[Shosta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by calaf it is wonderful, among the top two/three opera DVDs I own: technically it is demonstration level, artistically it is the best thing I have seen/heard from Savall (and this to me is saying a lot). Especially the first two acts have a dramatic tension that is unbelievable for XVI century music [edit: actually it is from 1607 ). The famous fanfare that opens the opera is performed with power and creativity, and when, during the second act, the Messenger (Sara Mingardo at her best) brings the bad news to Orfeo it is hard not to be moved to tears. Somehow, the second part of the opera is not as involving but still very good stuff...

Those are the same things I think of this DVD. I went to the Teatro Real at Madrid. Was the best of of that year.
After that i bought the DVD and some records of Sara Mingardo. And I always say that Orfeo-Monteverdi has everything you can hear in Opera.

 

[drarthurwells]

Well I found the Gardner on the Archiv label.

Absolutely wondeful performance and sound - the hall ambience is fantastic, as Dark Angel reported.

Far better than the two versions on Harmonia Mundi.

Still looking for the Savall.

Thanks so much, to all, for your kind and knowledgeable help.

 

[zumaro]

Have to disagree - the Gardiner version sounds less than ideal to me as a performance, and hasn't dated well. Maybe it is something to do with having to deal with the San Marco acoustic, but there is a bullying aggressive edge to the singing which I find tiresome, and the recording suffers from Gardiner's usual hard driven and less than sensitive conducting. Yes its loud and spectacular - the venue is going to ensure that is the case if anything is going to be projected at all - but there is more in this music than Gardiner finds than large scale theatricality.

The best recording of this masterpiece remains Andrew Parrot - the intimate scale suits this music, and there is a feeling of connection with the words that Gardiner's soloists miss. Almost as good is Junghanel - these 2 are the versions to beat. Better than Gardiner also are Alessandrini and Savall. If I was going to be more charitable about the Gardiner I might say it was a good starting point for the Vespers in that it is designed to make an impression, and it isn't a bad rendition as such, but it just isn't anywhere near the top of the list.

 

[Masolino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zumaro The best recording of this masterpiece remains Andrew Parrot - the intimate scale suits this music, and there is a feeling of connection with the words that Gardiner's soloists miss. Almost as good is Junghanel - these 2 are the versions to beat. Better than Gardiner also are Alessandrini, Savall and King. If I was going to be more charitable about the Gardiner I might say it was a good starting point for the Vespers in that it is designed to make an impression, and it isn't a bad rendition as such, but it just isn't anywhere near the top of the list.

I have not heard the Junghanel but have to agree on the Parrott recording - the Monteverdi Vespers were composed for "spiritual concerts in princely halls or chapels" and it is hard to imagine anything other than a small ensemble made up of soloists doing it really. Parrott's singers blend and balance perfectly and yet each part of the harmony is still clearly audible. Their sound is a tad cool for those after the "mediterrean" flavor no doubt but again no one knows what good singing meant for Monteverdi either.

 

[zumaro]

On listening to it again I must say that the Savall is nowhere near as good as I remembered it. In fact it is curiously lacking in direction and featureless, and with some less than enjoyable solo singing from Figueras. The choral work is rather too laid back and polite, and the main redeeming thing about the whole recording is the instrumental playing. It slips down my list below Gardiner I am sorry to say!

 

[TMHBAT]

I'm glad to have heard Savall's version, but I'm not sure I'd ultimately recommend it, and certainly not for sound. If you're already a fan of him and the people he works with (as I am), it would be worth getting, but I wouldn't think it's a priority.

I've heard Gardiner's second (live), but not his original recording. If you already like his Bach Mass in B Minor, for instance, it is probably a good bet. I personally feel no need to own it.

You might consider William Christie's version, which is quite good.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00000AEKH

I like Alessandrini's new recording a lot. I think it is a very revealing and satisfying "angle" on the work. Sound is excellent.

Finally, you might pick up the Pearlman recording on Telarc, which is available quite cheap used. It is a really decent all-around performance, and Telarc's sound, as usual, is very good.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000003D2F

 

[calaf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMHBAT I've heard Gardiner's second (live), but not his original recording. If you already like his Bach Mass in B Minor, for instance, it is probably a good bet.

spot on! I heard Gardiner's Vespri shortly before getting Gardiner's B minor Mass (which I love) and I felt a strong connection among the two. I thought it was Bach sounding italian, but more likely both recording sounded "Gardiner"

Quote:

I like Alessandrini's new recording a lot. I think it is a very revealing and satisfying "angle" on the work. Sound is excellent.

