Best of the Renaissance
As hateful and usually untrue as most "Best of" collections are, this one is the real thing. You actually do get two hours and 20 minutes of Renaissance music performed so exquisitely, so correctly, and so passionately that it's as if an entire era in music makes itself understood through these CDs. The Tallis Scholars are as good as it gets in this repertoire. In addition to getting Allegri's gorgeousMiserere, you'll find Thomas Tallis's 40-part (40!)Spem in alium, some wonderfully weird and dissonantResponsoriesby Gesualdo, Palestrina'sMissa Papae Marcelli(the "how-to" piece of the Renaissance popes, who demanded that the words be understood), and various other works. This stuff is like a finely woven tapestry and should be listened to bits at a time--it's amazingly rich and worth it.--Robert Levine