5 stars - the perfect intonation of Les Métaboles under the crafted conducting of Léo Warynski

Recorded within the walls of the monks' refectory at Royaumont Abbey, the entirely a cappella programme combines ancient and contemporary periods. William Byrd's Ave Verum immediately reveals the perfection of Les Métaboles' intonation under the crafted direction of Léo Warynski. A space opens out, starting from the opening quartet of soloists from the pulpit, to the full ensemble. The latter is arranged in a double choir for Palestrina's sublime Stabat Mater, taken at a relatively fast tempo. The result is a choral effusion of great fluidity, of which the quality of execution precludes any precipitation, especially during the exchanges in alla breve values. We find this urgency in Purcell's Remember Not, of which the intensity represents a gesture of desperation. It is echoed in Jonathan Harvey's Remember, to whom the album pays a fine tribute nine years after his passing.