Monteverdi: Vespro della Beata Vergine 1610/Venetian Vespers

Monteverdi: Vespro della Beata Vergine 1610/Venetian Vespers | Claudio Monteverdi, Andrew Parrott, ... | wonderful

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Monteverdi: Vespro...

	Monteverdi: Vespro della Beata Vergine 1610/Venetian Vespers Claudio Monteverdi, Andrew Parrott, ... EMI Classics, 2000 average customer review:based on 13 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Punctilious Research and Performance Practice

Recorded in 1983 and 1984 at All Saints? Church, Tooting (London), this double CD is still something of a classic, presenting Monteverdi?s 1610 Vespers in punctilious historical performance practice, basically using, despite the large forces involved, soloists to perform most of the material. Together with Hugh Keyte, Andrew Parrott researched the history of church music in Venice at the end of the 16th and the first half of the 17th centuries, and then arranged the Vespers in a form which, although certainly not the only one possible, would have been acceptable for sacred service at St. Mark?s Cathedral in Venice during the first years of Monteverdi?s tenure there. The one unhistorical aspect of the recording is the use of female sopranos, but as Andrew Parrott points out, the sound of "castrati" just cannot be reproduced today, and he feels that using boys or countertenors would not be as appropriate as using genuine soprano voices.

This is, of course, a very British production, and a large number of Britain?s early music stars (at least from the early 80?s) were involved in the production. There are solo passages sung by Emma Kirkby, David Thomas, Nigel Rogers, Tessa Bonner, Evelyn Tubb, Emily Van Evera, Margaret Philpot, Rogers Covey-Crump, Andrew King, Richard Wistreich and others, and the Taverner Players count some of Britain?s most distinguished period instrument players among their ranks: John Holloway, Micaela Comberti, Trevor Jones, Mark Caudle, Susan Sheppard, Jennifer Ward-Clarke, Francis Baines, Bruce Dickey, Lisa Beznosiuk, Rachel Beckett, Anthony Bailes, Nigel North, John Toll ? and so the list goes on. If you are a fan of the British early music scene, you will have heard of all these names and will know what a wonderful treat awaits you when you turn your CD player on.

And a wonderful treat it is indeed, although the opening Gregorian chant with its empty church echo does sound a little strange. But from Track 2 onwards, the whole begins to sound glorious, a continuous stream of delightful vocal and instrumental passages with all the wonderful typically Monteverdian sounds that early music fans have come to appreciate. Special mention for Nigel Rogers, Andrew King and Joseph Cornwell who offer a superb ?Duo seraphim? without the high-voiced contortions of a René Jacobs. Of the female soloists, only Emily Van Evera sounds a little sharp on occasion, but that is something that can be accepted in view of the total quality of the recording. Personally, I have come to love and appreciate this version a little more than Philip Pickett?s 90?s version for Decca?s early music imprint L?Oiseau-Lyre, where the sound is never quite so convincing as here.

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wonderful

The singing and playing on this recording are truly delightful. The overall concept of the work is good. I love this recording.

But, like too many recordings of the vespers, it includes gregorian chant antiphons sung between the movements. Now either Monteverdi wrote this piece as a "piece" to be performed, in which case I believe the solo movements were meant to take the place of the traditional chant, or it is a collection of wonderful psalm settings and other sacred movements, in which case what is the point of adding music not written by Monteverdi? The same argument goes for the instrumental sonatas thrown in here. My personal belief is that Monteverdi, the first great opera composer, wrote these psalm settings over a period of time, and then put them together with the other movements to make a unified whole for publication. The other recording I own of this work, Gardiner's first recording of it, has a much nicer flow because there is no chant.

I must say that I love the clarity this version gives with one voice on a line, and I play both cd's often.

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great price for Monteverdi

This is an excellent CD. If you like Monteverdi, and don't have these works in your collection, then this is the CD to get. The Taverner Consort do a very fine job with the material, and Amazon's price is unbeatable.

Just beautiful

This CD captures both the gutsy energy and the ethereal beauty of Monteverdi's sacred choral music. I have neither performed nor even listened to his music for a long time, and this CD re-awakened me to its richness and compelling quality. There is a reason why we consider Monteverdi a "great" composer, and this CD shows it.

A reasonable bargain(?)

Claudio Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 are increasingly becoming to be seen as a landmark work in the history of Western music. This is one of the most outstanding works of the late Renaissance composers of the Seconda Prattica (Second Pratice) amongst whom Monteverdi - one of the fathers of opera - was arguably the most forward looking. In fact Monteverdi is so forward looking he is often described as being an early Baroque composer. Elements of the work are highly conservative such as the widespread writing in multiple parts - a practice that had already become increasingly unusual by this time (and totally anachronistic by Bach's time), yet the entire work contains a fantastic profusion of colourful music and an instrumental ensemble which is varied to match the mood of each piece. In this regard his music can be compared to the paintings of Titian with its typical Venetian overflow of exuberance and colourfulness, that contrasts markedly with the Northern sobriety of the sacred works of Bach. This a work of unbridled sensuality and yet of luxurious refinement.

