Two works of brilliance and sublime mastery of the human voice together with orchestra. Monteverdi’s “Vespers to the Virgin Mary” is a towering masterpiece of the Baroque era — at once intimate and grand, prayerful and dramatic, exalted and sensual. Monteverdi’s rarely performed 1610 Vespers of the Blessed Virgin offers up a dizzying array of textures and sonorities in brilliant instrumental writing, opulent choruses, and moving solo arias and duets.

Mozart’s Requiem is a work shrouded in mystery. Completed by Mozart’s student Sussmayr, the work is said to have driven the composer to his death when he was compelled by poverty and illness to accept the commission from an “unknown gray stranger” for a requiem.

CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI: Excerpts from Vespers of 1610 (“Vespro della Beata Vergina”)
W.A. MOZART: Requiem
Soloists Jessica Rivera, soprano; Kendall Gladen, mezzo; Jesse Donner, tenor; Evan Boyer, bass
Louisville Chamber Choir :: Kent Hatteberg, chorusmaster
TEDDY ABRAMS, conductor