Claudio Monteverdi: Marienvesper – Vespro Della Beata Vergine

   in Choir & Organ (Jan, 2015)
There are as many ways to perform Monteverdi as varieties of pasta; pour on a plethora of vocal and instrumental flavourings, even within the bounds of historically informed performance, and the possibilities appear infinite. The Lautten Compagney and Amarcord offer the traditional 1610 sequence in a new urtext edition from Carus with no attempt to solve liturgical conundra. Squeezy phrasing in the Dixit Dominus warns that this is a mannered interpretation. Some tempi are brisk, even frantic, but heavy-handed articulation contrasts quirkily with airy, friskily nimble soloists. Incision is all: searing seraphim evoke febrile visions, and tortured shrieking from the sopranos in ‘Lauda Jerusalem’ is, frankly, appalling. Bags of character fails …