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Divine Theatre

Divine Theatre

Stile Antico’s GRAMMY-nominated recording explores the fascinating sacred music of Giaches de Wert. Best known as a madrigalist, Wert is often cited as as a major influence on Monteverdi, but his religious works have until now received little attention. In this rich selection of motets, his skill as a composer of sacred music is established beyond doubt. A consummate word-painter, Wert was drawn to narrative texts, which allow his uniquely dramatic style full reign – most memorably in the stories of Christ calming the storm and the conversion of St Paul.

Recorded: April, 2016
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Format: Hybrid SACD
Catalogue Number: HMM807620

Stile Antico’s new disc ventures unusually into his sacred music, which rewards discovery… unexpectedly rich in imagination, variety, and often sheer joyful energy, and the performances boast a high-quality technical brilliance.

Financial Times

£11.99 (plus P&P)

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Shipping is available to UK addresses only. International customers can purchase at popular online music retailers.

GRAMMY Nominee, Best Small Ensemble Performance, 2018

GRAMMY Nominee, Best Small Ensemble Performance, 2018

La Clef ResMusica, February 2017

La Clef ResMusica, February 2017

The English singers of Stile Antico are able to point up all these features with the tip of a brush, often attaining truly exciting interpretations…

Andrea Milanesi, Avvenire.it (7 July, 2017)

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Stile Antico are the perfect artists for this repertory, bringing equal measures of clarity and passion to the music.

Tony Way, Limelight (4 August, 2017)

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This selection of motets, mostly for five or six voices, is unexpectedly rich in imagination, variety, and often sheer joyful energy, and the performances boast a high-quality technical brilliance.

Richard Fairman, Financial Times (20 January, 2017)

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The astonishingly vivid Ascendente Jesu in naviculum, which tells of Jesus and his disciples at sea in a storm, probably best showcases Stile Antico’s extrovert potential… this album is one of their most engaging recordings.

Edward Breen, Gramophone (April, 2017)

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Yet again, the ensemble impresses through its cohesion, vocal colour, the freshness of its voices, the clarity and agility of the counterpoint, and its expressivity…

Jean-Baptiste de La Taille, ResMusica (15 February, 2017)

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Stile Antico makes you prick up your ears and want to follow the texts. And the more you do the more you find to engage and amaze you. This after all is the role of the finest performers… I urge you to search this disc out, it’s as good as they come.

Gary Higginson, MusicWeb International (May, 2017)

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The 12-person ensemble sings the pieces with overwhelming beauty and exactitude, forming rich, ethereal harmonies and fluid counterpoint that pull me in every time.

Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader (23 February, 2017)

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Stile Antico… seem to penetrate to the expressive heart of the music. Add in gloriously clear and perfectly idiomatic sound from London’s All Hallows Church, and the end result is a superior album…

James Manheim, Allmusic.com

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The rewards of this outstanding disc are double. On one hand, one is presented with the marvel of High Polyphony performed to perfection. On the other hand, there is a feeling that new doors have been opened.

Fritz Balwit, Audiophile Audition (11 February, 2017)

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Leave it to acclaimed British vocal ensemble Stile Antico to breathe new life into music written by seldom-heard composers…

Holly Harris, Winnipeg Free Press (26 Jan, 2017)

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De Wert’s music’s supreme beauty, captured in convincingly natural spaciousness… will likely sweep you away… Stile Antico consistently moves the music along, creating a glowing sonic tapestry.

Jason Victor Serinus, Stereophile (5 March, 2017)

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Stile Antico brings brilliantly to life this highly varied selection of Wert’s beautiful motets.

Jon Sobel, Blogcritics.com (January 18, 2017)

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  1. Gaudete in Domino
  2. Hoc enim sentite in vobis
  3. Saule, Saule
  4. Vox in Rama audita est
  5. Amen, amen dico vobis
  6. Egressus Jesus
  7. Peccavi super numerum
  8. O Crux ave, spes unica
  9. Ascendente Jesu in naviculam
  10. Virgo Maria hodie ad coelum
  11. Quiescat vox tua a ploratu
  12. Deus iustus, et salvans
  13. O altitudo divitiarum

Buy Online

Stile Antico is delighted to make its recordings available to UK customers through this website. Each disc is offered at the competitive price of £11.99 (plus P&P*), a saving of at least 20% on the high street price, except for Music for Compline at just £6.99 and Sing with the Voice of Melody at £7.99. In purchasing directly from Stile Antico, rather than through third-party retailers, you directly benefit the work of the group.

With the exception of Music for Compline, Tenebrae Responsories, In a Strange Land and A Spanish Nativity, all Stile Antico’s discs on the Harmonia Mundi label are issued in Hybrid SACD format, offering surround sound to those with SACD equipment, whilst playing in all conventional CD players.

Shipping is available to UK addresses only. International customers can purchase at popular online music retailers.

  • * P&P costs are £2.25 for one CD, £4.25 for 2-10, £6.25 for 11-20
  • Payment must be made through PayPal (no account necessary) in Pounds Sterling.
  • All prices include VAT at 20%. If you require a VAT receipt, please request one by selecting “Add special instructions to merchant” at the checkout.
  • Purchasers will also receive an invitation to join Stile Antico’s mailing list.

For all queries, before and after purchase, please contact cdsales@stileantico.co.uk.