Any listener who has heard the punchy, rousing and original account of Monteverdi’s Vespers released in 2016 by these forces on Brilliant Classics (BC95188) will be keen to hear music from the same source performed with similar vitality and attention to historical detail. Federico Bardazzi duly obliges with this recreation of Easter at the Basilica San Marco, around the year 1600. This recording presents a reconstruction of the Easter Celebration at St. Mark’s, Venice, around 1600. The Proprium Mass (the part of the mass which is related to the liturgical year) is from the beautiful Gradulae Giunta (Venice, 1572), the Missa Ordinarium (the standard Mass which is always the same) is by Monteverdi, from his Selva Morale e Spirituale. The performance by the Ensemble San Felice and conductor Federico Bardazzi is festive and jublilant, supported by a rich instrumentarium of flute, trombone, theorbo, harpsichord, organ and percussion. The ensemble San Felice already recorded the Monteverdi Vespers, Vocal Music by Hildegard von Bingen and El Cant de la Sibilla.
