Coinciding with the release of I Fagiolini’s latest Monteverdi CD this September, it made perfect sense for the specialist ensemble, along with the English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble, to present the composer’s great Vespers of 1610. And what better way to mark the start of the group’s 40th anniversary season than with this superb one-to-a-part performance in the clean acoustic of King’s Place.
A modern building such as this might not quite have been what Monteverdi had envisaged back in the 17thcentury, but since no record of the earliest performance of the work exists (either at Mantua or Venice), any presentation is largely conjectural. Even the inclusion and treatment of each movement and the number of performers is a matter of speculation. But this totally involving pared down account vividly brought to life Monteverdi’s dazzling amalgamation of Renaissance and Baroque styles, where traditional polyphony and solo song combine to showcase a daring expressivity and astute theatrical instinct – this last aspect fully realised by director Robert Hollingworth.
He drew the utmost variety from his 11 singers and 17 players, initially using the galleries of the hall to position the wind players (cornetts and sackbuts) upper left, and a small string section upper right. On the stage were the continuo group (two chitarrones, dulcian, harp and chamber organ) and different combinations of singers, where individuals emerged and withdrew seamlessly for different roles, all voices appearing together for the closing verse of the ‘Magnificat’.
Whatever the vocal combinations, and even when there were just 8 voices for a movement such as ‘Dixit Dominus’, there was never any doubt of raw energy. If any performance can point up the legitimacy of small-scale presentation (with the risk of a dramatic shortfall), Hollingworth’s account more than amply fulfils this. The strength of the performance derived as much from the quality of the musicians as the dynamism that propelled each movement. But it wasn’t just energy, more a sense of total commitment to a composer who is part of the group’s DNA. In the dancing rhythms and rocketing melodic lines of ‘Laudate pueri’ Hollingworth seemed intent on ‘raising the helpless from the earth’, and the bountiful deeds of the Almighty (‘he giveth snow like wool’) were generously amplified in the buoyant tempo of ‘Lauda Jerusalem’.
In the opening ‘Domine ad adiuvandum’, the slower than anticipated tempo in the triple time passages took me by surprise, but I was soon won over by the detail of the instrumental links. Marginally disappointing here was the vocal balance where the richness of men’s voices occasionally overwhelmed the top line, the two sopranos struggling to project. Balance issues thereafter disappeared and the divisi choral textures of ‘Nisi Dominus’ were impressively rendered, quieter moments bringing some relief from the vocal power consistently on display. But with power came both clarity and excitement, Hollingworth allowing his singers to revel in Monteverdi’s polyphony, where he seemed to be less concerned with blend, and more interested in exploring a bright, tangy sound.
That, however, didn’t deflect from enjoying the composer’s descriptive writing so artfully showcased in ‘Laetatus sum’, where elaborate decoration around ‘Illuc enim ascenderunt tribus’ (‘For thither ascend the tribes’) was magnificently sung, the joy of the psalmist’s words underlined by the walking bass of William Lyons’ dulcian. Elsewhere, instrumental contributions brought grandeur to the five psalm texts, while contrasting wind and string sonorities caught the ear between the verses of ‘Ave Maris Stella’ and the ‘Magnificat’, both coloured by the sounds of a recorder. Especially gratifying was the duetting between a pair of violins and two cornetti accompanying the soloist in the ‘Sancta Maria’, a movement of remarkable resourcefulness in its eleven elaborately decorated verses.
Among the outstanding vocal contributions (many sung from memory) was the tenor Nicholas Mulroy, who brought vivid declamation to ‘Nigra sum’, his ‘arise my love and come away’ sung with melodramatic ardour. Equally theatrical was the echo duet ‘Audi coelum’, with Greg Skidmore in full operatic vein to honour the Virgin Mary. ‘Pulchra es’ ‘enjoyed a refined sensitivity from Amy Wood and Ciara Hendrick, their well-matched voices as comely as the daughter of Jerusalem within the text. No less compelling were the voices of Matthew Long and Hugo Hymas who joined Mulroy for ‘Duo Seraphim’, their individual and collective responses to the text sung with burnished tone.
Overall, this was an evening of sumptuous performances, and if, ultimately, the work itself was a failed job application for the composer, his credentials on this occasion were never in doubt. In short, Monteverdi’s glorious polyphony and ground-breaking achievement were magnificently illuminated.
David Truslove
Claudio Monteverdi – Vespro della Beta Vergine, SV 206
I Fagiolini; English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble; Robert Hollingworth
King’s Place, York Way, London, 18 September 2026
All photos © Barry Creasy