Search - Schutz, Milnes, New York Baroque :: Kleine Geistliche Konzerte 1

The Kleine Geistliche Konzerte, scored for one, two, or three voices (occasionally up to five) with continuo, make up in beauty and fervor what they lack in sumptuousness. Schütz uses the declamatory recitative he learned from Venetian opera to express spiritual passion and ecstasy--qualities that don't come across here. You can hear the singers making subtle crescendos, shaping phrases--doing the "musical" things--to little effect. Certainly their rhythm is too rigid; perhaps the miking is too distant. The effect is like film actors on stage: the gestures are all there, but they're scaled too small to make an impact. There's no other survey of these works around right now; to hear how wonderful they can be, try the fillers on Philippe Herreweghe's Musikalische Exequien disc. --Matthew Westphal