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Vespro della Beata Vergine (1610)
Dorothee Mields soprano
Barbora Kabátková soprano
William Knight high tenor
Benedict Hymas high tenor
Guy Cutting tenor
Samuel Boden tenor
Johannes Kammler baritone
Jimmy Hollyday bass
Collegium Vocale Gent
Philippe Herreweghe
Claudio Monteverdi, born in Cremona in 1567, personifies the transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque. Called l’oracolo della musica by contemporaries, he was steeped in the polyphonic tradition as a singer, maestro di cappella and composer, yet helped bring about the new seconda prattica in which textual expression took precedence over the notes. His 1610 Vespro della Beata Vergine proves that these two worlds were not mutually exclusive – on the contrary, they combine amazingly well.