Though the singers of The Sixteen regularly tour the UK’s cathedrals and major churches on their choral pilgrimages, those are always a cappella concerts; Harry Christophers’ group has never before undertaken a series of performances around the country with its instrumentalists in tow as well. But either side of Christmas, they are taking Monteverdi’s great choral monument on the road, with a choir of 20 and an orchestra of the same size, and their tour of the 1610 Vespers began in the grandest possible setting of Winchester Cathedral.
It’s easy to institutionalise the Vespers, to make it seem an antiseptic choral monument rather than a living work of art. There was even a suspicion of that in the performance that John Eliot Gardiner conducted to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Monteverdi Choir earlier in the year. Christophers made it entirely convincing, though, following the published order of the movements, opting for the longer, more elaborate version of the final Magnificat, and recruiting the trebles of the Winchester Cathedral Choir to sing in the Sonata Sopra Sancta Maria.
There were constant reminders that at the time he compiled and published the Vespers, Monteverdi had already produced five books of madrigals and begun his career as an opera composer. The way in which the solo lines were given expressive independence in the psalm settings, and especially the treatment of the four sacred concertos studded through the work, pushed at the boundaries of liturgical correctness; for instance, tenor Jeremy Budd’s performance of the last of the concertos, Audi Coelum, with Mark Dobell providing the echo, irresistibly recalled Possente Spirto, the climactic aria in Orfeo.
Perhaps because the performance is being given in concert halls as well as cathedrals, there was rather less use of spatial effects in Winchester than there might have been, though what there was – in the concertos and the final Magnificat – was effective enough. That might also be the reason for having an interval in the performance, though it’s unnecessary and disruptive, but otherwise this Vespers makes a hugely impressive experience.
• At Cadogan Hall, London, on 10 November. Box office: 020-7730 4500 Then tour resumes in January.
