There is obviously a certain risk involved in issuing a BBC broadcast of 1970: by today’s yardstick, many of the speeds are sluggish, the choir tend to lack bite in the earlier sections, the cornetts have a brash sound as though they are using trumpet mouthpieces, and some of the singing is decidedly wobbly.
On the other hand, this is in fact the only available version of the 1610 Vespers that simply performs the music Monteverdi printed, straight through (apart from the puzzling omission of two stanzas and their ritornellos in the “Ave maris stella”). The other recordings add bits of plainchant, re-sequence the movements, change the pitch-standard for certain movements, and/or add extraneous pieces. That they do so for very good reasons is beyond dispute; but it is also true that none of these changes is universally agreed. Moreover, nobody would deny that the notes that survive – whether right or wrong – just happen to pack a tremendous punch, which Halsey fully exploits in his carefully considered reading. And Basil Lam’s edition is, for its time, quite exceptionally restrained in its scoring – though I could do without the descant recorder doubling the tenor in “Lauda Jerusalem”. So those who are impatient with the musicological bickering may well find this version more suited to their needs.
Particular joys here are the singing of the tenors Ian Partridge and John Elwes, who are wonderfully stylish and are joined by David Thomas for a gloriously convincing “Duo seraphim”. And Christopher Hogwood’s organ playing is a delight throughout, always tactful but highly inventive, even if he would hardly like to do it that way today. The booklet contains elaborate notes on the solo singers but no texts and very little information about the piece or the performance.
BBC Radio Classics give us a straightforward account of Monteverdi’s notes, occasionally very exciting and building up to a glorious climax at the end. While this is not how we usually hear the work today, many listeners will find its lack of fuss very attractive. The occasional dangers of a live performance add to its impact, though some sections are decidedly cautious.'