If you’re not completely hooked by the strikingly realistic antiphonal sound or the breathtakingly virtuosic playing in the first 30 seconds of this remarkable recording, then check your equipment–your ears and your sound system.

Even if you’re not normally a brass ensemble fan, you are certain to take this terrific disc and its perfectly chosen and organized program into your innermost circle of demonstration favorites. The Canadian Brass (with its one remaining original member, tuba player Charles Daellenbach) brings its usual polish and panache to these arrangements of Gabrieli, Scheidt, and Monteverdi–although the polish aspect seems to have a brighter-than-ever sheen, an even better-defined edge that leaves you with no words, just the impression that you’re in the presence of superhuman musicianship.

The Brass is joined by another ensemble, a trio called Echo Brass, and by Toronto-based organist Eric Robertson for several tracks, and the collaborations are perfectly conceived and judiciously balanced in the very agreeable acoustic of Toronto’s Christ Church Deer Park. While the lion’s share of praise must go to these amazing brass players (Gabrieli certainly would be envious!), the engineering team has to be commended for its part in creating what can only be described as a sonic masterpiece. Sensational!

–David Vernier