Rose Hall; Mostly Mozart Festival, New York; August 20, 2007
It is not known precisely for what occasion Claudio Monteverdi composed his Marienvespers of 1610, and, in fact, the work includes a piece or two not specifically in praise of the Virgin Mary. Wise conjecture has it that he wrote the grand work as an audition piece for jobs he was applying for in either Rome or Venice; he became the maestro at St. Mark’s in Venice in 1613. Designed to impress and show off a composer’s ability, it certainly succeeded: in its 95 minutes, it contains pieces for six voice choir, vocal duets and solos, a vocal trio, solo tenor and double choir, double choir and four sopranos, five-voice choir, eight-voice choir, etc. Difficult harmonies, complex counterpoint, virtuoso singing and playing are designed to electrify. Devotional pieces alternate with grander, more theatrical ones. Each section is accompanied by different instruments, and while Monteverdi wrote solo parts for violin and cornetto, he did not specify what instruments should make up the orchestra itself, thus allowing improvisation based on available forces, wherever it was to be played. Nowadays it is left to the discretion of the conductor.
The Swiss conductor Diego Fasolis, his Coro della Radio Svizzera, Lugano, I Barocchisti, and Les Sacqueboutiers made their Mostly Mozart debuts with the Vespers and a full house sat in utter silence and awe while some ravishing music-making took place in front of them. Fasolis opted for six string players (plus lutenist), bassoon, flute, organ, two cornetts and three sackbuts, nine-voice choir and ten soloists (often working with the chorus), and they made a grand sound. Because Monteverdi is known for wedding text to music – one enlightens and defines the other in a way that was new at the time – it was wise to offer translations of the texts above the stage.
Fasolis led with enthusiasm, using grand gestures for the larger moments but keeping his instructions small for the most intricate contrapuntal passages. It worked: the ensemble never faltered and the groups’ control over dynamics was spine-chilling. In the powerful “Dixit Dominus,” the line “He will crush the rulers of the whole earth” thundered out; conversely, the solo tenor, the remarkable Marco Beasley, was left alone on stage for his poetic “Nigra sum,” with just lute, organ and cello to back him up. Intricate rhythmic patterns in the “Laudate pueri” came off without a hitch. Vocal and instrumental lines were embellished throughout, always tastefully. With the exception of a weakish second tenor who smeared some coloratura, the solo singing was superb; standouts, in addition to Beasley, were soprano Roberta Invernizzi, with a wonderful, vibrato-free, searing edge to the top of her voice, counter-tennor Roberto Balconi, lending a mellow sound to his lines and baritone Alfredo Grandini. The exquisite riffing of the two violinists took one’s breath away, and the cornett players managed to get through the entire evening without so much as one fluff, even in their decorations. The only pity is that this was a one-night-only concert; New York will welcome Fasolis and his singers and players back whenever they’d like.
Robert Levine
