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Track(s) taken from CDA67487

Ecce sacrum paratum a voce sola e B.c.

composer
Ghirlanda sacra (1625)
author of text

The King's Consort, Robert King (conductor)
Recording details: February 2004
St Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Ben Turner
Engineered by Jonathan Stokes & Philip Hobbs
Release date: November 2004
Total duration: 6 minutes 14 seconds
 

Reviews

‘It would be difficult to praise these performances to highly … the clarity and sheer élan here defeat close rival performances by William Christie and Konrad Junghänel’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘No Monteverdi enthusiast will want to be without this superb selection … Robert King's light-footed approach to the big pieces, with brisk speeds and crisp, springy rhythms, keeps up both the momentum and the excitement to produce some thrilling climaxes’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘We have come to expect nothing but first rate perfomances from Robert King and his colleagues, and this recording does not disappoint. Hyperion's recorded sound is clear but warm, sumptuous, and intense, as befits the music’ (American Record Guide)

‘The warmly enveloping acoustic is exactly right for this opulent, exciting music; and Robert King’s trusty group disport themselves with the usual trim gusto. With performances like these I’d be happy if this series rolled on forever’ (The Times)

‘This is another fine issue to add to a series that has now firmly established its credentials as yet one more (brilliently plumed) feather in the respective caps of King and Hyperion’ (Fanfare, USA)
‘Ecce sacrum paratum’ was published in 1625 in Ghirlanda sacra, an anthology issued by Leonardo Simonetti, a castrato who was appointed to the choir of St Mark’s in 1613, the year in which Monteverdi arrived in Venice. The freely invented motet text mixes images of the celebration of Mass with those of the Last Supper, conceived as an Ancient Roman feast in which the guests reclined on couches at table. Monteverdi’s setting is a very striking example of rhetorical solo song which mixes declamation with short passages of aria-like writing in triple time, whether denoting urgency, as in ‘mundate corda vestra, festinate’ or passion, as in the setting of ‘Quid, ah quid huic amori tuo possim referre?’.

from notes by John Whenham © 2004

«Ecce sacrum paratum» a été publié en 1625 dans Ghirlanda sacra, une anthologie publiée par Leonardo Simonetti, un castrat qui avait été engagé dans le chœur de Saint Marc en 1613, l’année où Monteverdi était arrivé à Venise. Le texte librement inventé du motet mélange des images de la célébration de la messe avec d’autres de la Cène, conçue comme une fête de la Rome ancienne où les invités sont allongés pour dîner. La réalisation musicale de Monteverdi est un exemple saisissant de chant soliste rhétorique qui associe déclamation avec de courts passages d’une écriture ternaire aux allures d’aria, que ce soit pour souligner l’urgence, comme dans «mundate corda vestra, festinate» ou la passion, comme pour «Quid, ah quid huic amori tuo possim referre?».

extrait des notes rédigées par John Whenham © 2004
Français: Isabelle Battioni

„Ecce sacrum paratum“ erschien 1625 in Ghirlanda sacra, eine Anthologie, die von Leonardo Simonetti herausgegeben wurde. Simonetti, ein Kastrat, war 1613 in den Chor von San Marco berufen worden, demselben Jahr, in dem auch Monteverdi nach Venedig kam. In der frei erfundenen Motette werden Bilder der Messfeier mit Bildern des letzten Abendmahls miteinander kombiniert, wobei letzteres als ein römisches Fest angelegt ist, bei denen die Gäste auf Liegen am Tisch verweilen. Diese Vertonung Monteverdis ist ein besonders Beispiel für das rhetorische Sololied, in dem Deklamation kurzen, Arien-ähnlichen Passagen im Dreierrhythmus gegenübergestellt werden, ob sie Dringlichkeit, wie bei „mundate corda vestra, festinate“, oder Leidenschaft, wie bei „Quid, ah quid huic amori tuo possim referre?“, ausdrücken.

aus dem Begleittext von John Whenham © 2004
Deutsch: Viola Scheffel

Other albums featuring this work

Monteverdi: The Sacred Music, Vol. 3
This album is not yet available for downloadSACDA67487Super-Audio CD — Deleted
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