Cantate Domino— Sistine Chapel Choir/Massimo Palombella (DeutGram 4795300)
We hardly ever get to quote the Vatican Radio website, so here goes: “For the first time ever, the Vatican has opened the doors of the iconic Sistine Chapel for a studio recording with the Sistine Chapel Choir – the world’s oldest choir. The new album, Cantate Domino - The Sistine Chapel and the music of Popes, captures the sounds of the extraordinary acoustics of the Sistine Chapel, with music performed by the Pope’s own choir. The album was released on Deutsche Grammophon…includes Renaissance music written for the Sistine Chapel Choir by Palestrina, Lassus and Victoria. There are also two pieces of Gregorian chant, alongside world premiere recordings of the original version of Allegri’s fabled Miserere (Sistine Codex of 1661) and a Nunc dimittis attributed to Palestrina which is still used during papal celebrations. Cantate Domino offers listeners the chance to hear these pieces as the composers intended – in Latin and in the surroundings for which they were originally written...’The Sistine Chapel was consecrated in 1483, and since then it has been home, without interruption, of the Pontifical Musical Choir,’ explains Msgr. Palombella. ‘In recent years, after intense and specific study of Renaissance religious music and its aesthetic importance, we have been able to undertake an interesting and significant recording.’”
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