For their programme The Legacy of Adriaen Willaert, the vocal ensemble Dionysos Now! performed on Sunday 23 November at the Hoegaardse Sint-Rochuskapel of Mariadal, usually the venue for concerts by Klassiek in de Kapel. The organisation, which has increasingly come to the fore in the Flemish concert landscape in recent seasons, once again managed to bring a particularly refined performance to Hoegaarden. The audience was large: the chapel was completely sold out.
The choice of this location proved excellent. The natural clarity and spatial depth of the chapel offered an almost ideal acoustic environment for the polyphony of Dionysos Now!. From the first entry, it was clear how seamlessly the voices found each other. The singers formed a homogeneous whole in which texture, balance and phrasing continuously reinforced one another, without losing a moment of transparency.
The programme itself offered a rich and thoughtful overview of Willaert's musical universe. The three opening works — Che fai alma, che pensi, Qual dolcezza giamai and Dulce Padrun — sounded refined and open, immediately giving the audience an impression of Willaert's lyrical directness. The ensemble then broadened the perspective with music by his contemporaries and pupils, making Willaert's influence and legacy audible in a natural way.
The central section of the evening, an imaginary reconstruction of Willaert's funeral mass, formed the artistic heart of the concert. After the Gregorian Requiem Aeternam, Cypriano de Rore led the listener into a multi-layered sonic world. In the Kyrie from Missa Praeter rerum serium, De Rore allowed the voice leading to gradually unfold, and Dionysos Now! captured that process with great sensitivity. What began as a fragile solo line gradually grew into a layered polyphonic structure, as if the music was unfolding in real time. The result was a moment of exceptional intensity.
In the subsequent sections — Gloria, Sanctus and Agnus — the ensemble maintained the same precision and control. Zarlino's Parce mihi Domine received a hushed, almost timeless reading, while Lorenzo Benvenuti's Giunto Adrian was elegantly embedded in the broader dramaturgy of the programme. The closing with Willaert's Da Pacem Domine and the imposing Benedicta es, celorum Regina once again confirmed the special maturity of this ensemble: technical control went hand in hand with an expressive warmth that never made the music heavy or distant.
After the performance, a reception followed, now a fixed tradition at Klassiek in de Kapel. The informal atmosphere, the conversation between musicians and audience, and the shared interest in this music made this moment a fitting extension of the concert. Many of those present stayed long afterwards to discuss the performance, which had clearly struck a chord with many.
Dionysos Now! will continue with The Legacy of Adriaen Willaert in the coming weeks through the Netherlands. Those who will hear the ensemble at work there can expect a particularly concentrated performance, in which historical insight and musical refinement continuously strengthen one another.