This DVD is a one-off addition to the Sacred Music series presented by Simon Russell Beale and The Sixteen, in this case devoted solely to Victoria. It is slightly disappointing compared to the other episodes in that it is not a fully-fledged documentary biography of the composer, nor can it count as a proper filmed recital because too often the music is faded into from the preceding narrative or there is actually talk over the music. That said, it is so much more fun to see and hear the choir sing this glorious music in a ravishing ecclesiastical location. There is something of a stylistic incongruity in the setting of the Baroque church of San Antonio de Los Alemanes in Madrid for this last great flourishing of the musical Renaissance, but it perhaps helps to demonstrate how Victoria’s music points the way ahead to the Baroque musical style with his dynamic range and expressive impassioned harmonies.
