Classical CD Review: The Sacred Flame

IT IS refreshing to find a new choral recording neither so narrowly conceived to incur boredom, nor so eclectic it loses all possible appeal through its lack of focus.

If anything, this latest release from John Rutter and The Cambridge Singers (accompanied where required by David Bates's instrumental ensemble La Nuova Musica) veers towards the latter, in that it focuses on the golden treasury of music from the European Renaissance and Baroque.

But in so doing, the wondrous contrasts between the itinerant Josquin Desprez, the Spanish-born Vittoria, Venice's genius Monteverdi, the murdering Prince and daringly chromatic Carlo Gesualdo, right up to the sublime counterpoint of the supremely Germanic JS Bach, provide an array of styles that is kaleidoscopic in variety.

The vocal performances are deliciously pristine with a homogeneity that rarely falters in character. The instrumental contributions throughout, particularly in Monteverdi's gorgeous Beatus vir, are a highlight in a recording which is presented unfalteringly in the best possible taste.