You don't have to think hard to remember a time when almost any recording of Monteverdi's great sacred masterwork Vespro della Beata Vergine (also known as his "1610 Vespers") was in some way deficient; either by way of bad singing, too heavy a realization of the continuo, what have you. Fast forward to the twenty first century and you have an embarrassment of riches in terms of very well done Monteverdi Vespers, among them the very fine 2006 version by Robert King and the King's Consort, to which end Hyperion put its most ...
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You don't have to think hard to remember a time when almost any recording of Monteverdi's great sacred masterwork Vespro della Beata Vergine (also known as his "1610 Vespers") was in some way deficient; either by way of bad singing, too heavy a realization of the continuo, what have you. Fast forward to the twenty first century and you have an embarrassment of riches in terms of very well done Monteverdi Vespers, among them the very fine 2006 version by Robert King and the King's Consort, to which end Hyperion put its most determined effort in the post-Ted Perry era and turned out, to everyone's surprise, to be Robert King's swansong with the group named after him. Therefore, it is a little surprising that Challenge Classics and Sigiswald Kuijken would enter this crowded arena with their Vespro della Beata Vergine with La Petite Bande; after all, there is very little for any band, no matter how "petit," to do in Monteverdi's Vespers. Moreover, this recording is no exception, by the most part given to...
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