I have listened to this version of the Monteverdi Vespers for many years and have always somehow been left feeling partially dissatisfied by it despite the lavish praise heaped upon it by many reviewers over the years. Certainly it has it moments of greatness, yet I wish the reading as a whole would cohere more. Although the singers here are all stars, a star studded legion of singers do not an ensemble make. So I have waited years to find a recording that might surplant it. Years went by and recordings came and went without anything really grabbing my attention. Then recently I discovered a recording that seems to have eluded me: Masaaki Suzuki with the Bach Collegium Japan on the Swedish boutique label Bis (ASIN B00005K2BK).

Of course the virtues of their Bach are well known and many a reviewer has written their story of at first ridiculing the thought of a Japanese period instrument group to then being completely floored by their performances again and again. Suzuki seems to have everything I have every felt was missing in the Parrott, even if here and there Parrott has some altenative insights (the Nisi Dominus is an example where Suzuki seems dangerously over-exuberant!), these moments are rare exceptions. Suzuki fully captures that uninhibited Venetian exuberance of the writing bringing the whole together as a whole rather than just having sporadic moments. Still, the lush modal harmonies seem just that much more succulent and the resultant expressive impact is incomparable. For someone who has tolerated the Parrott for almost ten years the weight of burden being lifted was just huge!

For the price I guess if you need a budget version, then the Parrott is now competitive especially if you prefer your Monteverdi sung one to a part. However, the BIS recording for Suzuki is, as usual from them, just stunning. In the BIS recording there is far greater spaciousness and air around the instruments and voices, with timbre coming through in all its riches without being bleached. The BIS recoridng is fair audiophile quality (it is BIS policy to avoid compression devices or blatant post-production processing), that renders it first choice to anyone for whom recorded sound quality dictates preferences. The EMI recording for Parrott sounds like early 16-bit digital sound at its thinnest and boxiest - a fact exacerbated by the glassiness that comes with Virgin sound transfers (Virgin desperately need to review their remastering and digital transfer equipment/methods). You certainly get what you pay for.

So take your pick - the cheap and easy option of Parrott or the rich fullness of Suzuki's Dionysian exuberance. Also there is always Rinaldo Alessandrino version for those insistent on hearing this sung one to a part - the sound there is even better than on the BIS.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

Tracks
Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Versiculus, Canto Gregoriano: Deus In Adiutorium | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Responsorium: Domine Ad Adiuvandum Me Festina | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Antiphona, Canto Gregoriano | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Psalmus I: Psalmus 109: Dixit Dominus | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Con: Nigra Sum | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Antiphona II, Canto Gregoriano: Maria Virgo Assumpta Est | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Psalmus II: Psalmus 112: Laudate Pueri | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Con: Pulchra Es | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Antiphona III, Canto Gregoriano: In Odorem Unguentorum Tuorum... | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Psalmus III: Psalmus 121: Laetatus Sum | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Son | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Antiphona IV, Canto Gregoriano: Benedicta Filia Tua Domino | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Psalmus IV: Psalmus 126: Nisi Dominus | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Con: Audi Coelum | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Antiphona V, Canto Gregoriano: Pulchra Es Et Decora, Filia... | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Psalmus IV:: Psalmus V: Psalmus 147: Lauda Jerusalem Dominum | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Son | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Capitulum, Canto Gregoriano: In Omnibus Requiem Quaesivi | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Hymnus: Ave Maris Stella | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Versus Et Responsorium | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Antiphona VI, Canto Gregoriano: Hodie Maria Virgo Caelos Ascendit | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Son Sopra Sancta Maria | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Magnificat | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Oratio, Canto Gregoriano: Dominus Vobiscum | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Versus, Canto Gregoriano: Dominus Vobiscum | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Con: Duo Seraphim | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Antiphona Beatae Mariae Virginis: Salve Regina | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Versus Et Responsorium, Canto Gregoriano: Ora Pro Nobis | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Oratio, Canto Gregoriano: Domine Vobiscum | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610: Conclusio, Canto Gregoriano: Divinum Auxilium Maneat Semper... | Selva Morale E Spirituale 1641: Psalmus 109: Dixit Dominus | Selva Morale E Spirituale 1641: Psalmus 110: Confitebor Tibi Domine | Selva Morale E Spirituale 1641: Psalmus 111: Beatus Vir | Selva Morale E Spirituale 1641: Psalmus 112: Laudate Pueri | Selva Morale E Spirituale 1641: Psalmus 116: Laudate Dominum | Selva Morale E Spirituale 1641: Salve Regina

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