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Monteverdi: Vespro Della Beata Vergine | 
 enlarge | Creators: Alastair Miles, Bryn Terfel, Claudio Monteverdi, John Eliot Gardiner, His Majesty's Sagbutts And Cornetts, Michael Chance, English Baroque Soloists, Ann Monoyios, Mark Tucker, Nigel Robson, Sandro Naglia
Label: Archiv Produktion
Category: Music
List Price: $33.98
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Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 31748
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.7 x 0.9
MPN: 429565
UPC: 028942956520
EAN: 0028942956520
ASIN: B0000057DL
Release Date: October 12, 1990
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW, Factory Sealed items direct from the Studios. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. Quick International Airmail!
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| Tracks:
Disc 1
| • | Domine ad adiuvandum | | • | Dixit Dominus | | • | Nigra sum | | • | Laudate pueri | | • | Pulchra es | | • | Laetatus sum | | • | Duo Seraphim | | • | Nisi Dominus | | • | Audi coelum | | • | Lauda Jerusalem |
Disc 2
| • | Sonata sopra Sancta Maria | | • | Ave maris stella | | • | Magnificat a 7 | | • | Magnificat a 6 |
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| Similar Items:
| • | Monteverdi - L'Orfeo / Rolfe Johnson, Dawson, von Otter, Argenta, M. Nichols, Tomlinson, Chance, Baird; Gardiner | | • | Monteverdi - L'incoronazione di Poppea / McNair, von Otter, Hanchard, Chance; Gardiner | | • | Dvorak: Cello Concerto; Tchaikovsky / Karajan, Rostropovich, | | • | Monteverdi: Vespro della Beata Vergine 1610/Venetian Vespers | | • | Tchaikovsky: Symphonies Nos. 4, 5, 6 "Pathetique" |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
John Eliot Gardiner's 1974 recording of Monteverdi's extraordinary Vespers of 1610 was a landmark, helping establish the modern reputations of both music and conductor. In 1989, to celebrate the silver anniversary of his Monteverdi Choir (named in honor of this work), he recorded the cycle again--this time live in the Basilica of San Marco in Venice. He made use of resources he didn't have 15 years earlier, like period instruments and, for soloists, a mix of early-music specialists (Ann Monoyios and Michael Chance) and opera singers (the young Bryn Terfel). As a bonus, he recorded both the standard version of the Magnificat for voices and instruments and Monteverdi's published alternative setting for six voices and organ. Gardiner gives a vigorous, theatrical, yet very detailed account of this music, caressing some phrases, thundering out others, using lots of carefully judged crescendos and decrescendos. On its terms, it works, thanks largely to the wondrous Monteverdi Choir, which can do anything asked of it. But there seems little of the sacred in the performance and almost nothing of the spontaneous or natural--the carefully calibrated effects can come across as overdetermined. In his booklet essay, Gardiner makes quite a point of his fidelity to the published score, yet he liberally adds instruments to double the voices, and he takes an odd liberty with the much-loved duet-trio "Duo seraphim": at the close of each half of the motet, at the words "plena est omnis terra," he has the tenors of his chorus take over from his soloists. If you're uncomfortable with that sort of thing, go for Andrew Parrott's marvelous one-singer-per-part performance or (for those who want a full chorus) for the version of William Christie or that of Rene Jacobs; if these additions don't faze you and you want a high-powered, adrenaline-rush performance, you'll find it here. --Matthew Westphal
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
a voice teacher and early music fan January 10, 2008
MONTEVERDI'S VESPERS: ETHEREAL,UNIQUE AND SUBLIME!
"Scholars have yet to determine exactly why Claudio Monteverdi wrote these magnificent Vespers, but one theory is that he used them as a kind of application to become music director of Saint Mark's in Venice. Going on this assumption, John Eliot Gardiner brought his own Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists to that hallowed cathedral for a miraculous live recording. The unique acoustics of Saint Mark's provides a shimmering, golden aura to the music-making and help to realize the crucial spatial effects Monteverdi wrote into the score. The Vespers was a work of great daring that brought new expressive elements from secular forms like the madrigal and opera to sacred compositions. Never before had religious imagery been conveyed through music with such force. Take "Duo Seraphim" (the seventh movement) for example, where the echoing of the voices evokes the ethereal with sublime simplicity. This glorious music has never sounded more angelic."
