Gramophone Magazine
September 2024
Editor's Choice

The Gesualdo Six, Owain Park

Brumel, A: Sub tuum praesidium
Josquin: Praeter rerum seriem
Compère: Plaine d'ennuy / Anima mea
Josquin: Mille Regretz
Brumel, A: Sicut lilium inter spinas
Rue, P: Secretz Regretz
Festa, C: Quis dabit oculis?
Park: Prière pour Marie
Brumel, A: Du tout plongiet / Fors seulement
Divitis: Ista est speciosa
Prioris: Dulcis Amica Dei
Mouton, J: Tota pulchra es
Lhéritier: Salve regina
Cruttwell-Reade: Plaisir n'ai plus
Mouton, J: De tous regretz
Févin: Fors seulement
Prioris: Consommo la vita mia
Gombert: Tous les regretz
Clemens: Ego flos campi a 7

The infallible Gesualdo Six trademarks of consummate musicianship and scholarly integrity are much in evidence here. 'Queen of Hearts' addresses and reflects on queens spiritual (the Virgin Mary) and temporal (Mary Tudor and Anne Boleyn, among others) in a programme of music largely of the sixteenth century, but spiced with two short works from the twenty-first.

"All in all this is a treasure trove of works, some little known and rarely performed, in a wide variety of styles and vocal scorings spanning the first half of the 16th century. Beautifully sung and meticulously researched, it will generously repay repeated hearings." - Gramophone Magazine, September 2024