Les Cris de Paris – Schütz : David et Salomon

Heinrich Schütz’s reputation is that of an austere composer. This superb album by the ensemble Les Cris de Paris under the direction of Geoffroy Jourdain will prove to all those who hold this view how wrong it can be (not always, but here, certainly).

David et Salomon is a collection of excerpts from various larger works by Schütz, such as the Psalms of David and settings of the biblical text attributed to Solomon, the Song of Songs. Jourdain’s pretext for justifying opulent and grandiose versions of these magnificent jewels is two of Schütz’s trips to Italy (one during which he studied with Giovanni Gabrieli). The orchestrations are luminously brilliant, like something Gabrieli himself might have written for St Mark’s Basilica in Venice. 

It is resplendent and often spectacular, perfectly interpreted by an orchestra and soloists who are both subtle and stentorian. One asks for more and will use these recordings to cut short all the slander that still harms the appreciation of this composer, one of the most important before Bach.