Music Reviews : Hilliard Ensemble Sings at First Baptist Church

Devotees of early music in Los Angeles have much to be grateful for, if only for the enlightened efforts of the Da Camera Society, which has brought to the Southland outstanding vocal ensembles including the Tallis Scholars, Chanticleer and on Monday, the London-based Hilliard Ensemble. This latest of the Society’s “Historic Sites” concerts--at First Baptist Church of Los Angeles--proved stimulating for the mind, satisfying for the heart and nourishing for the soul.

The program surveyed 400 years of sacred polyphony, from an anonymous example of 12th-Century organum to Di Lasso’s profoundly affecting “Missa Pro Defunctis.” Producing a pure, limpid sound, senza vibrato, the four singers--countertenor David James, tenors Rogers Covey-Crump and Mark Padmore and baritone Paul Hillier--demonstrated extraordinary dynamic control, maintained perfect balances and delivered the texts with uncommon sensitivity and absolute clarity. Intonation remained faultless, phrasing impeccable and blend sonorous. It is rare to hear music delivered with such precision and polish, and rarer still to hear it performed with such interpretive unity.