This week's musical treat is something a little different: a choral performance of Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 by the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge. One of my Facebook friends posted a link to this and I thought I'd give it a listen. I'm glad I did.
Having been raised a Catholic, I was exposed to religious classical music at an early age and I still enjoy it. This is quite a lovely performance of a piece that I don't recall having heard before, at least not in its entirety.
From Planet Hugill, a site I must look at in more depth.
In April this year, Graham Ross directed the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge in a performance of Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 at Smith Square Hall (formerly St John's Smith Square). The performance featured the English Cornett & Sackbutt Ensemble, plus Margaret Faultless, violin, Jonathan Manson, bass violin, William Hunt, violone, Elizabeth Kenny, theorbo and Silas Wollston, organ, alongside instrumentalists from Cambridge University. Nicholas Mulroy did the heavy lifting as soloist alongside other soloists from the choir.
The result was filmed, beautifully, by Andrew Staples for Studio 2359, with recorded sound by John Rutter. The film has now been released and is available the Choir of Clare College's YouTube channel. The results are nothing less than astonishing and extremely engaging. Despite using a college choir, this is a relatively intimate performance and I have great admiration for the way a series of soloists step out from the choir and perform all those solos with terrific aplomb.
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