Christe eleison (02:20)
03. Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, György Vasheghyi – Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 3, Kyrie eleison II (03:36)
04. Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, György Vasheghyi – Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 4, Gloria in excelsis Deo (01:50)
05. Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, György Vasheghyi – Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 5, Et in terra pax (01:42)
06. Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, György Vasheghyi – Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 6, Laudamus te (01:39)
07. Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, György Vasheghyi – Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 7, Propter magnam gloriam tuam (01:38)
08. Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, György Vasheghyi – Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 8, Domine Deus (03:25)
09. Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, György Vasheghyi – Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 9, Qui tollis (02:01)
10. Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, György Vasheghyi – Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 10, Qui tollis II (01:06)
11. Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, György Vasheghyi – Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 11, Qui sedes (02:03)
12. Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, György Vasheghyi – Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 12, Quoniam tu solus sanctus (03:11)
13. Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, György Vasheghyi – Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 13, Sonata. Largo-Allegro assai (03:23)
14. Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, György Vasheghyi – Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 14, Fastos caeli audite (04:16)
15. Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, György Vasheghyi – Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 15, Exultent filii Sion (00:53)
16. Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, György Vasheghyi – Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 16, Alleluja (01:23)
17. Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, György Vasheghyi – Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 17, Credo in unum Deum (02:24)
18. Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, György Vasheghyi – Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 18, Crucifixus (01:29)
19. Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, György Vasheghyi – Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 19, Et resurrexit (02:13)
20. Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, György Vasheghyi – Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 20, Et in Spiritum Sanctum (03:54)
21. Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, György Vasheghyi – Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 21, Et vitam venturi (02:39)
22. Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, György Vasheghyi – Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 22, Sanctus (01:40)
23. Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, György Vasheghyi – Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 23, Benedictus (01:15)
24. Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, György Vasheghyi – Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 24, Hosanna (01:25)
25. Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, György Vasheghyi – Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 25, Agnus Dei (01:09)
26. Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, György Vasheghyi – Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 26, Agnus Dei II (00:44)
27. Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, György Vasheghyi – Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 27, Dona nobis pacem (02:24)
28. Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, György Vasheghyi – Missa Sancti Pauli: No. 28, Pie Jesu, ad te refugio (06:46)