Claudio MONTEVERDI (1567-1643)
Vespers of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1610) [83:57]; Exultent caeli
[6:04]
Giovanni Battista FONTANA (1571-1630)
Sonata Secunda [7:06]
Grace Davidson, Kirsty Hopkins, Meg Bragle, Kim Porter (sopranos); David Clegg,
Tim Travers-Brown (counter-tenors); Matthew Long, Nicholas Mulroy, Sam Boden
(tenors); Alex Ashworth, Robert Davies, Philip Tebb, Eamonn Dougan (baritones);
Stuart Young, William Gaunt (basses); Alison Bury (violin)
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment/Robert Howarth
rec. live, Hall One, Kings Place, London, 30 August 2010. DDD
text and English translation included
SIGNUM SIGCD237 [49:08 + 47:59]
In his introduction to his admirable Cambridge Music Handbook on the Vespers
John Wenham quotes the late Denis Arnold as saying that “no doubt all
professions have their hazards, and for the student of Monteverdi the principal
one is surely that musicological Lorelei, the Vespers (of 1610, of
course). To edit it is to receive the kiss of death as a scholar. To perform
it is to court disaster. To write about it is to alienate some of one’s best
friends”. That was written in 1967 and despite these dire warnings he himself
directed it on several occasions, one of which was my own introduction to
the work. He would not have been surprised that his performances bore little
resemblance to what we have here, although as above all an enthusiast for
the music he would probably have welcomed the latter as yet another valiant
attempt at getting closer to the heart of this amazing work.
The recording is of a live performance of the Vespers at the OAE’s
headquarters in London. It is very obvious that as a result of the tour that
preceded it the performers are wholly at ease with both the work and with
the particular performance decisions that have been taken here. The various
Psalms, Sacred Concertos and other items are presented in what might be called
the “usual” order, that is, the order in which they appear in the original
publication, although the Mass for six voices and the alternative setting
of the Magnificat are omitted. There are none of the plainsong antiphons
found on some recordings, but a later motet by Monteverdi – “Exultent caeli”
– and a Violin Sonata by Giovanni Battista Fontana frame the Magnificat
as antiphon substitutes. Pitch is always a matter for debate in relation
to the Vespers, and Howarth pitches the performance at A=466, said
to be the pitch employed in Venice at that date. This means that most of the
work sounds a semitone above modern concert pitch, but in line with the general
view of modern scholars Lauda Jerusalem and the Magnificat are
sung down a fourth. This does mean the loss of the two wonderfully duetting
tenors at the end, but instead we have two baritones and in this version at
least they manage to convey that sense of exultation that earlier (and probably
less historically correct) performances have led us to expect here.
The other major performance decision concerns the forces to be used. Bearing
in mind that the Vespers were published as part-books rather than as
a score Howarth assigns particular singers to particular part-books rather
than to whichever lines would fit their normal range best. Given the difficulty
of moving part-books around this would seem to be more likely to match the
way in which it was expected that the work would be sung. It means that singers
can at times find themselves in awkward parts of their range but it does add
extra colour and at times changes the textures. For much to the time solo
voices are used but in some items sections are doubled.
The resulting performance is obviously the product of considerable thought,
careful rehearsal and much practical performance. In a word it is magnificent.
The rhythmic clarity and bounce, sensuous care for individual lines, total
technical security and sheer joy in music-making is at once exhilarating and
moving. The recording is perhaps a little close at times but the textures
are always clear. All of the individual singers meet the formidable demands
made upon them with success, especially the solo tenors and sopranos. There
are a few very minor fluffs but given that this was a live performance the
surprise is that they are so few.
I have heard many performances and recordings of the Vespers. The sheer
variety of response it elicits from performers is itself a source of great
joy to the listener and sensible Vespers addicts will not want to restrict
themselves to only one – even to three or four – versions, but I have to say
that this is one of the most enjoyable I have heard in recent years. The presentation
is of equal quality, with lengthy but readable notes on the work, the performance
and the performers (very properly listed in full), and the text and an English
translation. The Vespers is sometimes regarded as a kind of demonstration
by the composer of the range and scale of his composing abilities. They require
a similar range of responses from their performers and on this occasion they
most certainly receive them.
John Sheppard
In a word: magnificent.