Intonatio: Deus in adiutorium - Domine ad adiuvandum - S. Marin-Degor
Antiphon: Dum esset rex in accubito suo - Les Sacqueboutiers De Toulouse
Nigra sum - P. Agnew
Antiphon: Laeva eius sub capite meo - Les Sacqueboutiers De Toulouse
Pulchra es, amica mea - S. Marin-Degor
Antiphon: Nigra sum sed formosa - Les Sacqueboutiers De Toulouse
Sonata a due per violino e violone (G Minor) - Jonathan Rubin
Antiphon: Iam hiems transiit, imber abiit - Nisi Dominus (Psalm 126) - Les Sacqueboutiers De Toulouse
Audi coelum - Omnes hanc ergo sequamur - S. Marin-Degor
Track Listings (19) - Disc #2
Antiphon: Speciosa facta es - Les Sacqueboutiers De Toulouse
Sonata a tre per violino, cornetto e violone (A Minor) - Jean-Pierre Canihac
Duo Seraphim - P. Agnew
Sonata sopra Sancta Maria ora pro nobis - Les Sacqueboutiers De Toulouse
Ave Maris Stella - S. Marin-Degor
Antiphon: Sancta Maria succurre miseris - Les Sacqueboutiers De Toulouse
Magnificat - Les Sacqueboutiers De Toulouse
Et exultavit - P. Agnew
Quia respexit - Joseph Cornwell
Quia fecit - Artur Stefanowicz
Et misericordia - Les Sacqueboutiers De Toulouse
Fecit potentiam - Artur Stefanowicz
Deposuit - Joseph Cornwell
Esurientes - Sophie Marin-Degor
Suscepit Israel - Paul Agnew
Sicut locutus est - Artur Stefanowicz
Gloria Patri - P. Agnew
Sicut erat - Les Sacqueboutiers De Toulouse
Benedicamus Domino - Les Sacqueboutiers De Toulouse
Monteverdi's Vespers is a monumental collection of musical settings of liturgical texts for a service in honor of the Virgin. It presents a cornucopia of styles, stretching from traditional plainchant to a forward-looking,... more » innovative aesthetic, and bridges the gap between the Renaissance and the beginnings of Baroque musical language. William Christie leads a beautifully sculpted, majestic performance that is responsive to this stylistic profusion but also makes a case for underlying structural cohesion. The instrumental and choral playing is richly textured, while the soloists give exquisitely wrought accounts of Monteverdi's elaborate word painting. --Thomas May« less
Monteverdi's Vespers is a monumental collection of musical settings of liturgical texts for a service in honor of the Virgin. It presents a cornucopia of styles, stretching from traditional plainchant to a forward-looking, innovative aesthetic, and bridges the gap between the Renaissance and the beginnings of Baroque musical language. William Christie leads a beautifully sculpted, majestic performance that is responsive to this stylistic profusion but also makes a case for underlying structural cohesion. The instrumental and choral playing is richly textured, while the soloists give exquisitely wrought accounts of Monteverdi's elaborate word painting. --Thomas May
CD Reviews
William Christie never disappoints!
03/08/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"What a marvelous recording! As always, Christie tries to capture the old masterpiece in its most authentic version. This task is especially difficult with Monteverdi whose music came to us very imcomplete, requiring a significant amount of historical and musicological research before any performance can be attempted. But Christie excels. As always, he is helped by the extraordinary set of musicians and soloists who come to work with him. It is a marvel that so many Les Arts Florissants performers return to work with Christie time and again even though they are almost never paid in advance. It requires a lot of faith in themselves and in their maestro for these performers to invest themselves in Les Arts Florissants while relying only on the expectation of future royalties. No wonder then that their performances are always so inspired and inspiring! Other memorable performances of this kind of music which I would highly recommend include Venetian Vespers (McCreesh) and Cavalli's Vespro della Beata Vergine (Dickey)."
