Album: Padilla, Streams of Tears – The Sixteen/Christophers (Coro)

One of Spain's most successful émigrés, Juan Gutierrez de Padilla (1590-1664) was "maestro de capilla" of Puebla Cathedral, Mexico. Harry Christophers and the Sixteen reveal a composer with a talent for beatific radiance, best expressed in the Sanctus of the "Missa Ave Regina caelorum" and a glorious setting of "Deus in adiutorium" with twinkling harp.

If Padilla's version of "Versa est in luctum" doesn't share the poignancy of Lobo's or Victoria's, his "Salve Regina" and "Ave Regina caelorum" are sumptuous. Occasional glitches are outweighed by the expressivity of the singing and playing.