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In 1610, Monteverdi gave his Vespers for the Virgin in Mantova, before conquering Saint-Mark’s Basilica in Venice. It is the first great religious masterpiece of baroque. It has remained on of the key works in the universal musical heritage. After the genius of Orfeo (1607) the Vespers use its opening fanfare again and confirm Monteverdi as the main composer of his time. Gardiner conducted this work for the first time in 1964 and recorded it twice. It is for this work that he founded the Monteverdi Choir, one of the best choirs in the world, with which he recorded more than 200 CDs and conducted more than 3000 concerts, among which the integral of the Bach Cantatas in one year (in 2000, for the 250th anniversary of Bach’s death). His international reputation has brought him to conduct the greatest works of the lyrical repertoire (from Mozart to Bizet or Verdi), but he wishes to come back to Monteverdi, his source, for the 50th anniversary of the Monteverdi Choir. In the Royal Chapel, Gardiner wishes to find again the musical space which characterizes Venetian music, by using its specific architecture and different levels, where in the past musicians and singers stood on the first level tribune, above the altar, around the organ, facing the royal loggia, from where the king listened to his Maître de Chapelle during services. The division in two choirs of Monteverdi’s work, but also the many musical dialogues and the echo effects will find an ideal setting in this architecture. The Vespers concert in 2010 left such vivid memories, that we proposed to John Eliot Gardiner to make a video of the 2014 concert. A unique encounter between Gardiner, Monteverdi and Versailles.
Silvia Frigato, soprano | Emanuela Galli, soprano | Raffaele Pè, alto | Krystian Adam, tenor | Nicholas Mulroy, tenor | Gareth Treseder, tenor | Alexander Ashworth, bass | Robert Davies, bass | Monteverdi Choir | English Baroque Soloists | Les Pages du Centre de musique baroque de Versailles
Musical direction: Sir John Eliot Gardiner
French
English
Production compagny : Wahoo production
Coproduction compagny : Château de Versailles Spectacles, Château de Versailles, with the participation of France Télévisions
Running Time : 1x105'
Production Year : 2014
Distribution compagny : Telmondis Distribution
Video Format : 4K, HD