The Cross of Red (1998)

performed by Ben Schehck (percussion), Betty Wauchope (vielle), Milton G. Jr. Scheuermann (bells), Milton G. Jr. Scheuermann, New Orleans Musica da Camera, Richard Hutton (vocals), Roy Luisa (vocals), Stuart LeBlanc (lute), Thaïs St. Julien (vocals)
composed by Anonymous, Codex Calixtinus, Anonymous, Cortona Codex, Anonymous, English, Anonymous, French, Anonymous, Italian, Anonymous, Manuscrit du Roi, Blondel de Nesle, Conon de Béthune, Guillaume IX of Aquitaine, Guiot de Dijon, Marcabru, Raimbaut de Vaqeiras

The New Orleans Musica da Camera is not well known outside the U.S. Southeast, but with this disc of medieval songs and dances it delivers a recording that can stand with the thematically focused medieval releases of top European groups. Soprano Thaïs St.-Julien (only in New Orleans!) isn't a virtuoso singer like Montserrat Figueras, but she communicates a real sense of the texts of troubadour songs lamenting the absence of a crusading knight. The best news here is that the program makes sense in a way that bespeaks long ... Read More

The New Orleans Musica da Camera is not well known outside the U.S. Southeast, but with this disc of medieval songs and dances it delivers a recording that can stand with the thematically focused medieval releases of top European groups. Soprano Thaïs St.-Julien (only in New Orleans!) isn't a virtuoso singer like Montserrat Figueras, but she communicates a real sense of the texts of troubadour songs lamenting the absence of a crusading knight. The best news here is that the program makes sense in a way that bespeaks long acquaintance with the medieval secular repertory on the part of the group and its director, Milton G. Scheuermann Jr. The music pertains more or less directly to the four Crusades, not all of which have surviving music that is chronologically appropriate. But Scheuermann picks pieces that could theoretically have worked, and the group renders them convincingly. The music on the disc consists of troubadour songs, sacred monophony, and instrumental dances. Some listeners will prefer... Read Less