I have long heard about this recording, the darling of the Seventh-Day Authenticists, and, having heard only excerpts to date, jumped at the chance to buy it at mid-price. Boy, was I disappointed! It's not that it isn't well played and sung, it is. It's just that it's totally lacking in soul or feeling of any kind. It's a museum piece, resurrected for our academic study. Listen instead to Gardiner's brilliant recording in St. Marco's. Gardiner may play fast and loose with the instrumentation, but by gosh the piece LIVES. In Gardiner's hands, the Vespers take their rightful place alongside the great choral masterpieces of the world, the St. Matthew, the B Minor Mass, Messiah, etc. In Parrot's hands, the thing just curls up and goes to sleep - and me with it.
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