Repertoire: The BEST Monteverdi Vespers (1610)
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- Опубліковано 14 лют 2021
- Monteverdi's 1610 collection of Vespers music arguably begs comparison with Bach's B-Minor Mass in its variety, grandeur and expressive comprehensiveness. Interpretations run the gamut from teeny, tiny forces to full choir and orchestra, and there's an approach to fit every taste. Here are a dozen versions for your consideration--a baker's dozen if you include William Christie's (Warner) fine version, which I now see is still available.Try to sample if you can to see if you respond to the performance style; but this is without question a must-hear masterpiece.
If you DO watch the Gardiner DVD, you will see some of the most magnificent close-ups of many of the greatest mosaics in San Marco’s cathedral. For that alone, it’s worth it...
It's a beautiful church, that's for sure.
Thank you so much for turning attention to this sublime, soul shattering work. When first hearing this in my early twenties, It not only enriched my growing musical experiences, but my human ones.
"Five or six recordings of this stuff is really enough." Words I've never been able to live by!
Well, it takes collective effort imho. How about in light of recent events at the capital "except the lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain"?
@@adamfrye246 Word
A very welcome review. The wonderful thing about Monteverdi is that by leaving so much open to performers to interpret and execute it's easy to justify having more than one recording. In fact it's essential. I have the Gardiner, Parrott and King recordings, coming back to King most often but each offers something unique. The operas are amazing works, hopefully you'll find time to talk about them also.
Can't wait to get the Robert King recording. I have the Gardiner and it is fabulous... especially considering it was recorded in the space for which it was written: Basilica di San Marco in Venice. A young Bryn Terfel is singing in the small balcony ensemble.
You've made my day.
Thanks for the attention to Monteverdi. He and Heinrich Schutz are two of my favorite composers.
I love the early gardiner. I think it’s the best set of soloists and your right, you can tell they knew that they were embarking on something special.
A truly great masterwork.
Ironically I have the pearlman too.
I'm glad you're reviewing Monteverdi, and I hope you will cover other renaissance and medieval composers. I am in desperate need of guidance when it comes to pre-baroque music.
Thank you so much for turning your attention to this sublime, soul shattering work. In my early twenties, this not only started to seriously enrich my musical experiences, but my growth as a person.
A historically informed listener should only listen to Vespers at sunset.
I know you're making a (good) joke, but on reflection you are right. I generally only listen to the bach passions at Easter for example.
I confess I have little incipient interest in Monteverdi personally, but any review which mentions goiters and The Name of the Rose is worth all of our time. I may have to start thinking of some softer-edged performances of standard rep orchestral works as “castrati” interpretations.
The Vespers are a delight and privilege to sing. I found every Amen section especially moving.
Just to note, you can get both the Christie and Jacobs recordings as downloads from Presto Classical.
Handy!
Thanks so much, Dave! Yes, I love the King performance as you do. Every performance, even the less appealing ones, seems to bring out new secrets inside this great music.
You probably know of this recording, but one of my favorites through the years has been the Hanns-Martin Schneidt 1975 on Archiv.
I know it's hard to get now, but it is on youtube for those who may be interested. Lovely voices and fine reverent but dynamic atmosphere.
Paul Halley, once the organist at Saint John the Divine Cathedral, in New York City, also has done a very ebullient and beautiful performance,
minute
Schneidt has already been mentioned--glad to know it's on UA-cam! Thanks for the tip.
Yes this is the recording for me. It is utter bliss. I was lucky enough to find the LP box set on Discogs for a bargain price. The period instruments, the soloists, the tempi and the Regensberg boys are all fabulous. I recommend the Schneidt Weihnachtsoratorium too. I must not recommend recordings with boy’s choirs too much because I am English and this bloke says our tradition of preserving boy’s choirs is creepy. After hearing piffle like that I can’t take him seriously.
Thanks so much for giving us an "early music" review, and what better work/collection to present than the Monteverdi Vespers! I wanted to weigh in before your review was finished to let your audience know that the Jurgen Jürgens is indeed available from one of Amazon's "sellers." I know this because I recently was in the market for a couple of new versions of this work, and located the Jürgens on Amazon. I declined to roder it because the price was unjustifiably high; presumably the seller(s) were aware the CD reissue was long out of print. In any case I decided on the Harnoncourt and the Pearlman, both of which are colorful, vibrant and sensitive performances. How about another "early music" review of one of Heinrich Schütz's great liturgical collections such as the Psalmen Davids 1619 or the Sinfoniae Sacrae III, both of which are of a comparable genius to the Monteverdi Vespers.
