‘Huelgas Ensemble’

Claudio Monteverdi's name is nowadays associated with the Early Baroque period and, more specifically, the stylistic turning point when composition developed a more theatrical bent. The highly versatile Monteverdi sought to show his detractors that he was just as adept at polyphonic structures as his predecessors. Based on the motet of the Franco-Flemish master Nicolas Gombert, Monteverdi's Missa da Capella demonstrates his phenomenal ingenuity. The Huelgas Ensemble are recreating this polyphonic treasure, while linking it to pieces by composers from the previous generation. The outcome is a thrilling juxtaposition of a "conservative" Monteverdi and his "progressive" predecessors.