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Monteverdi - Vespro della Beata Vergine

Sophie Marin-Degor (soprano), Maryseult Wieczorek (mezzo), Artur Stefanowicz (countertenor), Paul Agnew, Joseph Cornwell (tenors), Thierry Félix, Clive Bayley (basses)

Les Arts Florissants Orchestra & Chorus, Les Sacqueboutiers de Toulouse, William Christie

This is in some ways an oddly old-fashioned approach to the 1610 Vespers. With a substantial choir and sometimes highly varying orchestration, William Christie creates a warm and glowing sound.... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 More…

Catalogue No: 3984231392
Label: Erato
Length: 1 hour 40 minutes

Gramophone Magazine

Collection

Excerpt, Monteverdi: Vespro della beata Vergine (1610)

Work length33:24

$7.80

$10.20

Les Arts Florissants, Les Sacqueboutiers de Toulouse
William Christie

I "Deus in adjutorium"

Track length2:16

$1.30

$1.70

II "Dixit Dominus"

Track length8:36

$1.30

$1.70

III "Nigra sum"

Track length4:30

$1.30

$1.70

IV "Laudate pueri"

Track length6:58

$1.30

$1.70

V "Pulchra es"

Track length3:53

$1.30

$1.70

VI "Laetatus sum"

Track length7:11

$1.30

$1.70

Cima, G: Violin Sonata in G Minor

Work length4:19

$1.30

$1.70

William Christie, Anne-Marie Lasla (viola da gamba), Béatrice Martin (organ), François Fernandez (violin), Jonathan Rubin (theorbo)

Excerpt, Monteverdi: Vespro della beata Vergine (1610)

Work length18:07

$3.90

$5.10

Les Arts Florissants, Les Sacqueboutiers de Toulouse
William Christie

VII "Nisi Dominus"

Track length4:46

$1.30

$1.70

VIII "Audi coelum"

Track length8:53

$1.30

$1.70

IX "Lauda Jerusalem"

Track length4:28

$1.30

$1.70

Cima, G: Violin Sonata in A minor

Work length3:17

$1.30

$1.70

William Christie, Brian Feehan (theorbo), Béatrice Martin (organ), Claude Wassmer (dulcian), François Fernandez (violin), Jean-Pierre Canihac (cornetto)

Monteverdi: Vespro della beata Vergine (1610)

Work length40:58

$22.10

$28.90

Les Arts Florissants, Les Sacqueboutiers de Toulouse
William Christie

X "Duo Seraphim"

Track length6:19

$1.30

$1.70

XI Sonata sopra Sancta Maria

Track length6:38

$1.30

$1.70

XII "Ave maris stella"

Track length8:17

$1.30

$1.70

XIII "Sancta Maria"

Track length1:14

$1.30

$1.70

XIV Magnificat

Track length0:53

$1.30

$1.70

XV "Et exultavit"

Track length1:06

$1.30

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XVI "Quia respexit"

Track length1:58

$1.30

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XVII "Quia fecit"

Track length0:59

$1.30

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XVIII "Et misericordia"

Track length2:23

$1.30

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XIX "Fecit potentiam"

Track length0:57

$1.30

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XX "Deposuit"

Track length1:55

$1.30

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XXI "Esurientes"

Track length1:12

$1.30

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XXII "Suscepit Israel"

Track length1:18

$1.30

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XXIII "Sicut locutus"

Track length0:55

$1.30

$1.70

XXIV "Gloria Patri"

Track length2:44

$1.30

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XXV "Sicut erat"

Track length1:34

$1.30

$1.70

XXVI "Benedicamus Domino"

Track length0:36

$1.30

$1.70

Reviews
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Reviews

2010

This is in some ways an oddly old-fashioned approach to the 1610 Vespers. With a substantial choir and sometimes highly varying orchestration, William Christie creates a warm and glowing sound. Part of his emphasis is on texture and flow, so Monteverdi's often sharp dissonances tend to have a soft edge; and there are some occasionally irrelevant pitches buried in the polyphonic web. He faces the challenge of putting the 'Lauda Jerusalem' and the 'Magnificat' at a pitch standard a fourth lower than the rest (which he has at a modern concert pitch). And that's where the rich orchestration pays its dividends; the resulting almost impossibly low bass lines, particularly in the 'Et misericordia' section of the 'Magnificat', sound clear and lucid with their instrumental doubling.
He also benefits from the splendid low range of the tenors he uses: they manage to make the 'Gloria Patri' section a true climax to the work, and they give the 'Duo Seraphim' perhaps the most convincing performance available anywhere because they're so beautifully matched. Christie prefaces each of the psalms with a chant introit; and he follows the order of the print except in putting 'Duo Seraphim' before the 'Sonata sopra Sancta Maria'.
To fill the gap where Monteverdi put 'Duo Seraphim' he introduces a sonata by Cima, superbly played by a team led by the violinist, François Fernandez; another sonata by Cima separates the 'Lauda Jerusalem' from 'Duo Seraphim'. There's a warmth and generosity here that are undeniably attractive; the movements mentioned go better than anything else available; and everything is done at the level of skill and musicality that we've come to expect from Christie and his group.

June 2010

...a warmly choral version yet one that achieves almost all its effects through skilled pacing and attention to expressive detail rather than strident volume, with results as fluid and telling as in some huge madrigal.

Monteverdi - Vespro della Beata Vergine

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