The polychoral and antiphonal works of Giovanni Gabrieli sound best performed in the acoustics for which they were conceived, such as the Scuola Grande di San Rocco in Venice, where this splendid collection was recorded. Whether in extroverted pieces like the Sonatas 18 and 20, or the introspective and harmonically rich Domine, Deus meus, the sounds that resonate between the notes are crucial to this composer's expression. Time and again one's ears perk up at Gabrieli's genius for blending the most unlikely sonorities imaginable, such as six low voices and six sackbuts (early relatives of the trombone) in the extraordinary Suscipe clementissime. Although Gabrieli may have been the first "spatial" composer, or perhaps the first sound designer, he never indulges in fanciful effects for their own sake. The sonics manage to convey the music's spatial requirements without sacrificing clarity. --Jed Distler

Customer Rating:
Summary: Good Second Choice
Comment: This recording was made only a year before La Fenice's "Giovanni Gabrieli: In Festo Sanctissimae Trinitatis". Thus for one year it was probably the best CD of Gabrieli on the market. It's still an attractive performance, with some tracks that are luscious and a few that are lumpy. I'll try to explain why I prefer the sounds of La Fenice.

Like "In Festo S. Trinitatis", this performance is a composite of Gabrieli sonatas, toccatas, and Latin-texted motets, arranged as they might have been heard in the church of San Rocco in Venice, on the saint's feast day. This is surely the right concept for performing Gabrieli for modern listeners, combining solemn majesty with instrumental fireworks. Soloists Robert Harre-Jones, Robin Blaze, Donald Grieg, Charles Pott and others, familiar to Early Music fans, all live up to their reputations here, as do the cornettos and violins of Paul McCreesh's Gabrieli Players. But there lies the problem; this isn't particularly music for soloists. If anything, Paul McCreesh conducts these polychoral structures with too much attention to the "top lines" and high voices/instruments. The middle voices are heard as "supporting" and therefore not expressively independent. The whole "sound" is grand and resonant, but it's too symphonic. The balance is soprano-heavy, the tenor is flaccid in the more complex pieces, and the bass is stolid.

I'm making the recording sound less magnificent than it is. The CD by Jean Tubery and La Fenice is interpretatively better but this one is richly sonorous and highly enjoyable. To be second best in such a musical league is still awfully good.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Bliss
Comment: This CDs sound quality is superb and highlights the antiphonal quality of the works.

This CD displays the range of Gabrieli, who is, in my opinion, one of the most underrated composers. There are pieces for every mood. From the triumphal "Jubilate Deo," to the dynamic "Magnificat," this collection does not disappoint. My favorite track has to be "Suscipe, Clementissime Deus." It starts off as very prayerful, introspective and pleading and blossoms into an outpouring of fervor toward the end when the singers exclaim, "Tu solus sanctus, tu solus Dominus, to solus altissimus, Jesu Christe."

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Giovanni Gabrieli: Music For San Rocco
Comment: I am huge fan of music from this time period and I have listened to countless composers that are able to create and compose stupendous and astounding music. Gabrieli is one those geniuses. Music for San Rocco is a splendid piece and I agree with Thomas Coryat whom wrote an amazing review at the time of when the piece was performed. Being a deeply devout Lutheran I love the lyrics and I love the message of the San Rocco celebrations. Listening to it reminds one of being in Sunday mass and I love this since Sunday is my favorite day of the week. The book-let is well done with a short piece that scans the history of this splendid work and has the lyrics in several languages. I am huge fan of renaisance art and the cover art is absolutely gorgeous. I can not say enough good things or give it enough accolades. This is simply put it sublime.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Gabrieli, the original surround sound performer
Comment: Being only marginally acquainted with the music of Gabrieli and his period, I have little to add to comments already made. I must confess that two discs worth of 16th century liturgical music runs a little long for me. I'll focus instead on the sound of the SACD version.

This was one of my first SACD purchases, and I chose it because I knew that Gabrieli wrote for multiple choirs situated in different sections of the church, and figured that, if the engineers did their jobs right, this could be a stunning demonstration disc.

It is.

Gabrieli's music is a natural of mutichannel reproduction. In Timothy Roberts' opening organ toccata, the sense of space in this recording is uncanny. "In ecclesiis" envelops the listener with front and back chorus and soloists whose voices soar with a fullness that we can usually only experience in a real basilica. The only thing missing is the upper reverberation that you get in a real church. If your rear speakers are elevated like mine are (I had to work within the limitations of my room--doors and such!), you may get some of that sense.

If you are at all interested in the music of Gabrieli, this is the recording to get. If you are set up for multichannel sound with an SACD player, be sure to get it in that format. To hear it with the separation and sonic detail of San Rocco, brings this very old music alive. The music was reportedly composed for the larger Saint Mark's Cathedral, but for recording purposes San Rocco was deemed preferable. The church itself is a beautiful instrument and is hard to capture faithfully in just two channels.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: This is how you perform the music of Gabrieli!
Comment: There is little I can add to what the other reviewers have said about this tremendous recording. The performances are very good, the tempi are well chosen and the instruments are the rights ones.

There are many excellent contributions from individuals - Robin Blaze is positively heroic in Buccinate in neomenia tuba. The three violins in Sonata XXI con tre violini play this music with great sensuality. The cornettists are all first rate and so are the sackbut players.

It all sounds very good and the music is wonderful.

Let's just hope that the video of this recording is issued on DVD soon! (Let DGG know you wan them to do this!)

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