Praetorius —Balthasar Neumann Choir & Ensemble/Pablo Heras-Casado (Archiv 4794522)
You would be excused if you had thought this new recording from Freiburg, Germany were entirely devoted to the music of the famous 17 th century composer, Michael Praetorius, but only two of the eleven tracks here are pieces by him. The other nine works are by Hieronymus Praetorius and his son Jacob, neither one of whom is related to Michael, who published the dance collection, Terpsichore in 1612. All three composers were active in North Germany during that period between the Late Renaissance and Early Baroque. Nine of the motets on this disc (the other two works are settings of the Magnificat) use passionate texts from the Old Testament ‘Song of Songs’—“How fair you are, O dear one, delectable maiden”, etc.—and all are led by Musical America’s 2014 Conductor of the Year, Pablo Heras-Casado, arguably the most wide-ranging maestro in the world today. The former boy chorister from Granada says that he has been fascinated by this repertoire for a long time and that this project is “a dream come true.”
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