Selva morale e spirituale (selection)

A musical manifesto?
Pablo Heras-Casado, leading the musicians of the Balthasar Neumann Ensemble into the heart of Monteverdi’s “Moral and Spiritual Forest”, captures the magic of its madrigals, psalm settings, Marian hymns, motets and mass settings collected in the monumental 1640 publication which forms a summation of the composer’s life’s work. His intensive activity as “maestro di cappella” at St Mark’s Basilica in Venice – a veritable haven for the musical avant-garde of his day – is typified by this selection of the choicest gems chosen from the imposing anthology.