Sumptuous Monterverdi
11/24/1998
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is a truly sumptuous version. The soloists really dramatize their parts, and Christie goes for gorgeous sound and magnificent effects. This works especially well with the florid melismas set off against the plain-chant cantus firmus in the Gloria of the Magnificat. It works less well in rounding the edges of the startling rhythmic variations on the words "Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis." The gregorian antiphons are included, which for me is a plus. The recorded sound is excellent, though with a fair amount of reverberation to match the conductor's conception."
All the Glory and Mysticism of the Monteverdi Masterpiece
Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 04/10/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"For those who have had the privilege of singing in a chorus that has performed the Monteverdi Vespers of 1610, this splendid recording by the redoubtable William Christie and Les Arts Florissants will be a nostalgic thrill. Music such as this mighty work are the specialty of Christie and he and his forces manage to recreate the ambience and reverberation sounds of the massive cathedrals where the work was originally performed.
Though a lengthy piece, the variation in sounds between choruses and soloists and antiphonal brass choirs and continuo never ceases to amaze. Here are passages that are quite medieval along with harmonies and rhythms that are forward looking. It is a work with many faces and many paths to ascend the high vaults of Gothic architecture!
Christie has selected excellent soloists: Sophie Marin-Degor, Maryseult Wieczorek, Artur Stefanowicz, Fabian Schofrin, Paul Agnew, B?atrice Martin, and Jonathan Cable are all first rate. Though there are several superb recordings of the Vespers 1610, this recording manages to reach the pinnacle of atmosphere and mysticism better than the others. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, April 06"
Serene, Solemn, Statuesque Monteverdi
Giordano Bruno | Wherever I am, I am. | 10/06/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"If your heart pants for a monumental choral performance of the Vespers, the kind that would fill a basilica with sound, this interpretation by William Christie is the best you'll find. In addition to the nine soloists, Christie employs three chanters and a chorus of twenty-seven; the surprise, with all those voices, is that he doesn't sacrifice much clarity or tonal definition. Verily, recording technology is showing promise! Christie's regular orchestra, Les Arts Florissants, is fortified for this performance by the three cornetts and three tombones of Les Sacqueboutiers de Toulouse, and by two recorders and a dulcian. I certainly can't fault the addition of the dulcian, even if it's only heard distinctly for a few bars here and there. Every Baroque performance should include a dulcian.
This is the Vespers conceived on a monumental scale that reminds me of the grandly posed paintings of Piero della Francesca or Giovanni Bellini. Check the tempi, for instance, against other performances, especially that of Tragicomedia. Christie takes every movement at least 15% slower. That, of course, may be necessary with such mass vocal forces, but the emotional effect is to emphasize grandeur at the cost of fancifulness. Tragicomedia takes the opposite route, using only the soloists as choir, aiming for sprightliness and clarity instead of power. If I had to choose one performance of the Vespers and discard the other, I'd probably keep the Tragicomedia... until the Magnificat, when Christie's interpretation reaches its climax of awesome magnificence. Fortunately, I can afford to keep both.
Christie inserts two extra instrumental movements into this performance - a sonata for violin and gamba, and a sonata for violin and cornetto with dulcian, both by Giovanni Cima. Given the scale of this performance, the insertions fit very well and sustain the mood perfectly. However, some items of the "concert" version of the Vespers are omitted from this "liturgical" recreation, for reasons that Christie explains in his notes. Unlike the dour sound of the Vespers as conducted by Jordi Savall, the 'mood' Christie creates is one of high counter-reformation glory. This is a very fine recording in every detail, far more impressive than the CDs of the same music conducted by Andrew Parrott and Masaki Suzuki.
But wait! There is yet another superb performance of the Vespers, with all the concert movements but without the antiphons, recorded by Concerto Italiano, with Rinaldo Alessandrini conducting. The singers in Alessandrini's performance are flamboyantly rich and resonant, particularly the basso. The cornetto playing is extraordinary. It's impossible, really, to assign an order of preference among these three, Christie, Alessandrini and Stubbs."
Track Listings (9) - Disc #1