Vokalkapelle der Theatinerkirche München (former Königliche Hofkapelle)
condutor: Pater Robert Mehlhart OP
This debut CD is dedicated to two very exceptional pieces of Claudio Monteverdi, which are part of Monteverdis collection „selva morale e spirituale“ (the moral and spiritual wood). At the end of his life monteverdi gathered in his collection all his best sacred works. Just in the beginning of the Album the listener is invited to dive into the mystic world of Monteverdi – this „spiritual wood“ – and into the magnificat secondo, which is almost seeming unearthly, and rises again and again from the gregorian psalmody to a star sparkling of rhetoric vocal art. The following mass connects the polyphone model of Palestrina with Monteverdis own typical impulsive contrast wealth. This wonderful and touching album is another example, how the composer until the year of his 450th birthday still inspires our modern day musicians and singers as well as the listeners. According to the venetian tradition, the Vokalkapelle is accompanied by a continuo group of lute and a small organ.
Within the last six years the young conductor P. Robert Mehlhart reestablished the vocal ensemble „Vokalkapelle der Theatinerkirche“ to a young and very professional ensemble, which is specialised in the Early Music of the 16th an 17th century as well as gregorian vocal music. The institution of the „Vokalkapelle“ is based on a very long tradition since 1482 at the kings palace in munich.
