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2 of 3 found the following review helpful:
One of the best Gabrieli Consort recordings Mar 17, 2007
This really a fine recording. I bought my copy one sunny Saturday morning in Melbourne in around 1993. I saw it on the shelf and I got my wallet out. I was completely blown away by the music on this disc. Rigatti was a real discovery for me.
The use of high falsettists in the chorus and solos is particularly effective and gives us a real insight into the sounds of music in Venice in the early 17th century.
I cannot recommend this marvellous recording too highly, it is clearly one of the best made by the Gabrieli Consort, Choir & Players.
Great playing from the strings, cornetti and tromboni.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Holy music Oct 16, 2005
Venice, once the most powerful city in the world due to its position in trade routes and as a nexus for military activities between the East and West, was also a leading centre for the arts and music for generations. As often happens, the cultural influence of the city remained strong long after the political and economic power was gone. So strong was the influence of Venice at this time that musicians and artists of other nations came to Venice to study, and carried back the influence to their home countries. One of the towering figures of this history was Claudio Monteverdi, who along with his many compositions sacred and secular, is credited with the first opera, 'L'Orfeo'. Monteverdi's compositions form the heart of this collection, which is designed as would be a Vespers service in St. Mark's Basilica in 1643.
Monteverdi is the leading light in this collection, but other composers of the time are also featured. The great Giovanni Gabrieli is acknowledged not only in the opening piece, but also in the name of the performers: the Gabrieli Consort and Players, under the direction of Paul McCreesh. Other composers featured include Rigatti, Grandi, Banchieri, Finetti, Cavalli, Marini, and Fasolo. The service of Vespers at St. Mark's was an elaborate affair, enhanced with extraliturgical motets and instrumental music, according to McCreesh. This was not according to standard liturgical practice, but was typical Venetian practice, where the Vespers became a very popular event. The Doge regularly attended the service.
This recording includes musical settings and plainchant from the time. While St. Mark's had a choir and consort of players totaling as many as 30 people each, usually services would only require about half that number. The choir would have had castrati as part of the vocal ensemble; that vocal range has been provided here by female sopranos and male falsettists.
Paul McCreesh formed the Gabrieli Consort and Players while still a student at Manchester University in the 1980s. Since then, the group and conductor have gone on to international awards and acclaim, specialising in music of the Renaissance and Baroque periods, which this particular disc fits by being done at the mid-point of the transition between the two.
This is a glorious, two-disc collection, done in a wonderful form of reconstructing what an actual service would be like. It is a brilliant performance, with graceful vocal and instrumental blending and strong tones of the spirit of music.
1 of 4 found the following review helpful:
 Good work Gabrieli Mar 19, 2003
Excellent 2-disc release by the Gabrieli Consort. The falsettists were supreme!
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
A Magnificent Set Oct 22, 2001
The Vespers that Paul McLeish has reconstructed here are those that might have occurred on March 24, 1643, just one year before the death of Monteverdi whose music figures prominently in this service. Vespers is the principle evening service of the Catholic Church and in Venice the music written for this service was spectacular. At San Marco, the Doge regularly attended Vespers and it was typical that the Pala d'oro, the fantastic piece of Byzantine art, was on display.
The music recorded here has great appeal. The Dixit Dominus by Giovanni Antonio Rigatti is very evocative of the warlike nature of Psalm 109 and the four pieces by Monteverdi are among his best works. Of these, the Laetatus sum on Psalm 121 is characterized by highly colorful vocal writing and brilliant scoring which includes a trombone and bassoon, and Monteverdi's Laudate Dominum (Psalm 150) has exquisite writing for the voice. One of the highlights is the motet by Alessandro Grandi O intermerata, which is beautifully sung by Charles Daniels. But I would have to say that I have heard this work by sung with more passion and color by Nigel Rogers (on the recording Venice Preserved). I do recommend comparing the two performances.
The performances are truly excellent on this CD and the recording lends a feeling of a large space, so if you close your eyes you could think you have been transported to San Marco. Paul McLeish put a lot of scholarly work into reconstructing this service but it is not a dry example of scholarship but a vivid and brilliant performance. This is excellent music making that I highly recommended and is precisely that excellence that I have come to expect from the Gabrieli Consort.
10 of 10 found the following review helpful:
An amazing reproduction of 17th century Vespers Dec 16, 1999
Paul McCreesh and his Gabrieli Consort and Players have put together an entirely captivating re-creation of a Vespers service, the Catholic office of evening prayer, as it might have been performed at St. Mark's in Venice in the early 17th century. From the sacristy bell, to the chants, to the massive and breathtaking polychoral hymns and psalms, McCreesh weaves a tapestry of sound that is simply unparalleled. The Gabrieli Players' violinists play with such Italianate freshness and detail -- down to the last trill -- and the sopranos' voices are so fresh and lively that this CD is simply a must-own for any fan of Early Music. Having just seen the Consort and Players perform in Columbus, OH on 15 Dec. 1999, I can say for sure that this group is simply magical. There are few CDs I would grab on my way out of a burning building -- this is one.
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