Monteverdi: Vespro della Beata Vergine La Compagnia del Madrigale, Cantica Symphonia, La Pifarescha & Giuseppe Maletto

• Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643): Vespro della Beata Vergine, SV 206:
• 1 Versiculum et responsorium: Domine ad adiuvandum 02:40
• 2 Psalm 109, "Dixit dominus" 09:42
• 3 Concerto: Nigra sum 03:55
• 4 Psalm 112, "Laudate pueri dominum" 07:55
• 5 Concerto: Pulchra es 04:15
• 6 Psalm 121, "Laetatus sum" 08:44
• 7 Concerto: Duo seraphim 07:12
• 8 Psalm 126, "Nisi Dominus" 05:50
• 9 Concerto: Audi coelum 09:04
• 10 Psalm 147, "Lauda Ierusalem" 05:35
• 11 Sonata sopra Sancta Maria ora pro nobis 08:39
• 12 Hymn: Ave maris stella 09:02
• 13 Magnificat I a 7 21:09
• 14 Magnificat II a 6 19:53
• Total Runtime 02:03:35

Info for Monteverdi: Vespro della Beata Vergine

On its onward journey across the major secular and sacred landmarks of Italian Renaissance polyphony, La Compagnia del Madrigale has now turned its attention to Claudio Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine and this new recording on Glossa presents this award-winning chamber ensemble in its prime and in the company of Cantica Symphonia and La Pifarescha, all under the direction of Giuseppe Maletto: a veritable cornucopia of present-day early music performers!

The thorough-going approach taken to this collection reflects the long experience that these Italian musicians have had with such music and covers all areas of the performance: the polarity between psalms and sacri concentus, the pictorial madrigalisms in the text, whether to add plainchant or not, how to interpret the tactus signs, which instruments to use for the bassus generalis, and crucially, the choices relating to tempi and pitch. The answers to such questions can be gained from listening to this major new recording, but Giuseppe Maletto does – in the dialogue which he has with Marco Bizzarini, La Compagnia del Madrigale’s regular booklet essay writer – invite the listener, in this fast-moving world, to respect the spirit of the composer and recover the calm of another age.

What emerges is a refreshing, but natural, response to one of the choral masterworks in the catalogue, a piece which reflects a sophisticated musical logic: a summa, avers Maletto, of deeply-absorbed Renaissance experiences projected more towards some far-off future than identifiable with the dawning Baroque.

La Compagnia del Madrigale
Cantica Symphonia
La Pifarescha
Giuseppe Maletto, conductor

La Compagnia del Madrigale
Founded only recently, La Compagnia del Madrigale can already be considered as the pre-eminent madrigal ensemble on today’s international early music scene. The choice of the group’s name was inspired by the long-standing friendship and shared experiences of its singers from across two decades of performing together throughout the world. The founding members of the ensemble, Rossana Bertini, Giuseppe Maletto and Daniele Carnovich, while cultivating prestigious individual careers, have worked side by side for over 20 years, and their collective understanding as madrigalists has played a fundamental role in bringing an undisputed high level of artistry to groups such as Concerto Italiano and La Venexiana.

Booklet for Monteverdi: Vespro della Beata Vergine