Monteverdi Choir - CD

“The first release in Gardiner's 2000 Bach Cantata Pilgrimage, an extraordinary undertaking - a deeply moving experience that swept up the Record of the Year Award in 2005.” Gramophone Magazine, October 2008

“In 2000 John Eliot Gardiner commemorated the 250th anniversary of Bach's death with theBach Cantata Pilgrimage, a year-long European tour by the English Baroque Soloists and Monteverdi Choir that presented all of Bach's extant cantatas on the appropriate liturgical feast days. Here are the first two instalments of the complete cycle.
Soli Deo Gloria's presentation is first class. The CDs are cased in a handsomely designed hardbound book, complete with texts, translations and Gardiner's extensive, informative notes based on a journal he kept during the pilgrimage.
The interpretations are consistently fine – often superb, in fact – with surprisingly few wrong steps or disappointments, especially given the unusually gruelling performance schedule that produced them. Among the many mind-blowing, beautiful moments is the deliciously syncopated contralto aria from No 30, sung with poise by Wilke te Brummelstroete and graced by playing of magical delicacy from the EBS. And there's the extraordinary opening chorus of No 8, with its seemingly endless melodic tendrils, chiming flute part and plucked strings, sounding like a celestial dance. Special mention must be made of the artistry of tenor Mark Padmore, who maintains his sweet, ringingly clear tone even in the demanding leaps and roulades of his aria in No 95.
It's in delicate or intimate music that Gardiner shines most luminously, and some may find that he unduly emphasises the contemplative.
His thoughtful, refined approach is strikingly similar to Suzuki's cycle on BIS, though Gardiner's versions sound just a bit warmer.
Although his interpretations offer the finest attributes of period practice – transparency and litheness – there's a long-breathed musicality here that can be lacking in other accounts.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“This rounds off Gardiner's excellent series of the six late Masses, all supreme masterpieces, which Haydn wrote for the nameday each year of the Princess Esterhazy. There's also room for a valuable extra in the motet Insanae et vanaecurae. Haydn salvaged it from his Italian oratorio Il ritorno di Tobia, after he had pruned it, saying that it was 'too good to waste'. With a Latin text replacing the original Italian, it inspires Gardiner and his brilliant team to a searing performance, very different from those you'd get from a cathedral choir.
The Masses also find Gardiner on incisive form. The contrast with Hickox's Chandos cycle is most striking in the Gloria of the Heiligmesse.
Where Hickox makes the music swagger happily, Gardiner directs a biting, crisp reading, with spotlit drums and trumpets and marginally less spring in the rhythm. Contrasts elsewhere are similar, if less marked; Hickox is warmer and more joyful where Gardiner, with some extreme speeds is consistently crisp and fresh.
Both Masses were written in 1796 and the Heiligmesse first performed on the Princess's nameday that year. The Paukenmesse was held over until 1797, though it had been heard in Vienna the previous December. Not only are both Masses smaller in scale than the succeeding four, the Paukenmesse at least is more lyrical, less grandly symphonic that those masterpieces.
Haydn is still intent on springing surprises; he characteristically ends each with vigorous, even military settings of the 'Dona nobis pacem' which foreshadow Beethoven' illustration of war in the Missa solemnis.
The recording is clear and well balanced, highlighting the pinpoint ensemble of Gardiner's choir and his excellent team of soloists.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Another fine performance. True to form, Gardiner exults more fiercely than anyone in Gloria, with hungry rhythms and extreme dynamic contracts, and brings a unique hushed tension to the 'Crucifixus'.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2008

“Dating respectively from 1798 and 1799, the Nelsonmesse and the Theresienmesse are the third and fourth of the six masses written for the nameday of the Princess Esterházy. That was a period during the Napoleonic wars when Prince Esterházy, Nikolaus II had economised by dismissing his Harmonie or windband. Even so, in 1798 for the Nelsonmesse, Haydn, seeking to reflect the mood of the times (hence the official title, Missa in angustiis – 'Mass in straitened times'), brought in three trumpets and timpani, and their impact is all the greater when set against strings and organ alone.
That heightened contrast is a point which comes out with thrilling attack in Gardiner's performance at the very opening of the Kyrie.
This vigorous Allegro, typical of Haydn but totally untypical of Mass-settings, introduces martial fanfares, which recur through the whole work. Though Haydn composed the Mass in a mere 53 days in the summer of 1798, just when Nelson was winning the Battle of Aboukir, Haydn knew nothing of that victory till later, and the Nelson association dates from two years later when the admiral visited Eisenstadt, and the Mass was given in his honour.
Gardiner's treatment of the fanfares offers only the first of dozens of examples where his crisp, incisive manner highlights the extraordi- nary originality of this work. The Theresienmesse brings similar revelations. Here, in addition to trumpets and timpani, Haydn scored for two clarinets, and though this is a less sharply dramatic, more lyrical work, a martial flavour is again introduced. There are surprises aplenty, as in the sudden silence of the orchestra in the setting of the word 'miserere' at the end of the 'Gratias agimus tibi', or the setting of 'Et incarnatus' in the Credo in the rare key (in this context) of B flat minor, and 'Et vitam venturi' set in a galloping 6/8 time or the bold, square opening of Agnus Dei in bare octaves at an unapologetic forte. Such points must have startled early listeners, and Gardiner's treatment makes one appreciate that with new ears.
In this respect he even outshines Richard Hickox, whose prize-winning Mass series for Chandos brings equally enjoyable performances of both these works, just as energetic and a degree warmer, thanks in part to the recording acoustic. Gardiner's team, on the other hand, has markedly cleaner separation of textures, with soloists and chorus more sharply defined.
Gardiner's Monteverdi Choir as ever sings with passion, brilliance and fine precision, and his soloists are all outstanding, fresh and youthfulsounding with firm clear voices.
As a splendid, very apt bonus there's a superb account of the magnificent ceremonial C major Te Deum.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“This is a truly great operetta interpretation.
Gardiner's approach is on an altogether more inspired plane than his rivals. In the Viennese rhythms, he shows himself utterly at home – as in the Act 2 Dance scene, where he eases the orchestra irresistibly into the famous waltz. But there are also countless instances where Gardiner provides a deliciously fresh inflexion to the score. The cast of singers is uniformly impressive.
If Cheryl Studer's 'Vilja' isn't quite as assured as some others, her captivatingly playful 'Dummer, dummer Reitersmann' is typical of a well-characterised performance. As Danilo, Boje Skovhus acquits himself well with a polished performance and he offers a natural, more human characterisation than his rivals, while Barbara Bonney is superb. Not the least inspired piece of casting comes with Bryn Terfel, who transforms himself outstandingly well into the bluff Pontevedran ambassador. As for Gardiner's personally selected chorus, they make Monteverdi to Montenegro and Pontevedra seem the most natural transition in the world. DG's recorded sound has an astonishing clarity and immediacy, as in the way the piccolos shriek out at the Widow's Act 1 entrance or in the beautiful pianissimo accompaniment to the 'Vilja-Lied'.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

A powerful, incisive reading that scales the heights of Beethoven's epic vision - James Jolly, Gramophone 1000th issue

“A disc that revealed Gardiner's Beethoven credentials but which also showed off his magnificent Monterverdi Choir as it edged into the 19th century. Another Record of the Year.” Gramophone Magazine, October 2008

“Gardiner conducts an exhilarating performance. Speeds are regularly on the fast side but, characteristically, he consistently keeps a spring in their rhythm. Chorales are treated in contrasted ways...Soloists - regular contributors to Gardiner's team - are all first-rate. Warm and atmospheric, yet clear and detailed recording.” Penguin Guide, 2010 ***

“Gardiner bases his forces on the famous memorandum which Bach handed to the Leipzig town council in 1730 outlining the vocal and instrumental requirements for performances of his church music. This results in a larger ripieno group. Gardiner also includes a harpsichord as well as an organ, the simultaneous playing of which, in Wolff's words, was 'a practice that can probably be assumed to be normative in the great majority of Bach's church music'. Gardiner uses women's voices for the soprano solo and ripieno lines and also a male alto soloist and male alto ripieno singers.
This is a fine achievement. Here the many strong points of his direction – a vital rhythmic understanding, a clear and positive sense of purpose, and a naturally affective response to Bach's music, combine in forming a concept of the work which not only explores its eneffable mysteries but also savours the magnificence of its architecture.The solo vocal line-up is a strong one and there are few weak moments; most of the soloists sing in the ripieno group as well, though Patrizia Kwella and Lynne Dawson appear to be exceptions to the rule. Nancy Argenta's 'Laudamus te', in which she is lightly partnered by Elizabeth Wilcock's sensitive violin playing is very fine and the singing of Mary Nichols who provides an expressive and wellbalanced partnership with Patrizia Kwella in the 'Et in unum Dominum' deserves special mention.
Michael Chance gives a beautifully controlled account of the 'Agnus Dei' and there are assured contributions elsewhere from Wynford Evans and Stephen Varcoe.
The crowning achievement of Gardiner's recording lies in the vitality, accuracy and homogeneity of the ripieno singing it is in no sense intended to underplay the considerable virtues of the soloists and the orchestra; but this, after all, is first a vocal work and foremost a choral one. The ripieno singing at its very best – as it is for example, in the 'Et resurrexit' – is thrilling and gives a fervent imprint to the entire work. There is a spontaneity about this singing to which few listeners could remain indifferent.
Gardiner's choruses are immediately striking and handled with such skill and rigorous discipline that repeated hearing in no sense diminishes their impact.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Gardiner masterfully conveys the majesty (with bells and censer-swinging evoked) simultaneously with a crisply resilient rhythmic pulse. The choral tone is luminous and powerfully projected. The recording is warmly atmospheric but not cloudy.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition ***