Musica Ficta - Sepan Todos Que Muero (2002)

Ensemble Música Ficta, an early music group based in Bogota, Columbia, has assembled a variety of music that would have been heard in the royal courts and in the streets of seventeenth and eighteenth century Peru. The collection is wonderfully diverse -- from Spanish songs and chamber music of the period to rustic popular dances played on folk instruments. Música Ficta's four members are joined here by three additional instrumentalists on several of the tracks. Jairo Serrano's clear, light tenor breathes life into everything he sings, accompanied by Julían Navarro on the Baroque guitar or Elizabeth Wright on the harpsichord. The lively performances of the songs, dances, and other pieces make it easy for the listener to imagine musical life in a South American city 300 years ago. Música Ficta's performances of European music easily stand comparison with the finest early music ensembles, and the rough-hewn syncopated energy of the folk music of the New World is revelatory. The sound is crystalline and present; hearing the singer's breath and the percussive attacks of the plucked strings gives the music real immediacy.

Review by Stephen Eddins