Monteverdi's 1610 Vespers (2010)

Folger Consort performed Monteverdi's 1610 Vespers from January 8 to January 9, 2010, at the Washington National Cathedral. The resonant reaches of the Cathedral provide a magnificent venue for Claudio Monteverdi’s timeless masterpiece Vespers of the Blessed Virgin, published in Venice in 1610. Monteverdi, a master of both old and avant-garde style, composed a work both retrospective and startlingly new—the grand Psalm settings are meditations on the age-old Gregorian chants, and the “sacred songs” are Monteverdi’s bold introduction of the latest theatrical style to liturgical music. Unlike most modern performances of the Vespers, the Consort’s period version, without conductor, features one-on-a-part instrumentalists and vocal soloists who also serve as the choir.

Claudio Monteverdi.

Artists

Folger Consort

Artistic Directors

• Robert Eisenstein
• Christopher Kendall

Voices

• Johana Arnold: soprano
• Peter Becker: baritone
• Francois Loup: baritone
• Dustin Lucas: tenor
• Michael McCarthy: baritone
• Ann Monoyios: soprano
• Robert Petillo: tenor
• Lawrence Reppert: tenor
• Aaron Sheehan: tenor
• Matthew Smith: tenor

Orchestra

• Julie Andrijeski: violin
• Risa Browder: viola
• Michael Collver: cornetto
• Robert Eisenstein: violin
• Nina Falk: violoa
• Christopher Kendall: theorbo
• John Moran: cello
• J. Tracy Mortimore: violone
• Mack Ramsey: trombone, cornetto
• William Simms: theorbo
• Dan Stillman: trombone
• Kiri Tollaksen: cornetto
• Webb Wiggins: organ
• Tom Zajac: trombone