These three pairs of sublime choral settings span well over 350 years. The earliest is Allegri’s Miserere, a work considered so precious it was kept secret until Mozart heard it and famously transcribed it from memory. James MacMillan’s 21st century companion piece is a transcendent reply to this challenge from history. Malipiero’s and Pizzetti’s resumption of a fractured friendship resulted in their mutually dedicated but differing settings of De profundis. Puccini’s brief but exquisite Requiem commemorated the death of Verdi, while Pizzetti, a late admirer of Puccini, revealed his empathy with vocal polyphony in a full setting of the Requiem Mass.
Paired religious settings (of the Miserer and De Profundis), including MacMillan's gravely beautiful Miserere. Gleaming work from the sopranos, but overall the impact is a trifle muted.
This is a programme of connections, one of which is the commissioning, by Harry Christophers and The Sixteen, of a setting of the Miserere by James MacMillan specifically to complement the Allegri setting. MacMillan succeeds brilliantly in fulfilling the request for his piece to be complementary and it’s very good to hear the two settings side by side. A thoughtfully conceived and interesting programme has been flawlessly executed.
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