Ensemble Inégal 'Psalmi Vespertini II' televised

    There have been some hints and promises that Inégal's 23rd June 2016 performance of Zelenka's 2nd Vespers Psalm cycle will be televised by Ceska Televize. Here is the confirmation!:


    http://www.ceskatelevize.cz/po…nka-psalmi-vespertini-ll/
    http://www.ceskatelevize.cz/iv…enka-psalmi-vespertini-ll


    I believe this means that it will be streamed on the 6th of November. Hopefully someone can record this? ...I will be trying my best to :)


    Adam Viktora has drawn particular attention to ZWV 92 Nisi Dominus as being highly crafted and emotionally powerful. Looking forward to hearing it, and other gems from this cycle!


    All the best,


    Seb

    Great, but I notice that most of the videos on that site are not available here in Germany. I'm guessing the stream (or watch again function) will only be available to users in Czechia. Hopefully one of our friends there can record it and share with us!


    Plan B: I noticed last week that the first petrol station over the border from Germany has free wifi! ;)

    Watched the broadcast last night. Wow, what a performance and now very excited about the soon-to-be-released CD. I think it will be an equal partner to disc 1. As has been noted elsewhere on this forum, only 3 of the 8 extant 2nd cycle psalms have so far been recorded. Now we can hear the other 5 and I think they really do well to fill in the gaps. Just like in the first cycle, there are clear unifying features. Particular highlights for me: The Nisi Dominus (picture Zelenka directing that from the violone!!!), The De Profundis (full range of emotions from the pleading leaps of the somewhat Handelian sounding opening movement to the optimistic Gloria). And then the Gloria of the Lauda Jerusalem where the chorus keeps on butting in with text from the start of the psalm. Eventually the soloist seems to just kind of give up and the chorus whips away with a double fugue from sicut erat using the two main themes of the psalm. Probably that's the best fugue of the cycle and one with more than a slight hint of the Cum Sancto Spiritu fugue of ZWV21, composed 15 years later!


    As usual Adam Viktora's Inégal were resplendent, and the soloists excellent. I especially liked the very powerful male alto, Filippo Mineccia, who seemed to even drown out Inégal some of the time (Maybe it was just a balance issue, I know this was "only" a TV recording). I hoped this performance got him hooked on Zelenka - would like to hear some more from him!


    And finally, that cheeky close cut to Vaclav Luks, applauding at the end. Just a coincidence, right? I am sure he would agree it was another triumphant night for the Czech-driven revival of Zelenka.

    Stunning concert & video, well worth the wait! Thanks for the link Odie. The ones I posted are still currently working too :)


    Lots to say about these psalms. I can't help but agreeing with Rnkt, they do work as a whole, just like the previous cycle.* In fact, I would argue that they are even more so suited as a whole, because they have shorter lengths and seem to flow into each other very well (though the dramatic finish of Nisi Dominus needed a bit of a break before Lauda IMO!). My favourite moment was the 'Sustinuit Anima Mea' in De Profundis ZWV 92. All four soloists sing together as a trio->quartet, and then joined by the rest of the choir. Very effective. It marked the end of the journey of the cycle, akin to the end of an opera, passion or oratorio. It's a very theatrical / dramatic cycle, and yet also very uplifting and positive, being mostly in major keys. Zelenka is being very economical in this cycle, but manages to put so much meaning and expression at the same time. A sign of a master composer.


    Filippo Mineccia - what an awesome Alto! Vaclav Cizek also did very admirably for Lauda Jerusalem ZWV 104 (looking forward to hearing Tobias Hunger in the recording). A very heartfelt performance from all involved. Can't wait to get my hands on the CD :D


    Thanks to Inégal, once again, for dedicating themselves to these Vespers psalm cycles.


    ------
    *Although to reiterate, he never intended them to be performed all in one service. They have various types of styles, lengths and tonalities so that he can pick and choose settings that might go well with others in his collection (from other composers as well as his own). To provide a full palette, so to speak. So, seeing it that way, it may just be coincidence that they seem well-suited for each other... It's great for us that they do!
    It would be interesting to have performances & recordings of a (relatively) authentic Dresden Vespers pasticcio-style service.

    Quote from odie

    Hi everyone,


    I managed to download the video file from the streaming site, so for those who can´t watch it on the Czech Television website, i uploaded it here: https://uloz.to/!9Z48BNpH1azO/…-psalmi-vespertini-ii-mp4
    password (without spaces): Prague2016


    Cheers


    Thanks so much for the download link. I tried in vain to download it from the Czech Television website (I could stream it, but not download it). I have extracted the audio from the file you shared and broken it into individual mp3 files. In case anyone would like these for their own use (I won't put them on the internet) please PM me.

Participate now!

Don’t have an account yet? Register yourself now and be a part of our community!

Register Yourself Login