Just over a year ago Dominy
Clements concluded his Musicweb review of Robert King’s version
of the complete 1610 collection (Hyperion CDA67531/2, also available
on SACD, SACDA67531/2) by saying that all his other versions
of these works had sadly been relegated to an ‘inaccessible
cupboard behind the sofa’ and the new version now stood alone
among the select ‘immediately to hand’ collection. Having heard
excerpts when these CDs were published, and having now listened
to the Lætatus sum and the Sanctus and Benedictus
of the mass In illo tempore from this set on the Hyperion
website, I can fully understand this reaction; even at a low
bit-rate, its quality is apparent. There is much to be said
for such a performance in an ‘operatic’ style: after all, Monteverdi,
by re-using the instrumental opening of his opera L’Orfeo
in the Vespers, effectively sanctioned such an approach. Paradoxically,
I understand that King omits this dramatic opening.
This work, however, offers
so many areas for debate and dissension that it is unlikely
that one version will ever reign supreme. One distinguished
scholar, the late Denis Stevens, described the situation as
the blind leading the blind and the deaf leading the deaf. As
in the case of Bach’s B-minor Mass, we do not even know the
circumstances of the original performance(s) though, since it
is described as Vespro della Beata Vergine, it is reasonable
to suppose that it was intended for a festal celebration of
Vespers on one of the feasts of the Virgin Mary – but would
that have been with a small choir (one voice to a part) or with
a larger ensemble in which at least some of the items would
have been sung with larger forces? At what pitch should music
of this period be performed? As usual with Veritas twofers,
the notes in the booklet are extremely sketchy and contain no
hint of the many controversies surrounding how the music should
be performed, not even a mention of the fact that the chosen
pitch is a’=440. If you can, beg, borrow or steal the much fuller
booklet of notes which accompanied the original full-price issue
and which, fortunately, I kept when I replaced it, or look at
one of the links which I have suggested at the end of this review.
Recently Paul McCreesh
(on Archiv 477 614-7, 2 CDs) has re-opened the debate concerning
how many voices should be employed per part; McCreesh employs
one voice per part, King adopts the multiple-voice approach.
Without disparaging either of these newer versions, I wanted
to investigate how well Parrott, now the oldest of the main
current contenders, stood. Parrott pursues a midway course,
employing single voices for some items and a larger, though
never overwhelmingly large, ensemble for others.
The Virgin set, of course,
has a considerable price advantage over the other two sets,
at about one third the price of the McCreesh and a quarter that
of the King. King includes all the music from the 1610 collection,
including the alternative Magnificat and the old-style
Missa in illo tempore; the Veritas reissue of Parrott
adds a further 22-minute selection of Monteverdi’s Vesper psalm
settings from a later collection – though well worth having,
especially as the Marian motet Salve Regina aptly rounds
off a set of Marian Vespers, they sound more like a ‘bolt-on’
than King’s offering of the complete 1610 set – McCreesh offers
only the Vespers in a liturgical reconstruction, but owners
of this or the Parrott can easily add In illo tempore to
their collection in a performance by The Sixteen on a recommendable
bargain-price Hyperion Helios disc (CDH55145) and thereby also
obtain another, four-part, Mass and other Monteverdi works.
King fits all the Vespers
music on one disc; his 70:25 against Parrott’s 105:37 may seem
like a fast sprint, but he does not attempt Parrott’s liturgical
reconstruction. The comparison between Parrott and McCreesh
at 97:54 is more to the point, though even here the comparison
is odious, since McCreesh and Parrott employ different plainsong
antiphons. In Lætatus sum, Parrott is actually slightly
faster than King; indeed, nowhere does his version ever sound
drawn-out. Nor does he indulge in the recklessly fast tempi
that sometimes typify overdone ‘authenticity’.
Parrott’s singers are all
excellent, though I must admit to a personal aversion to the
timbre of Nigel Rogers’ voice, especially when Parrott ignores
Denis Stevens’ advice to avoid having a tenor sing Nigra
sum. Those who have read my recent review of the Eloquence
reissue of Handel Italian Cantatas will not be surprised if
I single out the contribution of Emma Kirkby amongst the other
fine soloists.
Parrott also ignores Stevens’
advice to eschew the use of instruments such as the chittarone
and harpsichord, which would have sounded “like a mouse breaking
wind” in St Mark’s, though perfectly appropriate in the more
domestic surroundings of listening to a CD. This instrumental
accompaniment is never obtrusive, never sounds strange in a
misguided effort to achieve a ‘baroque’ sound – the typical
sound of the baroque violin dates, in any case, from a period
later than 1610 – indeed, I could have wished the organs at
times to have made a greater ‘noyse’, more commensurate with
the sound that might have been heard in St Mark’s: though Monteverdi
was not appointed to his post there until 1613, he probably
had the sound of such a large church in mind.
