Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643), Vespro della Beata Vergine, under Kent Tritle, at the Berkshire Choral Festival, by Keith Francis
Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
Vespro della Beata Vergine (Vespers of 1610)
Berkshire Choral Festival
Stewart Center at Berkshire School in Sheffield, Massachusetts
Molly Quinn, soprano
Kathryn Lewek, soprano
Jason McStoots, tenor
Steven Fox, tenor
Richard Giarusso, baritone
Matt Boehler, bass
Chorus of the Berkshire Choral Festival
Springfield Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Kent Tritle
In his study of Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610, John Wenham quotes the musicologist Denis Arnold:
“No doubt all professions have their hazards; and for the student of Monteverdi the principal one is surely that musicological Lorelei, the Vespers (of 1610, of course). To edit it is to receive the kiss of death as a scholar. To perform it is to court disaster. To write about it is to alienate some of one’s best friends. Even to avoid joining in the controversy is to find oneself accused of (i) cowardice, or (ii) snobbishness, or (iii) sitting on the fence, or (iv) all three.”
What is it that makes the Vespers so problematical? A brief historical background will help the reader and listener to understand.