I first purchased the DVD of this performance, and found it so exciting that I had to have the CD. It's a tremendously well-done and exciting rendition, just as one would expect from the Monteverdi Choir and Gardiner. His soloists are superb and add a great deal of excitement to the recording. I would like also to mention that the 'Magnificat' with six voices is not on the DVD, as it was recorded later in London,Tooting, All Saints church with the same group. The DVD has an excellent dissertation by Gardiner with scenes of Venice; a truly enjoyable visual as well as an audio treat.
If you are a lover of Monteverdi's music, then this recording and/or DVD is a MUST!
Monteverdi's stunning resume piece October 21, 2006
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
What a job application. Looking for work around 1610, Claudio Monteverdi composed this massive work in hopes of Vatican employment. He even dedicated it to his anticipated future boss, Pope Paul V - kissing up has a long tradition in the Western world. Inexplicably, the Vatican wasn't moved. Instead, Monteverdi accepted the patronage of the Doge in Venice and became their Maestro di Capella in 1613. Whether or not this masterpiece ever received a public performance during his life remains controversial amongst music historians. Either way, it must have suitably padded his already impressive resume. So Monteverdi's arguably most famous work originated from a job search. Stranger things have happened.
"Vespro Della Beata Vergine" or "Vespers of 1610" follows the Roman Catholic structure for evening mass as laid out in the liturgical canonical hours (also known as "Vespers"; "Vesper" means "evening" in Latin). The first CD opens with the traditional chanted versicle (Deus in adiutorium meum intende, etc.) and suddenly explodes with a riveting choir belting out the doxology (Gloria Patri et Filio). Accompanying instrumentation adds to the effect. This work truly starts with an unforgettable bang. This helps emphasize the oft-repeated doxology (all of the succeeding Psalms conclude with this same stanza). Next, the work alternates between five Psalms and four Concertos, then continues with a sontata, a hymn, and finishes with an enthralling "Magnificat." Though the work's title explictly references the Virgin Mary, only two pieces revolve around her. Subsequently, some scholars have argued that this work could get structured around any Saint, and Monteverdi simply chose the Virgin Mary as a marketing ploy for the Vatican. Not only that, others dispute the location of the more secular Concertos. Two of these, "Nigra Sum" and "Pulchra Es" from "Song of Solomon", were probably a little saucy for religious works of the day. The ordering here follows the original manuscript.
Amazing music pervades these CDs. "Dixit Dominus" opens with ethereal singing, suggesting drifting angels or the clouds slowly parting. Then it fulminates like thunder as the choir sings the words of God: "Sit at my right hand, and I shall make of your enemies a footstool for you." "Laetatus sum" begins with a simple walking harpsichord line that recurs (one of Monteverdi's ritornellos), develops into dizzying choral arrangements, and concludes with a devastating "Amen." Though dancing probably wasn't intended, "Nisi Dominus" provides a sprightly enough rhythm to inspire any lazy feet, all the way to its final gentle resolution. "Ave maris stella" provides by far the most moving choral piece of the set. Ineffably ethereal notes levitate on air for nearly nine minutes. The final Magnificat remains stunning beyond words. This set includes two versions: one for seven parts and one for six.
John Eliot Gardiner was accused of taking liberties with Monteverdi's score. Apparently he embellished instrumentation and added voices for emphasis. Some even accused him of siphoning the sacred from the music. In other words, as Monteverdi straddled the Reniassance and the Baroque, this 1989 recording tips the scales in favor of highly charged Baroque. Those looking for a passionate interpretation of "Vespers" will find it here. Regardless, this release caused a surge in Gardiner's reputation as well as bolstering the then nascent authentic instrument movement. He could not have chosen a better recording locale: the gape-inducing Byzantine style St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice. Monteverdi's old stomping ground.
