The beautiful cover alone is reason enough to acquire the CD Henricus Isaac, Nell' tempo di Lorenzo de' Medici & Maximilian I, 1450-1519. The expertly compiled and highly diverse recording of the music of Henricus Isaac places the listener, as it were, at the court of Maximilian of Austria or the wealthy de' Medici family. A musical journey through the life of composer Henricus Isaac.
Hespèrion XXI is undoubtedly one of the most renowned musical ensembles for Renaissance music. Its authentic wind and string instruments, together with percussion and the voices of La Capella Reial de Catalunya under the direction of the experienced Jordi Savall, form a heavenly combination. The CD recounts the important events in his life and his many travels throughout Europe in seven parts.
Part one describes the first quarter century of Isaac's life: his birth with a festive fanfare, the death and succession within the de' Medici family with a motet and the instrumental La Morra, and the end of the Hundred Years' War with a four-part motet. La Morra is one of the most striking passages on the entire CD: the use of a twinkling bell between the interplay of violas da gamba gives this instrumental work a special character.
In parts two and three, Isaac's departure from Innsbruck follows as he goes to Florence to work for Lorenzo de' Medici, where he marries a Florentine woman. Lorenzo dies in 1492, the year of Columbus's discovery of the New World and the fall of Granada. La Capella Reial de Catalunya delivers a fantastic performance with the German-language song Innsbruck, ich muß dich lassen. It sounds wonderfully clear and, with the exception of certain harmonic structures, even reminds one of a Bach chorale, however anachronistic that may be.
The festive carnival song Hora e di maggio stands out for the cheerful interplay of tambourine, flute, lute and string instruments in combination with singers clearly specializing in Renaissance music. This stands in stark contrast to the instrumental battle song that follows, in which brass instruments and shrill woodwinds accompanied by a field drum sing of a battle between the Florentines and the Genoese.
Parts four to seven describe the last quarter century of Henricus Isaac's life. His stay at the court of Emperor Maximilian of the Holy Roman Empire is celebrated with two complex motets (the first of which again contains the special bell and the second is six-part). This is followed by his return to Italy with a richly instrumental and sung motet. The end of Isaac's life is again celebrated with a German-language song titled O Welt, ich muß dich lassen that is particularly reminiscent of the song that described his departure from Innsbruck.
The last track on the CD celebrates with the motet Christus, filius Dei in six voices the coronation of Charles V, the new emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. At the same time, the longest work on the CD, with a length of 12'21. A beautiful achievement by Hespèrion XXI and La Capella Reial de Catalunya under the expert direction of Jordi Savall, highly recommended for those who would like to immerse themselves in an early 16th-century court.
- WHAT: Henricus Isaac, Nell' tempo di Lorenzo de' Medici & Maximilian I, 1450-1519
- WHO: La Capella Reial de Catalunya and Hespèrion XXI conducted by Jordi Savall
- RELEASE: Alia Vox Records (AVSA9922)
