Arts Diary: Choir promises stunning performance of Vespers; Monteverdi is back in choirs' programmes. Glyn Mon Hughes reports on the trend.Byline: Glyn Mon Hughes MONTEVERDI seems to be one of those blink- and you -miss-him composers. The quite sublimeBeatus Vir,his setting of Psalm One Psalm One is a Chicago-based hip hop artist described as a cross between Lauryn Hill and Devin the Dude.[1] Psalm One was born Christalle Bowen in Englewood, where she sang in her church choir and studied a variety of musical instruments. turns up every now and a gain. His madrigals often make it on to choral programmes. Those rather few,brave opera companies will risk box office oblivion by programming his L'incoronazionedi Poppea -the Coronation of Poppea -now and a gain. The same goes for Il ritorno d'Ulisse-the Return of Ulysses. Hardly the Verdi or Puccini crowd-pullers. And then,all of a sudden, there are performances of his stunning Vespers vespers (vĕs`pərz) [Lat.,=evening], in the Christian Church, principal evening office. In the Roman rite, vespers have consisted since the 6th cent. of a few prayers, five psalms, a lesson, the Magnificat, and an antiphon. of 1610.They'rein Chester later in the year,and Liverpool,Wirral and Manchester. But it's theSouthport Bach Choir which has got the preview.And, rather dangerously, it could be the one by which the rest are measured. Fear not, though. They have always performed well.They'rea experienced,disciplined ensemble and this work will certainly not be beyond them. Add to that the fact that they secured His Majesties Sagbutts and Cornetts to accompany them on period instruments In the historically informed performance movement, musicians perform European classical music using restored or replica versions of the instruments for which it was originally written. Often performances by such musicians are said to be "on authentic instruments". from the Orchestra of the Golden Age,as well as four internationally recognised soloists from Pro Cantione Antiqua-tenors James Griffett and Ian Partridge,and basses Michael George and Stephen Roberts,along with guest sopranos Ruth Holton and Cecilia Osmond -and this certainly promises to be a quite stunning performance. In his day,Monteverdi must have been seen as something of a revolutionary. He changed musical styles and tastes,challenged players and singers by making complex demands upon them,and intertwined sacred and secular music. The Vespers are a perfect example of this. It is almost a compendium of the different styles he'dhave written in at the time -a period when he was in the service of the court of Mantua Mantua (măn`ch  ə, –tə), Ital. Mantova, city (1991 pop. 53,065), capital of Mantova prov. in what is
now northern Italy. Huge demands are placed on the soloists, with
virtuoso passages thrown in in much the same way as he challenged his
soloists in the operas he wrote at the time.
Indeed, the setting of the Magnificat could have come straight from one of his later operas. Instrumental passages balancing great delicacy with heavy demands link the various sections of the piece. It's a massively impressive, hugely exciting work both to listen to and to watch. Performing the piece must be a special privilege. That privilege is extended to those listening to this special concert at Holy Trinity Church Holy Trinity Church, or variations on the name, may refer to: Churches In Australia:
|
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion