Monteverdi – Vespro Della Beata Vergine
Monteverdi Choir; English Baroque Soloists; Sir John Eliot Gardiner
Alpha 705
Sir John Eliot Gardiner has conducted Monteverdi’s Vespers many times. In the booklet that comes with this DVD he relates how he first conducted the work in 1964 when he was still an undergraduate at Cambridge. He also mentions that he received a great deal of cooperation from various academics. His tutor even arranged for him to have a year off from his work for the History Tripos so that he could concentrate on the Monteverdi. The performance was in the splendid late Gothic chapel at King’s College, Cambridge. Recently Gardiner was invited to conduct the work again in King’s College Chapel and the essay in the DVD booklet is clearly the program note for that performance.
Gardiner has conducted the work several times on CD and also once on an earlier DVD where the venue was the Basilica of St. Mark in Venice. The venue on this recording is yet another space, the late 17th century Chapelle Royale de Versailles. That church is not as spectacular as the Chapel at King’s College or St. Mark’s Basilica but the architectural space works well. The cinematographer has also made good use of the frescos in the church to heighten the baroque ambiance in which the work is performed.
In his introductory essay, Gardiner writes that already in 1964, he found “the smooth, polite euphony of the collegiate choral style of the early 60s” unsuitable for this work. He has not changed his mind: this performance is dramatic and vigorous. Apart from some rather ungainly entrances by the solo tenors in the concluding Magnificat, it is also beautifully sung and played.
Concert Note: As mentioned above, the Toronto Consort presents Monteverdi’s Vespers at Trinity-St. Paul’s on May 6, 7 and 8.
