NDR Vokalensemble / Ensemble Schirokko / Klaas Stok
Monteverdi
Schaulauf der kompositorischen Fähigkeiten
From the first to the late note, the Monteverdi Vespers (Vespro della Beata Vergine) display the entire range of their composer’s skill. Rightly so: it is believed that he applied for a post in 1610 as a musician in the Vatican chapel based on the work. Three years earlier, Claudio Monteverdi had established himself as the pioneer of a new musical genre with his opera »LʼOrfeo«, and in the Vespers, too, he works in his stylistic innovations: solo singing rich in melody, with imaginative orchestral accompaniment.
In this way, Monteverdi transfers the notes of Gregorian psalms into a mesh of elaborate polphony, demonstrating that he has studied the counterpoint of early Dutch composers carefully, »keen to learn«. But at the end of the day, nothing came of Monteverdi’s career ambitions. Was his miraculous new work too daring for papal ears?
Today, the Monteverdi Vespers are regarded as his most famous sacred work. He combines the very different styles of Renaissance and Early Baroque, tradition and (at that time) modernity, with the utmost artistry.
Performers
NDR Vokalensemble
Ensemble Schirokko Hamburg
director Klaas Stok
Programme
Claudio Monteverdi
Vespro della Beata Vergine »Marienvesper«
Subscription
NDR Vocal Ensemble