Search - Cozzolani, Orlando Di Lassus Ensemble :: Marian Vespers

I Had to Go Buy It in Germany ...

Giordano Bruno | Wherever I am, I am. | 02/10/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"... this recording of the reconstructed "Marienvesper' of Chiara Margarita Cozzolani. It wasn't available at all on amazon when I wanted it. Even now the price is gross. And don't be tempted! Don't consider the MP3! Don't get this performance, unless you are an ardent fan of the music, because the alternative recording, by the North American ensemble Magnificat is both cheaper and more exciting.



That's a surprisingly blunt judgment. The Hanover-based "Orlando di Lasso Ensemble" is one of the finest vocal groups in the world; their recordings of their namesake Lassus and of Heinrich Schütz are among the best and well worth the higher prices that Thorofon seems to demand on the USA side of the Atlantic. And this performance is very artful. The singing is close to flawless. Unlike Magnificat, OdL has chosen to perform the polyphonic antiphons of their Vespers with a mixed chorus of men's and women's voices - two sopranos, two male altos, three tenor, and two basses. The format of Cozzolani's original publications certainly allows for that choice; it's not 'inauthentic'. But when Cozzolani and her 'sisters' in the Convent of Santa Radegunda sang such music it was with women's voices only, and to my ears, the music sounds more unique, more thrilling, more aesthetically focused in the version sung by Magnificat, with two choruses of four women each, one on a part. Magnificat conductor Warren Stewart sets brighter tempi, for a more exultant affect, and provide a thinner, subtler continuo. Here's what I wrote about that 2-CD set by Magnificat:



""Have you ever wished that Claudio Monteverdi had written TWO Vespers of the Blessed Virgin in the year 1620? Well, of course he didn't; he had other projects. Chiara Margarita Cozzolani's Vespers, as reconstructed here from two publications of her motets, seem nonetheless to be the the next best thing. Cozzolani can be imagined as Monteverdi's musical daughter. She may well have been the most outstanding woman composer of the Baroque.

Cozzolani spent all of her long adult life in the convent of Santa Radegonda, across the way from the Cathedral of Milan. The musical skills of her sister nuns were acclaimed throughour Europe; crowds gathered in the open portion of their church, the chiesa esteriore, to listen to the musical services through the choir grate without ever beholding the singers. As abbess, Cozzolani guided her 'house' successfully through an attack by the fanatic Archbishop Alfonso Lita, who wanted to suspend the nuns' artistic musical activities.

This performance of the Vespers, on two CDs, includes both the plainchant and Cozzolani's polyphonic motets, as would have been the case in the 1640s and as is the artistic standard of such performances today. The third CD is a seventeen minute 'lecture' by director Warren Stewart concerning Cozzolani and her musical world.""



Magnificat is now in the middle of a project to record all the surviving music of Chiara Margarita Cozzolani. Even before their CDs are released, it's possible to subscribe to the project and to receive advance downloads and other features. Highly recommended!"