Music From The Venetian Ospedali
One shudders at the number of good recordings of Vivaldi'sGloriaavailable (such as thefamous  account, newly reissued, with Riccardo Muti), but this one is both superb and  different. The entire disc is devoted to music composed for the homeless (or wayward)  girls who lived at the Venetian Ospedali in the early 18th century and, in addition to a  version of theGloriain which women sing the bass and tenor lines an octave higher than composed, introduces us to very-little-known music by Giovanni Porta,  Nicola Porpora, and Francesco Brusa.  Once one adjusts to the lack of low voices, this  CD surprises time and again with the quality and diversity of the lovely sounds actually made by the "girls" in this  chorus. Clearly aware of the importance of various textures in polyphonic music, the chorus,  under the leadership of Sharon Paul, pulls out all the stops: They whisper and caress; they exult at  full voice. Tempi are nicely old-fashioned and slow in the Vivaldi, and all of the other music is  worth hearing. This is a special CD, and an auspicious debut. Go for it.--Robert Levine