Pizzetti, Scelsi, Nono, Petrasi, Verdi: Italia – Creed

   in Choir & Organ (Jul, 2015)
Anyone needing to gain some insight into the story of Italian a cappella choral music in the hundred years since Verdi’s Four Sacred Pieces would do well to acquire this magnificently sung and conducted CD. From Creed’s highly sympathetic readings of Verdi’s unaccompanied items through to works by Scelsi, Pizzetti, Petrassi and Nono, the SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart are more than equal to the challenges of what is a programme of exceptionally difficult music. Their performance of Nono’s Sara dolce tacere is breathtaking as well as exquisitely beautiful, while their account of Petrassi’s settings of Lear’s Nonsense Verse gets hold of the composer’s humour as much as the poet’s. …