Credits:

Hervé Niquet, Le Concert Spirituel

Description:

Benevoli was a composer active in the early Italian Baroque period. Long recognized as the composer of the famous "Salzburg Mass in 53 voices," it has recently been attributed to Biber (or Hofer). Benevoli himself wrote approximately 20 masses, motets, psalms, and other vocal works, all of which are magnificent, complex polyphonic works that are quite difficult to perform. Hervé Niquet likes to revive such works, and on this album he led his orchestra, Le Conseil Spirituelle, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2018, in tackling Benevoli's Mass "SI DEUSPRO NOBIS If God be with us." Niquet studied the style of the time and inserted pieces and prayers by several composers to preserve the form of the Mass. The actual performance requires eight choirs, four singers, and 15 continuo bass players, and the choirs are arranged around the audience, and to convey all this realism, the performance is available on SACD hybrid disc. Naxos Japan