Vespro della Beata Vergine
Monteverdi's masterful job application
Monteverdi
Solomon’s Knot
Finnish Baroque Orchestra
Teo Lanerva, lighting design
Violin: Anthony Marini, Aira Maria Lehtipuu
Viola: Krishna Nagaraja, Tuula Riisalo
Cello: Louna Hosia
G-violone: Anna Rinta-Rahko
Harpsichord: Marianna Henriksson
Organ: Anna-Maaria Oramo
Theorbo: Eero Palviainen
Recorder: Hanna Haapamäki, Pauliina Fred
Dulcian: Jani Sunnarborg
Cornett: Andrea Inghisciano, Emilio Botto, David Brutti
Trombon: Esa Fagerholm, Vesa Lehtinen
Marianna Henriksson, Anthony Marini and Jonathan Sells, programme planning
PROGRAMME (in Finnish and Swedish)
FiBO’s series European Top Choirs continues with a concert with the acclaimed English collective Solomon’s Knot. The concert programme contains the most iconic masterwork of the sacred music of the early Baroque, Claudio Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine (1610), also know as Vespers of 1610.
Solomon’s Knot was founded in 2008 by the bass baritone Jonathan Sells, and in addition to singers the ensemble also contains instrumentalists. They always perform by heart and without a conductor. The collective has fascinated with its expressive but supple singing, combining a brave soloist attitude with knowledge of style. This serves the virtuosic demands of the Vespers well.
Monteverdi (1597–1643) composed his one and a half hour long Vespers of 1610 while working as the maestro di capella at the court of the Duke of Mantua. He was tired of his work, and the composing of the work might have related to his desire for a change of scenery. Monteverdi dedicated his Vespers to the pope Paul V, possibly with the intention to seek employment in Rome. However, in 1613 he was appointed maestro di capella at the basilica of San Marco in Venice, with the unprecedentedly rich vespers as part of his portfolio.
The Vespro della Beata Vergine combines all the styles of the time, from old polyphony to modern ensemble and solo singing, from Gregorian chant to multichorality and the instrumental sonata. The magnus opus might have been intended to be performed as a whole as well as a collection from which to choose parts. You can relate to the work combining old with new as a visit to an ancient cathedral. Every visit in the beautiful harmonies of the voices, cornetts and catgut strings reveals something new, and the styles of the different eras are placed side by side as well as overlapping each other.
In FiBO’s “Top European Choirs” series, the orchestra collaborates with world-renowned international choirs from 2022 to 2025. The Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation support the series from 2023 to 2025. The first concert in this series took place in February 2022 with Det Norske Solistkor, the second one in February 2023 with Arcangelo, the third one in October 2023 with RIAS Chamber Choir and the fourth one in February 2024 Vox Luminis.
Duration: 1 h 30 min (no intermission)
Anthony Marini, Marianna Henriksson and Jonathan Sells introduce the concert in the parish hall from 6 pm to 6.30 pm. (Entrance to the parish hall from the address Temppelikatu 16 A.)
Tickets 55/42/30/15 € + 1,5 € service charge per order: Ticketmaster's points of purchase and ticketmaster.fi
Student tickets at the door (if there are tickets left) 10 €