I understand why you like it. I was disappointed when I heard it because I was expecting Alessandrini to take the approach he took with his imaginary Vivaldi's Vespro. On the contrary the recording sounded "hands off" (or respectful if you want to spin it positively). This is the same way Alessandrini approached the Brandenburgs and it worked very well there. Perhaps for me Monteverdi Vespri needs a bit more of a "kick" to work...

 

[Masolino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by calaf I understand why you like it. I was disappointed when I heard it because I was expecting Alessandrini to take the approach he took with his imaginary Vivaldi's Vespro. On the contrary the recording sounded "hands off" (or respectful if you want to spin it positively). This is the same way Alessandrini approached the Brandenburgs and it worked very well there. Perhaps for me Monteverdi Vespri needs a bit more of a "kick" to work...

Not a few critics thought Alessandrini "overdid" it when his Vivaldi Vesperi came out, and not all liked his Brandenburgs even if it supposedly adopted a more "natural" approach to the music. I guess it is impossible to satisfy all tastes however hard the artists try.

Did Alessandrini insert plainsongs in his Monteverdi Vesperi? I think he did just that in the Vivaldi (both cases unconfirmed by first hand experiences.) If so, he apparently was doing different things with the two, treating the Vivaldi as a liturgical reconstruction (which should have a sense of staging and thrill) and the Monteverdi merely as an assemblage of sundry pieces for chaste entertainment (this was how they were published by the composer himself). While Alessandrini provided plenty of "kicks" in his madrigal recordings (which are erotic to a small or large degree), perhaps he thought it would be too atheistic to fantasize in music addressed specifically to Virgin Mary.

 

[drarthurwells]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zumaro The best recording of this masterpiece remains Andrew Parrot - the intimate scale suits this music, and there is a feeling of connection with the words that Gardiner's soloists miss. Almost as good is Junghanel - these 2 are the versions to beat.

Art: You and Masolino both like Parrot, so I ordered it - $12.75 is a bargain for 2 discs: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ADME:B:SS:US:1

Can you give the label of the second one - all I can find is a Raum Klang label with Junghanns as a singer.

 

[Masolino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by drarthurwells Art: You and Masolino both like Parrot, so I ordered it - $12.75 is a bargain for 2 discs: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ADME:B:SS:US:1 Can you give the label of the second one - all I can find is a Raum Klang label with Junghanns as a singer.

I am not Zumaro but I can provide the information you need: Junghanel's Monteverdi Vespers (with his group Cantus Colln) is on the Deutsche Harmonia Mundi (DHM/BMG) label. The following link at Amazon suggests this set is by and large out of print in the US though probably available used or remaindered:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=glance&n=5174

 

[drarthurwells]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Masolino I am not Zumaro but I can provide the information you need: Junghanel's Monteverdi Vespers (with his group Cantus Colln) is on the Deutsche Harmonia Mundi (DHM/BMG) label. The following link at Amazon suggests this set is by and large out of print in the US though probably available used............

Thanks so much, to you and everyone else. This forum is better than any other recording review source. The people here really know their music.


So now I will have to buy at least two more versions of this work even though I now have three - can't seem to get enough of Blessed Virgins.

 

[DarkAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by drarthurwells Art: You and Masolino both like Parrot, so I ordered it - $12.75 is a bargain for 2 discs: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ADME:B:SS:US:1

Shipping charges on Ebay are criminal.........$5 to ship Cd???????
I almost never buy CDs on Ebay because of shipping price gouging

Amazon sellers has it for $7.50 new plus $2.50 shipping which is little better........

 

[DarkAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by drarthurwells Art: You and Masolino both like Parrot, so I ordered it - $12.75 is a bargain for 2 discs: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ADME:B:SS:US:1

Shipping charges on Ebay are criminal.........$5 to ship Cd???????
I almost never buy CDs on Ebay because of shipping price gouging

Amazon sellers has it for $7.50 new plus $2.50 shipping which is little better........

 

[drarthurwells]

Well the Parrot version is really great.

I still like the Gardiner live version on Archiv for its pace to emphasize drama and church-hall ambience, but just by a tad.

The Parrot version is certainly an excellent one and no doubt many would prefer this one.

Now, looking for the Junghanel......used is $20 on Amazon - would like to pay less.

 

[Masolino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by drarthurwells Now, looking for the Junghanel......used is $20 on Amazon - would like to pay less.

I just got the Junghanel for about $17 (look out for the Splendeurs reissue which is midpriced) and find it to be better recorded than the Parrott but not interpretatively very different. (Not that it's a bad thing.) The samples at the Andante site show the Alessandrini to be quite a bit more red-blooded and rhetorical than either the Parrott or the Junghanel. I wonder if I would be more gratified if I have gotten it instead (at some extra expense I know)?