GLORIA! VIVALDI'S ANGELS

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Gloria - Vivaldi and his Angels2009 JUNO Award Winner for Classical Album of the Year:
Vocal or Choral Performance

Shannon joins Matthias Maute’s celebrated Ensemble Caprice for this award-winning recording of some of Vivaldi’s most gorgeous choral music. In Matthias Maute’s words: "our Gloria! Vivaldi’s Angels recording has been created in posthumous homage to the incredible music that Vivaldi composed for the orphans of the Ospedale. One can picture the scene when concerts were presented at the Church of La Pietà. The female choir members must have sounded like angels in paradise."

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Ensemble Caprice
Matthias Maute, conductor
Shannon Mercer, soprano
Monika Mauch, soprano
Josée Lalonde, alto
Sophie Larivière, recorders

Release date: October 2008 Analekta
Album ID: AN 2 9917

1-12  Gloria in D major, RV 589

Track 3 - Duet: Laudamus Te
Monika Mauch, Sop 1; Shannon Mercer, Sop 2

Track 6 - Largo: Domine Deus, rex coelestis

13-16  “In furore iustissimae irae”, Motet in C minor, RV 626

17-20  Concerto in D minor, RV 535

Track 21 - Aria: Ostra picta  

21-23  “Ostro picta”, Motet in D major, RV 642

24-32  Magnificat in G minor, RV 610

“Monika Mauch and Shannon Mercer are the dueling sopranos who soar through this duet with melodic lines similar to virtuosic violin music. We hear that same effervescent agility in the solo soprano voice of Shannon Mercer in "Ostro Picta," a motet which, in concert, served as an introduction to Vivaldi's Gloria. The simple instrumentation of organ, oboe and solo soprano in the "Domine Deus, rex coelestis," from the Gloria, is another example of how Vivaldi uses individual musicians to the fullest. The lilting soprano voice of Shannon Mercer is otherworldly in this performance.” (Minnesota Public Radio, 23 December 2008)

“Vocal soloists Monika Mauch, Shannon Mercer, and Josée Lalonde have voices of great suppleness, purity, and expressiveness, and they put Vivaldi's instrumental-like vocal lines across with warmth and conviction.” (All Music)