Ben Johnson in an audacious new take on Monteverdi’s ‘Vesper’ at the Brighton festival

Ben Johnson performs in a bold new take on Monteverdi’s monumental masterpiece Vespers at The Brighton Festival alongside La Nuova Musica, conducted by David Bates on Sunday, May 23 at The Brighton Dome Concert Hall.

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Photo Credit: Chris Gloag

Relishing the worldly texts which Monteverdi chose to punctuate the psalm settings of the Vespers, David Bates further blurs the boundaries between the sacred and the secular by adding other erotically charged works, including madrigals and excerpts from Monteverdi’s opera  L’Incoronazione di Poppea. The result usurps the religious nature of the piece to achieve something closer to the Renaissance synergy of heart, mind and body that would have been familiar to Monteverdi and his patrons.

This audacious but historically appropriate interpretation, using just ten solo singers and continuo players, revels in vocal virtuosity and the intimacy of sacred storytelling.

Photo Credit: Benjamin Ealovega