Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610

Co-presented by Early Music Vancouver and MusicFest Vancouver as part of the Scotiabank Series at the Chan Centre.

The “Vespro della Beata Vergine”, Monteverdi’s iconic masterpiece of the early Baroque

Suzie LeBlanc, soprano
Ellen Hargis, soprano
Matthew White, alto
Debi Wong, alto
Colin Balzer, tenor
Charles Daniels, tenor
Tyler Duncan, baritone
Sumner Thompson, baritone
Paul Grindlay, bass
Tony Funk, bass

with
The Whole Noyse (San Francisco)
& Early Music Vancouver’s Baroque Festival Players

Alexander Weimann music director & keyboard

This year marks the 400th anniversary of this highlight of sacred music from the early 17th century. It also marks the 40th anniversary for Early Music Vancouver, and the 10th anniversary for MusicFest Vancouver, which was launched in 2000. One of the most memorable performances in this first year was Early Music Vancouver‘s presentation of the Vespers.

Immense in scale, Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 was the most ambitious work of sacred music before Bach. Bridging the spiritual traditions of renaissance music with the more humanist values of the baroque age, the work is a marvel of creative genius. Monteverdi seamlessly integrates renaissance traditions of polyphonic music with new operatic ideals in a splendid musical architecture that includes polyphonic psalm settings, vocal concertos, hymns, motets, and a virtuosic instrumental sonata, all bound together by Gregorian chant, creating an enduring masterpiece of spiritual and emotional depth.