‘Since their inception, Cinquecento have shone a light on the Imperial Habsburg court, which hitherto had warranted barely a metaphorical footnote in music history. Thanks to this Vienna-based ensemble, we now know that the court boasted some exceptional composers … while the album’s tenor is undeniably solemn, their sonority, soft and intimate yet full, gives real pleasure. Of all their recordings devoted to ‘minor masters’, this strikes me as one of the finest’ (Gramophone)

‘These singers are always nicely in tune and effectively blended, especially in the slower movements of the Mass where they strongly project the chordal colouring in the 'Qui tollis' and perfectly intensify the false relations in the first Agnus’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Cinquecento, five men from five countries, have made a happy habit of presenting choral works by little-known and even often forgotten figures. They have come up with many gems, and here they have largely done so again … there is some gorgeous singing here and the blend of the voices is immaculate and sensitive’ (MusicWeb International)» More

‘This is Cinquecento’s twelfth album for Hyperion, and notwithstanding the unfamiliar repertoire here I don’t think I have heard them sound more radiant. After sixteen years they seem to be hitting their peak. There is a naturalness to the singing here which is as relaxed and instinctive as it is polished. Everything is seamless. Their sound seems perfectly tailored to the warm, rounded acoustics of the monastery at Pernegg in the far north of Austria. The clarity and unanimity of their diction is especially remarkable given their multinational line-up (the five singers featured here hail from Austria, Belgium, Britain, Germany and Switzerland), the confidence with which this hitherto little-known music emerges is testament to what must be fastidious and intensive preparation. Regardless of anything else, the new disc incorporates 71 minutes of fabulous singing … if Cinquecento’s recorded catalogue amounts to a plea on behalf of the underdog, long forgotten figures such as Regnart, Lupi, Guyot, Schoendorff and now Johannes de Cleve could scarcely have imagined such polished advocacy for their work. The group’s performances on this new disc raise the bar once more for this long unsung repertoire. The Hyperion recording is predictably unimpeachable’ (MusicWeb International)» More

‘This disc once again proves that we know only a tip of the iceberg of renaissance polyphony. Hardly any music by Cleve is available on disc, which is surprising considering its excellent quality, and the importance of Cleve in his own time. Cinquecento has done any lover of this kind of repertoire a great favour by delivering such superb performances. Like I said, it is one of the main ensembles in this repertoire, and their status is well deserved. These five voices blend perfectly, and the singers show a supreme command of legato. At the same time, they do everything necessary to make sure that the text is clearly understandable, even in pieces with a dense texture. There is some fine and effective dynamic shading, and particularly crucial episodes are nicely emphasized’ (MusicWeb International)» More