Monteverdi: Vespro della Beata Vergine 1610/Venetian Vespers

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Claudio Monteverdi's Vespro della Beata Vergine of 1610 is a monument that straddles the transition from the musical values of the late renaissance and the early baroque like the Colossus of Rhodes, incorporating hugely different elements, from antiphonal chant to prima prattica tenor-structured polyphony to secunda prattica accompanied recitativo and operatic aria, yet achieving the kind of unity represented by holding its listeners spellbound. It is, like the Colossus, one of the Seven Wonders of musical history. It's also one of the most frequently performed works of sacred music in the world, ranking only behind Handel's Messiah and bach's B-minor Mass. Accordingly, there have been dozens of recordings of it, and many of them have been quite fine. To 'carry off' the Vespers, one needs above all two virtuosic cornetto-players, three tenor singers of great vocal agility whose voices match closely, and an acoustic that flatters a well-disciplined chorus capable of the restraint needed for polychoral polyphony. Yes yes, everything else needs to be nearly perfect also. Thus there can never be an absolutely ultimate recording of the Vespers; sections of one will always be better than sections of another.

This performance by conductor Andrew Parrott has long been taken as the standard of overall excellence. It is still the best-selling of all recordings of the Vespers, by a wide margin. And it's very good! I've listened to it with pleasure on three continents. But I'm interested in comparing it with other recordings - most of them more recent. You will soon see that almost every major conductor feels a need to perform the Vespers his way:

Nicholas Harnoncourt, with Concentus Musicus Wien
John Eliot Gardiner, with the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra
Konrad Junghaenel, with Cantus Coelln
Jordi Savall, with La Capella Reial
Philippe Herreweghe, with La Chapelle Royale
Rene Jacobs, with Concerto Vocale
Rinaldo Alessandrini, with Concerto Italiano
Stephen Stubbs, with Tragicomedia and Concerto Palatino
Maasaki Suzuki, with Bach Collegium Japan
Frieder Bernius, with Musica Fiata

There are others, but these are the ones I'm familiar with. All of them are excellent in one way or another, IMHO. What I'd like to do is to invite readers who are thrilled or displeased with any performance of the Vespers - those listed or others - to comment on this review, to say specifically what you admire or dislike about the performances. The result will be, I hope, a kind of round-robin evaluation of the current state of performance and recording. Please don't get off-topic, and please avoid denunciations. September 24, 2008

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. December 31, 2007

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. March 20, 2007

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. September 28, 2005

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. July 2, 2005

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