Monteverdi Vespers of 1610 in the Temple of Dendur

Streaming on December 15 and available throughout the holidays, celebrate the season with Claudio Monterverdi’s transcendent Vespers for the Blessed Virgin, an evening prayer service for chorus, soloists, and instrumentalists. In a reprise of this 2017 tour de force, sold-out performance by Boston’s renowned period-instrument ensemble, the Handel and Haydn Society highlights the grace and mystery of this timeless work of praise, under the direction of the esteemed Harry Christophers and led by captivating concertmaster Aisslinn Nosky.

The Vespers draws on elements of the sacred and the secular, from sonatas to songs, in a moving display of reverence, passion, and virtuosity that changed the course of polyphonic music. Originally presented in ecclesiastical spaces like the Basilica di San Marco in Venice, this Vespers was staged in the sublime setting of the Temple of Dendur in The Sackler Wing.

Originally performed on April 8, 2017 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this was H+H’s debut performance at the Museum and its first return to NYC in over 20 years.

Watch by clicking below on Saturday, December 15, 2020 at 7:00PM ET.