13:29 I looove Savall. I saw him perform _Vespers_ live in Luzern (at the KKL, the auditorium featuring upside-down organ pipes). For an encore he did Arvo Pärt's _Da pacem_ which was the only time I ever heard him perform a modern piece. The entire evening was great.
One of my favorite performances of this work , in every way . The SACD version sounds brilliant.
The D.G. Archive Recording of L'Orfeo directed by Jurgen Jurgens is my all-time favorite - just stunning and sublime in every way.
Agree! I love it
The René Jacobs, which can be downloaded in high quality from Presto and streamed in glorious hi-res from Qobuz, is my go-to from the dozen or more versions I've enjoyed. Big, bold, colorful, dramatic, operatic, sung to a fare-thee-well, it gives me chills every time. I could not agree more about preferring mellower continental voices to British, which I often find overly bright.
My go-to recording of Monteverdi's Vespers for the past 20 years has been Gabriel Garrido and the Ensemble Elyma on K617. It's perfectly lithe and superb, with only a handful of plainchant interruptions (accounting for less than 4 minutes sprinkled in 30 second increments over 2 cds), no "filler" composers, and BOTH Magnificats. In fact, I have most of the other Garrido Monteverdi releases, all of which are rather good!
But it's not available. Dammit.
@@DavesClassicalGuide I think it’s currently available in a 12cd box set along with all the other Garrido Monteverdi operas, on Accent Records.
@@barbaricyawper14 Holy crap! Yes, it is, and I own that box too, but I would still hesitate to tell anyone to go buy the whole thing just to get the Vespers. Maybe I can do a talk on the box separately... But thanks for reminding me!
@@DavesClassicalGuide It's also available as an mp3 download from Amazon.
We do know quite a bit about performance practice of Monteverdi's time. Vocal and string doubling was a rarity in both prima prattica and seconda prattica, with some rare exceptions. The Gabrieli Sacrae Symphoniae of the Schutz Psalmen Davids, both from 1619, did in fact make use of cappella choirs (which very likely could have used doubling). There are aesthetic clues even in the music as to how big the textures need to be. It really comes down to 17th century musical rhetoric, and not so much 21st century aesthetics. I only mention this because I perform this music all the time, and have come to conclusions based on decades of research and trial and error. That said, David, I regard very highly your tastes and impulses with regard to musical aesthetics, because at the end of the day, you and the listeners need to be moved by the performances, and you are doing your job, and admirably, I must say. Thank you!
Thanks for sharing your own professional experience of this music. I find it fascinating.
I read a commentary by someone who heard Bach's music shortly after Bach's death and he wrote that having too many voices muddles the sound and the libretto and he is right. Rifkin's BWV 131 for 1 voice per part is beyond any other recording. Andrew Parrott's Vesper 1610 does not use minimal forces but he does contrast soloists with the chorus and it sounds superb. I have the Jordi Savall and it has a complete lack of propulsion, lack of sunlight, bordering on pretty elevator music. I have heard the Vespers performed by larger choirs in person and it does sound great with the appropriate voices; and I have heard minimal forces live in a large space and it is a horrible auditory experience due to the small sound. But for a studio recording, I just don't think anyone is better than Parrott's.
Great video as usual, David! I will definitely look into getting a recording of the Vespers. On another note, I noticed you mentioning that you don’t care much for Gardiner’s recordings of the Bach cantatas; is there a cycle that you feel really stands out among the rest?
Gardiner's recordings of the Cantatas aren't really that bad at all, and a hell of a lot of work went into trying to do them live in so many locations/ acoustics. He is exaggerating.
I happen to already own Christie's version. Since for me the audio quality is (almost) always of paramount importance, I didn't get along with this recording too well - yet (I am always hoping for "better times", when my equipment - especially loudspeakers - might be of (even) better quality and maybe can play nearly everything with enjoyable sound ...).
Following the recommendations I now investigated the René Jacobs production on Harmonia Mundi, available for example on Qobuz ("imported" for CD resolution). On first listen the sound wasn't fully enjoyable either - a bit congested and bright when played at realistic levels. At least with my current speakers in my room, to my ears ...
In comparison, the Savall recording sounded voluminous, lush, "natural" and true-to-life big - highly recommended.
Finally I had a short listen to one of the dreaded small/er scale performances: Amarcord + Lauttencompagney on label Carus. While not as immediately appealing as the Savall recording (being tonally not as warm), this one also sounded quite "natural", transparent and colourful without being fatiguing and thus very enjoyable.
