Vespro della beata vergine

"A brand new version of the complete opera as performed by distinguished soloists, the Monteverdi Choir, and English Baroque Soloists (instrumental), all under John Eliot Gardiner ... The performances in the Gardiner version are excellent. This may be the finest singing of any version I have yet to hear. The soloists have a wonderful grasp of the embellishments available and sometimes delve into the music with an emotive gusto ... And it works nicely. The instrumental parts are played with great vivacity, care and attention to period detail ... This recording seems to be the new benchmark ... Highly recommended".

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"Recording of the month: The finest, most joy-inducing recording of the Vespers to have come my way in many years. No doubt there will be others in this Monteverdi year, but if they come close to this one in quality then we can count ourselves very lucky indeed".

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"Recording of the week: Their new Vespers is impeccably authentic from top to bottom, and yet at the same time it's big, operatic and vigorous. Don't let the blockbuster opening alarm you; this is not a uniformly crash-bang-wallop account. Far from it. The contrast between the first movement and the first of the psalm-settings, Dixit Dominus, is enormous ... This could very well be the performance of the Vespers to have".

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"Vurdering: DR anbefaler" - "I Vesperens koncerter triumferer Kings solister med teknisk overskud og veloplagt fortællekunst ... Men når det kommer til stykket, er Robert Kings version ikke den bedste af alle verdener; John Eliot Gardiner kom nærmere for 17 år siden med sine egne tropper i Markus-kirken i Venedig, på cd og dvd udgivet af Archiv".

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"En ægte vare får man med gruppen L'Arpeggiata på historiske instrumenter. Under Christina Pluhar spilles og synges Monteverdis sakrale mesterværk ... Den slutter med et storslået Magnificat".

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"Klangpragt og virtuos sangkunst stråler i Claudio Monteverdis vespermusik helliget Jomfru Maria. Blandt dirigenterne i de mange gode indspilninger har Raphaël Pichon sat sig på toppen ... Raphaël Pichons ensemble er generøst distribueret. En særskilt solistgruppe, et halvt hundrede korsangere og godt tredive musikere, og disse ressourcer udnytter han klogt i vid skala".

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"This thoughtful and enjoyable performance is essentially another modern day reinvention of Monteverdi's fascinating masterpiece ... Thirteen singers are accompanied by an unusually prevalent church organ ... A compelling variety of rich registrations are played fulsomely by Anne-Marie Blondel ... Even if their fresh approach risks feeling like playing tennis without a net, Ludus Modalis conjure a dazzling range of fascinating sonorities".

"Editor's choice: Over 30 years later [than Herreweghe's 1986 recording of Monteverdi's Vespers], Herreweghe's radical rethinking yields shaded flexibility and kaleidoscopic dynamism ... One never senses a dictating ego controlling proceedings; there is a spirit of collective chamber music-making from all participants that is classy, articulate and unerringly beguiling. Recordings of the 1610 Vespers are two-a-penny but very few have delighted and impressed me as much as this".

"This is a Vespers to catch attention, that's for sure ... A performance that reveals the immense beauty of the work, relishes the tensions of its interweaving lines and, within its chosen parameters, releases the madrigalian freedom of its ensemble declamation".

"The result is a splendid if sometimes slightly severe account of this flamboyant, early seventeenth-century avant-garde masterpiece. The instruments are without exception outstanding ... Even on my conventional CD player this is an exceptionally finely engineered recording".

"Awards 2024 winners: Choral award".

"Monteverdis mangesidede mesterværk fra 1610, 'Vespers of the Blessed Virgin', er blevet en specialitet for Raphaël Pichons ensemble Pygmalion ... Karakterfuld solosang, et nærværende ensemble, og fuld udnyttelse af værkets rumlige, fysiske kvaliteter, når instrumenter og sangere går i dialog med hinanden fra forskellige steder i bygningen ... Dirigenten bevæger sig mellem en intim fortolkning og en fornemmelse for værkets bredere arkitektur ... Meget disciplineret og intenst kommunikerende".

"Recording of the month - Editor's choice: This has to be one of the most gripping and impactful recordings of Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 available right now. It is bursting with energy and passion at every opportunity ... and will take a much-deserved place in my personal pantheon of greats".

"The sound is first-rate as ever from Linn ... With so many Vespers recordings out there, this one joins the ranks of those with both a character of its own and something to say".

"I was still unprepared for the ecstatic consequences of taking seriously at least one aspect of Monteverdi's so-called seconda pratica - using much freer counterpoint, with an increasing hierachy of voices ... With its use of full choir, King's recording simply has more room to manouvre".