The ever-suave John Rosser introduced Viva Voce's The Full Monte as a series of snapshots to create as rounded a portrait as possible of Claudio Monteverdi, a major composer whose work is rarely heard on concert programmes.
A sonorous Deus in Adiutorium from Monteverdi's 1610 Vespers launched the
celebration, with the Viva Voce singers intoning full, rich chords against brilliant instrumental flourishes from brass and strings.
The afternoon was shaped around a selection of madrigals, delivered with a sense of style and idiom, even if some might have preferred one voice to a part rather than a 30-voice chamber choir. However, the advantages of the bigger ensemble came when dramatic outbursts were called for in Hor che'l ciel a la Terra.
There are few pieces more expressive than the Sestina sequence from Monteverdi's sixth madrigal collection, written to commemorate the premature death of Caterina Martinelli, the young soprano who was to have sung the role of Arianna in the composer's lost opera. The choir brought this off sensitively, with Rosser gauging the shifting textures to perfection.
A small string group, led by Dianna Cochrane, a brass ensemble and continuo contributions from organist John Wells and harpsichordist Donald Nicolson were much appreciated throughout the afternoon, especially in the stirring, rhythmically alert Beatus Vir and some operatic extracts.
On the operatic side, in the opening scene of Orfeo, soprano Emma Roxburgh excelled as a beautifully measured La Musica, with strong support from Dmitry Rusakov as a shepherd. Roxburgh was joined by Susie Ewart for the poignant and harmonious final duet from L'Incoronazione di Poppea.
Earlier in the programme, Ewart had acquitted herself admirably in Arianna's Lament.
Throughout, Rosser's commentaries were well-researched and thoughtful, giving the concert a strong and cogent narrative.
Perhaps, after two hours, we could have ended with the choir's vibrant singing of Adoramus Te, Christe. Instead we were given a Magnificat from Monteverdi's 1640 Selva Morale, a lengthy score that may have allowed choir and instrumentalists to dispense Venetian splendour in the comparatively humble environs of St Matthew-in-the-City but which also suffered from too many patches of lamentable solo singing.
