MONTEVERDI Vespers for the Blessed Virgin   Collegium Vocale Gent

Claudio Monteverdi’s sacred masterpiece has a special significance in our work at musik+. It was first included in our programme in 1977 with Reinhard Goebel, Bruce Dickey and others under the direction of Ivan Fischer, who was Nicolaus Harnoncourt’s assistant in Zurich at the time and is now an internationally acclaimed conductor. As it still is today, it was the fulfilment of a heart’s desire: to rediscover the fascinating world of musical symbols of faith, and abandonment to the early Baroque eroticism of Marian devotion.

The Vespers for the Blessed Virgin, which was part of the collection Sanctissimae Virgini Missa senis vocibus, Ac Vesperae pluribus decantandae, was of personal importance to Monteverdi. He hoped – in vain – that it would help him obtain a position with Pope Paul V.

Philippe Herreweghe, a master of interpreting Monteverdi’s splendidly representative mysticism, provides his audiences with a deep and direct experience.

Collegium Vocale Gent
Dorothee Mields – Cantus
Hana Blaziková – Sextus
William Knight, Benedict Hymas – Altus I & II
Guy Cutting – Tenor
Samuel Boden – Quintus
Johannes Kammler, Jimmy Holliday – Bassus I & II
Conductor: Philippe Herreweghe