Considering that Monteverdi lived more than a
century before Bach, the fact that any of his
music is still in the repertory testifies to his
prodigious talent. And this 400th anniversary
year of his sumptuous, pioneering Vespro della
Beata Virgine (known as the 1610 Vespers) is
honored with one performance after another.
Boston Baroque, making its first New York
City appearance in a quarter-century, presented
the Vespers in March at the Cathedral of St
John the Divine, which has the largest nave in
the United States. Monteverdi was drawn to
large churches and antiphonal scope. The
huge Vespers (almost two hours with intermission)
was his audition piece for a position at
Venice’s famed St Mark Basilica.
Boston Baroque’s music director, Martin
Pearlman, has taken this elaborate service
around for years, though the cast evolves. (His
1997 Telarc recording sounds festive and elegant.)
The performance evolves too: Monteverdi’s
notation was left incomplete, so whoever
conducts has a sobering number of musical
and logistical choices to make. For this
concert, with assured sound and nice bite in
solos and trios, Pearlman inspected the cathedral’s
space and chose an orchestra platform
rigged up over the chancel steps, with audience
seated on three sides.
The smallish chorus was at the rear of the
platform, the soloists up front—except for
tenor soloists, who moved from the platform
to behind the chorus to the distant rear nave,
depending on the text. “Seraphim, one crying
to another” were heard through a sonic haze
that could last up to five seconds.
Monteverdi transfigured several forms in
this piece. Its 12 sections integrate motets,
psalms, and hymns with Gregorian chant (a
historic form sung by men); around that he
layered music in contemporary style, which
also includes narrative and operatic technique.
A piece called “sonata” serves as an orchestral
interlude, while the ‘Magnificat’ becomes a
finale, whose forces are magnified when the
title word suggests it.
Monteverdi took care with words and word
painting. “Quia fecit” (he that is mighty) was
strong on cornetts and sackbuts, with a happy
violin. “His mercy” was gentle, with theorbos
(forming a continuo with the little organ
played by Peter Sykes) having made tuning
adjustments. The chorus, which had a number
of veteran baroque singers, entered gaily in the
psalm ‘Laudate Pueri’ (Praise the Lord, Ye
Children). “Let us follow” was an echo. Much
was made of the sacred number three: mention
of the Trinity could comprise thirds, triple
time, three voices, or three notes.
The seven soloists were a superior group,
with the American tenor Derek Chester a
standout. In the motet ‘Nigra Sum’ (I Am
Black) from the Song of Solomon, the spot-on
coloratura of the entreaty to “come away” had
perfect force. In ‘Pulchra es’, about the lover’s
beauty (also from Solomon), soprano Mary
Wilson and mezzo-soprano Kristen Watson (a
longtime soloist with the ensemble) sang in
radiant thirds. The choral “praise be to God”
from the “omnes” (all) section actually overwhelmed
the orchestra.
Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers may come your
way this year, and, to put it casually, you
should go.