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GRAMOPHONE (11/2016)
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Reviewer: Charlotte Gardner

If &cetera is not a name that rings a bell, it’s because this is a relatively new period ensemble, founded and directed by the soprano Ulrike Hofbauer and consisting of violinists Peter Barczi and Eva Borhi, violist Matthieu Camillieri, cellist Bernadette Köbele and Markus Hünninger on harpsichord and organ. As a result, this disc is an interesting beast right from the beginning, because aside from its containing two premiere recordings – Leonardo Leo’s cantata The Prodigal Son and his Good Friday Lamentations – Hofbauer is both director and soprano soloist.

To start with the praise, the repertoire itself is interesting for its variety, Leo’s sacred vocal music being joined by two of his harpsichord toccatas and also a concerto from his chief rival in 1720s Naples, Francesco Durante. &cetera themselves are a highly enjoyable discovery, too. There’s a very attractive gentleness and elegance to their sound, along with some superb blending. The Durante concerto is a high point, and I could also happily sit through Hünninger performing a whole disc of Leo’s toccatas, subtly emotive and graceful as his playing is.

However, the disc’s headline repertoire is of course Leo’s sacred vocal works, and with these I struggled slightly more to enjoy myself. Hofbauer’s own sound matches the gentleness she’s drawn from her colleagues. This ultimately, though, makes for a slight one-flavour quality. Still, I suspect the real root of my problem with the disc’s vocal element is actually the recording acoustic itself, because whilst Drebber’s Marienkirche makes for a very sympathetic background for the instruments, Hofbauer herself sounds curiously removed and lost in the space. As a result, there’s every possibility that with different engineering I could have wallowed in her loveliness quite happily.

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