A reviewer of Dufay: Missa “Se La Face ay Pale”, Missa Sancti Jacobi, Rite Maiorem, Ecclesiae Militantis: Alejandro Planchart Capella Cordina.

Listening to the free samples, I think there’s a little too much vibrato, but not enough to disqualify these masses as pure Renaissance. (The other issue the reviewer points out, lack of balance between the voices and instruments comes across loud and clear in the samples — I probably won’t buy this performance for that reason.)

I placed a different version of the first mass on my wishlist, mostly because of this comment:

Diabolus in Musica is committed to a high standard of historical authenticity. Only male singers and no instruments would ever have performed this music under Dufay’s direction, and the Cambrai Cathedral records clearly demonstrate that singing with two voices per part was the norm. That’s how DiM has recorded. Listeners who like a robust choir sound will be pleased by the performance; the voices will fill your spaces. Listeners who want incisive articulation, careful tuning, and independence of polyphonic phrasing will also be pleased, since this is a diabolically tight ensemble. The mass is interspersed with liturgically appropriate plainchant and harmonized chant, all sung beautifully.