It is therefore quite a treat to come across of a recording of Carissimi’s music that is truly worthy of his legacy. Shortly after the first notes are sounded, it becomes clear that the musicians of Choeur de Chambre de Namur and La Fenice have a clear understanding of the music they are performing-especially the rhetorical aspects of the text and the use of the continuo.

The opening piece, Vanitas vanitatum, is an oratorio-like work (lacking specified characters or a narrator) with alternating solo sections and choruses, the latter of which emphasize the vanity of our earthly existence in ritornello fashion.

This performance is powerfully evocative, certainly due to the exceptionally clear and expressive delivery of the words and imaginative combination of sound colors in the continuo section. The following cantata, titled Serenata sciolto havean dall’alte sponde, emphasizes the excellence of the vocal ensemble even further; the sensitivity of phrasing, ease of ornamentation, and beauty of tone are truly striking. The final trio, "Amanti che dite?", is particularly memorable in this regard.

The recording ends with a parody mass that reuses the first and last trio of the preceding cantata; the Missa Sciolto havean dall’alte sponde features the entire ensemble in a fitting close to this excellent recording.
ZAK OZMO

Vanitas Vanitatum
GIACOMO CARISSIMI
Jean Tubéry
Choeur de Chambre de Namur, La Fenice
cypres CYP1644
2005 - 67:03 min.