Stevens also advises would-be
performers to avoid editions which include plainsong, which
he admits to having included for practical reasons in his 1960s
edition. It is difficult to see how Parrott could have followed
this advice literally: if this is a setting of Vespers, it must
at least include the opening Deus in adiutorium / Domine
ad adiuvandum and the closing blessing. In fact, however,
Parrott goes further than this, employing a separate group of
six singers, named separately as the Canto Gregoriano in the
original booklet but omitted from the reissue booklet, to sing
a number of antiphons. In the Roman Breviary special antiphons,
short settings of words from the Bible or elsewhere, appropriate
to the occasion, precede each of the Vespers psalms and the
Magnificat. Parrott not unreasonably includes the plainsong
antiphons appropriate to the feast of the Assumption, together
with the plainsong Capitulum or short reading for that
feast.
Though well aware of the
argument that the various items in the 1610 collection were
probably written piecemeal during the preceding years, and may
never have received a complete outing – may never have been
intended for performance in their entirety – I must admit to
a preference for a performance such as Parrott’s or that of
McCreesh which attempts a liturgical reconstruction over the
plainer approach recommended by Stevens and adopted by King.
For this reason, too, I recommend McCreesh’s other reconstructions
of Venetian music, such as his more radical attempt to reconstruct
First Vespers of the Annunciation “as it might have been celebrated
in St Mark’s, Venice in 1643”, a 2-CD set of music by Monteverdi,
Rigati, et al, most recently reissued at mid-price on
476 1868.
To sum up: if you would
prefer a performance of the Vespers with slightly larger forces
and avoiding any attempt at liturgical reconstruction, excellently
sung and recorded (especially if you have SACD-capability),
go for the King. You will not regret the fact that Hyperion
have made this a 2-CD set when the actual Vespers are complete
on one disc, since the music on the second CD is well worth
hearing. If you would like the liturgical approach, insist on
a modern recording, and subscribe to the one-to-a-part philosophy,
McCreesh is probably right for you. If you want the liturgical
approach but in a context where larger forces are sometimes
employed, Parrott is still very competitive. The (originally
EMI) recording still sounds well, though inevitably sounding
more small-scale than the Hyperion; the extra psalms are well
worth hearing, and you will have to lay out far less of your
hard-earned money than for either of the alternatives. Even
if you also add the Helios CD containing In illo tempore
you will still have change from the normal cost of one full-price
CD. I hate to sound mercenary where great music is concerned,
but for those of us born North of Watford, cost is an inevitable
factor!
I have tried to avoid becoming
bogged down in technicalities – I could, for example, have written
about whether the Concerti such as Nigra sum are
properly part of a celebration of Vespers. Much more important
to share my enjoyment of the work – and for those as yet unacquainted
with Monteverdi, the Vespers or L’Orfeo is the place
to begin. Any one of the recordings I have named is likely to
prove an enjoyable experience, as is the older version by Gardiner
(Archiv 429 565-2, a live recording made in St Mark’s, also
on DVD). Tony Haywood on this site also recommended Alessandrini’s
account (Naïve OP30403) but thought it best not to make this
one’s only version. For L’Orfeo I also recommend another
older EMI recording directed by Charles Medlam, now available
as a bargain Virgin Veritas twofer on 4 82070 2. Yes, it’s Nigel
Rogers again as Orfeo, but I find his voice here much more acceptable.
While on the subject of
recommending recordings of Monteverdi, I should belatedly mention
a Consort of Musicke/Anthony Rooley CD entitled Lamento d’Arianna
and containing settings by Monteverdi and contemporaries of
this excerpt from his lost opera. When I recently reviewed the
Naxos set of the Sixth Book of Madrigals, where the Lamento
first appeared, I was under the impression that this disc was
deleted but it is, in fact, available at bargain price in the
Deutsche Harmonia Mundi Baroque Esprit series (05472 77430 2).
I recommend it – of course: Emma Kirkby is a contributor.
Those in search of more
information about the Vespers will find all they need and more
on a scholarly website
(click on the portrait of Monteverdi to enter the site). The text,
with translation, is available as an appendix
to this site. A basic introduction to Monteverdi by Denis Arnold
is available in the Master Musicians series (first published by
Dent, 1963, revised 1990, reissued Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2000). Denis Stevens’ no-nonsense approach in Monteverdi in
Venice (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 2001)
is well worth seeking out. A 7-part vocal score of part of the
Vespers, the psalm Lauda Jerusalem Dominum is available.
Brian Wilson