Monteverdi still doesn't have the name recognition of a Mozart or a Beethoven. Nonetheless, recordings such as this one doubtlessly helped direct attention to the once forgotten modernizer of Reniassance music. Recently, Monteverdi's name has experienced a rebirth. Many consider his "L'Orfeo" as the beginning of popular opera and his madrigals as the origin of modern song arrangement. His "Vespers" alone, sometimes equated to Bach's "St. Matthew Passion" and often called his most impressive work, should more than solidfy his name in the history of Western music for some time to come.
One of the Greatest Recordings of All Time December 22, 2004
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
I discovered Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 while listening to the radio in my car. I happened to flip to a channel playing the "Magnificat" and I was utterly mesmerized, haunted in fact by the sound until I chased down this CD.
This recording is both profounding beautiful and incredibly moving. You get a sense both of Monteverdi's great gifts as a composer, but also a sense of the sacred as well. Indeed, Monteverdi approached his subject matter with appropriate reverence and, it would seem, a bit of Divine inspiration. A tour of late-Renaissance/early-Baroque musical styles, the Vespers never bore, always providing yet another delightful surprise.
In short, this disc is a must for every music lover. If Monteverdi's Vespers doesn't touch you in some way, there's something wrong with you.
Eternally innovative in pure tradition July 31, 2003
6 out of 15 found this review helpful
Monteverdi lived a very long time in a century deeply troubled by all kinds of ills and changes. The Black Death was still there. The christian religion was exploding into a myriad of rivaling churches and affiliations. Calvin fought against Luther and both were rejected by the catholics. It was also a time in which science started leaping forward, transforming the old traditional vision of teh world into something that opened the eyes of humanity to the universe. The earth suddenly became round and started turning around the sun. The new world had just been discovered and the old world was a battlefield for nations and kings or emperors, at times bishops and cardinals. It was a time of uncertainty because of change and it was dangerous to advocate that change a little bit too much. Giordano Bruno was grilled alive in Rome for his philosophy in 1600 and Galileo nearly died in a similar way. Many catholics or protestants were exterminating one another. A new form of art was also appearing, even in church music. Pope Paul V went as far as excomunicating that new art, the stilo nuovo.
Monteverdi tries to give a new grandeur to some religious celebrations to represent, to bring back a certain stability in this moving universe. These Vespers are typical of this attempt. He goes back to the traditional text of such vespers and yet he makes it tremendously modern. Modern with the strong evocation of the Virgin as a beautiful woman, what's more black with the famous Nigra sum, and yet that is also coming from the tradition. But he also tries to stabilize the musical world by using the stilo antico along with the stilo nuovo. The words and the singing often go back to the very rich gregorian polyphony of the stilo antico while the music, the instruments of it, the harmony of it are more in the line of the stilo nuovo. This attempt produces a music that opens the door to the development of what is known as baroque music issuing directly from the tremendous innovating style of the Renaissance.
These Vespers have thus become eternal, as the crossroads between ages, cultures, between the past, the present and the future. Monteverdi is in a way a man of his time but also of our time.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University of Perpignan
Extraordinary September 2, 2000
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is simply an extraordinary performance from both a documentary and aesthetic perspective.Recorded at St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, where Monteverdi was composer-in-residence from 1613, the sound quality is outstanding. I've heard so many choral performances recorded in Renaissance churches that sound lost and empty. The engineers have done something special here -- they have produced a disc that SOUNDs like what I imagine a performance of the Vespers would have sounded to Monteverdi's ears. The performances themselves are about the best I have heard from the Monteverdis and the soloists. Not one voice sounds out of harmony or rhythm, and not one instrument sounds a false not. That is almost unheard of in a live recording. I'm not sure that this is the definitive recording of this work, but I haven't heard many that have come close. Frankly, though the one-voice-per-part approach favoured by some HIP ensembles would be totally inappropriate. Venice wanted its music BIG and that's how Monteverdi wrote it.
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