I own Harnoncourt's digital one for TELDEC, and I love it. The music itself is quite moving. And Harnoncourt take it from a grandiose perspective, which I love!!
The baroque way of thinking musically speaking was so different to our modern perspective..
I really like this performance, but it's a pity that it was recorded in early DDD instead of analog. There is no good balance between vocals and instruments. The instrumental parts are hardly audible compared to the vocals.
I've listened to this with a fire in the fireplace and it was like it was that time all over again. Harnoncourt has especially expressive phrasing, imo.
It's a pity that N.Harnoncourt's performance was recorded in early DDD ... Recorded in anlog it would sound much better now, especially in HI Res 24 bit.
Any thoughts on Robert Craft's recording with the Columbia Baroque Ensemble?
Hi Dave. I enjoy Alessandrini with Concerto Italiano, lots of energy and brilliance. Judging by your reaction to minimalist versions, you probably disagree. But I think it has the extravagance and variety you call for.
That performance is the only one with one singer part which truly conveys all of the energy of this Masterwork.
I completely agree. My favorite recording of this masterpiece, along with Savall's.
Hi Dave. You can get J-J’s Vespers on Amazon UK
Quick question: IYHO best recording of maestro’s madrigals but without countertenors?
Love your vids.
David L
to be honest, I've never listened for that specifically. I just go for overall vocal blend and beauty of tone, rather than who is making the noise.
Totally agree about the interpolated chant, leave it out. I"m pretty sure the Jürgens recording is out on Teldec CD
I have the Jürgens on a Teldec 2-fer, 4509-92175-2. Love it. Is it OOP now?
hope the Jurgen Jurgens is terrific--I just forked over 50 bucks for it on Amazon; just kidding, I'm sure it'll be great--your recommendations always are. This is really a great piece of music. An outfit called Apollo's Fire out of Cleveland does a great job of this piece on video on You Tube. They came to St. Louis and did it in the anniversary year of 2010 for outstanding results.
One of my pet disk peeves is about an lp of this work that I bought when it came our in about 1975 in a really deluxe Archiv presentation that included both Magnificats and the mass. Really good performances by Hanns-Martin Schneidt et al, but DG fumbled the cd release that included only "excerpts." One commentator wrote in on Amazon that this makes about as much sense as a disk with excerpts of Bach's B minor Mass. worth hanging onto one's turntable for this alone Keep us listening, Dave!
I had the Schneidt too--very irritating that they screwed up the CD, and there's no excuse for it.
Dear David, what's your take on Ralf Otto's version on Capriccio? Thank you.
I haven't heard it. Have you? What do you think? I'm actually curious because I know his Bach recordings pretty well and enjoy them.
8:56 I'm dying😂
You mentioned you didn't like the McCreesh recording. What about the first one that he did for Archv - "Venetian Vespers"? It's a 2 disc set with other composers' work mingled in. Are you familiar with that?
Yes, and I REALLY dislike those kinds of compilations.
OK. Thanks!
Thats a taste matter. Its a really pathbreaking and excellent recording.
@@murraylow4523 Yes, I made some fantastic discoveries from that recording.
What do you think of Gabriel Garrido’s recording with Ensemble Elyma?
I think it's yet another version that's out of print or very hard to source, so sadly there's no need to consider it further for our purposes. It's so frustrating that these performances often don't last in the catalog long enough to get the consideration that they deserve.
Yes I agree. Though, one reason why so many things aren’t available now is that Amazon isn’t restocking on cds during the pandemic. Btw, Garrido’s Monteverdi opera box (including the Vespers) is currently available.
@@nout1972 Mine, too! And he also recorded the magnificent - complete - Selva Morale e Spirituale. Talking about Italian baroque Vespers, Garrido also gave us the stunning Vespro per lo Stellario by Bonaventura Rubino. Now that I call a real liturgical feast!
The Vespers is my favorite piece of music, and I've been as much of a Vespers tourist over the years as my meager pocketbook allowed. Generally, I prefer those performances that see it as the first great baroque choral blockbuster rather than a collection of sacred madrigals. The live performance that moved me most was in a church in Cleveland (naturally) with Apollo's Fire under Jeannette Sorrell. The forces weren't huge, but she played it big and the soloists had real gutsy individuality. The recording they made isn't quite on that level, but I still enjoyed it very much.
Addendum: The (B secttion?) of Duo Seraphim, "plena est omnis..." is my nomination for world's most beautiful melody.