Andrew Stewart pays an aural visit to late-Renaissance Italy, as he takes his pick of the best recordings of a spectacular sacred masterpiece, Vespers of 1610 <\/p>
Claudio Monteverdi<\/a><\/strong>, born in Cremona in 1567, towered above the mill\u2019s run of late-Renaissance composers<\/a><\/strong>. But as the new century dawned, he felt increasingly becalmed in the relative backwater of Mantua, despite opportunities offered by his promotion as maestro di cappella<\/i> to the powerful Gonzaga family.<\/span><\/p>\n Monteverdi\u2019s career blues deepened during a long and reactionary campaign<\/span> against his highly expressive vocal music, spearheaded by the priest and music theorist Giovanni Maria Artusi. The responsibilities of fatherhood also weighed heavily.<\/span><\/p>\n The death of his wife and a relentless workload pitched the 43 year-old into a state of depression. It was time for Monteverdi and Mantua to part company.<\/span><\/p>\n