Monteverdi's Vespers from the York Early Music Festival

A jubilant opening to the 2026 York Early Music Festival, which celebrates its 50th incarnation this year. Robert Hollingworth conducts his ensemble I Fagiolini in an intimate yet powerful one-to-a-part performance of Monteverdi’s defining masterwork of church music – his Vespers of 1610. Accompanied by wind, strings and brass, I Fagiolini’s superb technical control and dynamic improvisation produce a colourful and viscerally emotional reading – a fitting 21st-century interpretation of Monteverdi’s masterpiece as this popular British group approaches its own 40th anniversary later this year.

Recorded at the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall at the University of York on 3 July 2026. Presented by Hannah French.

Claudio Monteverdi - Vespers (1610)

I Fagiolini
The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble
Robert Hollingworth (conductor)

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