Claudio Monteverdi, Boston Baroque, Janice Chandler, Richard Croft, Martin Pearlman, Lynton Atkinson, Christopheren Nomura - Monteverdi - Vespers of 1610 (Vespro della Beata Vergine) / Chandler, R. Croft, Atkinson, Numura, Boston Baroque, Pearlman

This performance of Monteverdi's extraordinary collection of sacred music, which received a 1999 Grammy nomination, has its good points, but it can't really be considered best even in its class. Martin Pearlman leads a relatively large-scale performance, using a 30-member chorus (often doubled by instruments) throughout; he adds some plainchant before the Psalms; he takes the Lauda Jerusalem and Magnificat at high pitch. The instrumentalists play their difficult parts quite creditably, and Pearlman takes some exciting tempos. Unfortunately, his chorus can't always keep up with him: they often sound muddy and, in fast passages, sometimes downright sloppy. The soprano soloists sing attractively but with wider vibratos than ideal for this music; the tenors, however, are very good indeed, with Richard Croft's heartfelt, sensitively embellished, beautifully modulated singing deserving an award for Best Performance of Monteverdi by a Mainstream Opera Singer. If you want a full-scale choral performance, though, you'll do better with that of René Jacobs or William Christie, and Andrew Parrott's reconstruction of a Vespers service (done mostly one-singer-per-part) is not to be missed. --Matthew Westphal Amazon.com

Superlative! The Human Voice is a Beautiful Instrument

If anyone has ever doubted the male human voice as being an outstanding instrument, listen to track #10:

VII. Motet: Duo Seraphim - Christopheren Nomura

It does not get much better than that.

Highly recommended, this has gone quickly to the top of my Sacred Choral CD Collection.

May 22, 2007

A good version

Will someone please shoot Matthew Westphal and put us all out of our misery? We have to endure his claptrap on this piece constantly. OK, so he loves the museum-piece-vaguely-resuscitated Parrott version. Fine, but I for one am fed up hearing it used to poo-pooh better versions - such as this one. It's not the best - that honour for me belongs to Gardiner in the fabulous "live" version in San Marco, followed by Suzuki with the Bach Collegium Japan, but this is definitely up in the second division. It has antiphons, but they aren't allowed to get in the way, and the singing and playing, while not the best, are pretty darn good. A version to which I shall frequently return. January 13, 2005

Croft's Orphee

To Ricardo (below), Croft's Orphee (Gluck) is scheduled to be released May 11, 2004 by Archiv. April 26, 2004

Mary must be pretty pleased

I only recently discovered the work of Pearlman and the Boston Baroque through their Messiah which is absolutely stunning. So, I was eager to pick this piece up, especially after listening to the brief audio clips on the site.

I have a bit of early music (des Pres, Tallis, some madrigals and the like) and a lot more baroque. What I really like about the Vespers is that they demonstrate the evolution from early to baroque quite clearly. You get both the sense of chant - and maybe madrigal forms with some of the parts for single voices - as well as the seeds of baroque style, especially in the full choral sections. Where this differs most clearly from early music is the orchestra itself to support and augment the voices.

However, that is just a description of what it resembles - the thing itself is amazing. Monteverdi used full choirs, split choirs and many parts for individual voice and small groups to create a remarkable audio tapestry. My wife thinks I am a little nuts right now but I urge you to sit down between the speakers, put this on and crank it up a little - especially in the Dixit Dominus. It is astonishing. Pearlman, the orchestra and choir of Boston Baroque have done a fabulous job. April 7, 2004

Wonderful performance, a good "first recording"

For one who does not already own this work, Pearlman is a great start. While I personally prefer the Andrew Parrott and Konrad Junghanel recordings, the Boston Baroque is certainly my favorite "more expansive" version. There can never be a "correct" recording of the Vespers as much is left to the conductors preference. Thus, no two recordings are alike, each has it's own flavor.
This Pearlman set is probably the "safest" disc for one who wants the grand majesty of the music, yet desires the devotional quality as well. Easily and by far much, much better than Gardiner's. March 13, 2004

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