Monteverdi: Vespro della Beata Vergine, SV 206

On October 5th, we celebrate the centenary of conductor and choir director Jürgen Jürgens, a leading figure among the new generation of early music explorers after the Second World War. Founder of the Monteverdi-Chor Hamburg in the 1950s, he distinguished himself through his pioneering concerts and recordings devoted to the Italian composer, who was little known and poorly served on disc at the time. This recording of the Vespers is one of the first major versions of this important work. It was recorded with the assistance of Concentus Musicus Wien, which featured Herbert Tachezi, Gustav Leonhardt, and Nikolaus Harnoncourt, with whom Jürgens collaborated closely on this disc (the former taking charge of the instrumental arrangements, the latter of the critical work on the score). The vocal soloists include Max von Egmond and Nigel Rogers.