Vespro della Beata Vergine by Claudio Monteverdi

Soloists, Choir and Orchestra Monteverdi Festival and the Ensemble Briouel

Conductor: Antonio Greco

With the participation of the Arab-Andalusian Orchestra of Fez conducted by Mohammed Briouel

Monteverdi’s opera, born on January 15, 1567 in Cremona, spans the Renaissance and Baroque periods. During his long life, Claudio Monteverdi established himself as a visionary of his time and is considered one of the creators of opera.

With his Vespro della Beata Vergine, Monteverdi conceived one of the first masterpieces of European sacred music. Meditative and theatrical at the same time, his composition is conceived as the culmination of prayers that express fullness and joy.

The Vespers represent one of the highest and most solemn moments of Monteverdi’s religious music. The religious feeling is vivid and intense, often taking the form of prayer and hymn to the divinity, conceived as the most perfect spiritual entity from which human life descends in all its earthly manifestations.

In this work we perceive the breadth of Monteverdi’s choral writing, with its expansive harmonies and vibrant rhythms, reinforced by the choral magnificence.

Monteverdi’s Vespers of the Blessed Virgin were published in Venice in 1610 together with the Missa In illo tempore, with a flattering dedication to Pope Paul V. The full title of the work reads:

“Sanctissimae Virgini Missa senis vocibus ad ecclesiarum choros ac Vespere pluribus decantanda cum nonnullis sacris concentibus, ad sacella sive principum cubicula accommodata”

(“Mass of the Most Holy Virgin for six voices for church choirs and Vespers for several voices with some sacred concerts, suitable for chapels or princely chambers”)

To highlight the Renaissance spirit that animates this edition, symbolized by the twinning between Fez and Cremona, the event includes the meeting of the Andalusian Fassi musical heritage within this masterpiece.

A disciple of the famous Hadj Abdelkrim Raïs, Mohammed Briouel excels in the art of the classical oriental violin and the Arab-Andalusian tarab. He conducts the prestigious Arab-Andalusian Orchestra of Fez, considered one of the oldest and most important Arab-Andalusian music groups.

“Concert organized by the Italian Embassy to the Kingdom of Morocco and the Italian Cultural Institute of Rabat in collaboration with the Monteverdi Festival.”