Green Mountain Project - Vespro Della Beata Vergine - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

A very special recording and interpretation of the famous Vespers of the Virgin Mary; InchVespro della Beata VergineInch Roberto Zarpellon leads the vocal ensemble InchVenice Monteverdi AcademyInch; his ensemble InchLorenzo da PonteInch and the chorale schola InchReale Corte Armonica Caterina CornaroInch - all of them genuine Italians - in a recording that took place in the church where Monteverdi worked for three decades as Kapellmeister; namely the famous Basilica of San Marco in Venice. As far as music is concerned; this church with it's magnificent mosaics and domes as well as it's very transparent room acoustics was a place of pilgrimage for musicians and composers from near and far during the Renaissance and Baroque periods; with such illustrious names as Adrian Willaert; the organists Giovanni and Andrea Gabrieli and Monteverdi as maestro di capella.

Album Tracks 1. 1. Kyrie 2. Gloria 3. Credo 4. Crucifixus a 4 5. Et in Spiritum Sanctum 6. Sanctus 7. Benedictus 8. Agnus Dei 9. Agnus Dei 2 a 7 10. Versiculus Deus in Adiutorium 11. 2. Psalmus Dixit Dominus 12. 3. Concerto Nigra Sum 13. 4. Psalmus Laudate Pueri 14. 5. Concerto Pulchra Es 15. 6. Psalmus Laetatus Sum 16. 7. Concerto Duo Seraphim 17. 8. Psalmus Nisi Dominus 1. 9. Concerto Audi Coelum 2. 10. Psalmus Lauda Jerusalem 3. 11. Sonata a 8 Sopra Sancta Maria Ora Pro Nobis 4. 12. Hymmus Ave Maris Stella 5. Magnificat 6. Et Exultavit 7. Quia Respexit 8. Quia Fecit 9. Et Misericordia 10. Fecit Potentiam 11. Deposuit 12. Esurientes 13. Suscepit Israel 14. Sicut Locutus Est 15. Gloria Patri 16. Sicut Erat 17. Magnificat 18. Et Exultavit 19. Quia Respexit 20. Quia Fecit 21. Et Misericordia 22. Fecit Potentiam 23. Deposuit 24. Esurientes 25. Suscepit Israel 26. Sicut Locutus Est 27. Gloria Patri 28. Sicut Erat

The present recording constitutes more than just a new version of the Vespers. It is the first recording of the Vespers in the alternative version proposed by the composer, without concertato instruments. It reveals the underlying matrix of the work we all know, the 'original version' to which Monteverdi added concertato instruments for use in large-scale performances. Respecting the structure of the Office of Vespers, Ludus Modalis has chosen to frame the psalms with the antiphons corresponding to a Marian ceremony. The interpretation proposed here is one influenced by the Renaissance tradition. It places the work in perspective in a musical world at the point of equilibrium between prima and seconda prattica, between the achievements of tradition and the contributions of modernity. Ludus Modalis is a professional ensemble of five to twelve singers formed around the tenor Bruno Boterf. The group focuses principally on polyphonic Renaissance and early Baroque repertoire, with incursions into contemporary music. Apart from the absence of a conductor in the standard sense, the ensemble's specificity and it's 'sound blend' are the fruits of thoroughgoing attention to the parameters of a cappella polyphony the development of an intonation aimed towards achieving a clarity of harmonic intervals; the attention paid to the text on the basis of the declamation and historical pronunciation; and the richness of the sonority achieved through the use of a variety of vocal timbres and colors, as well as a subtle mix of female, male, and even children's voices.