The performance is quite simply outstanding, the voices and strings of Cantus Colln penetratingly focused yet consistently alive, cornets and trombones of Concerto Palatino warm, enveloping - and impeccably in tune. Junghanel structures the music cleverly, weaving continuity into the constantly changing moods arising from Monteverdi's sensitivity to words, and repetitions of motifs in short, echoing fragments. He's helped by excellent recording, exposing every musical point as voices and instruments lean forward in turn then retreat into the broader texture... An outstanding project, long overdue and unreservedly commended.

Monteverdi's last publication has always been something of a stepchild in his output, perhaps partly because of its sheer size and variety: there's lots of music in it that's hard to pigeon-hole. It's a massive assembly of some 40 pieces, some apparently very early, many from those mysterious years after the 1610 Vespers, and a few perhaps very late. In style they range from the purest academic polyphony of the stile antico to the most elaborate concerted music with intricate and showy instrumental parts, from the simplest melodic writing to virtuoso floridity with extreme vocal ranges. In this complete recording Konrad Junghänel has effectively made the first and third CDs into approximate vespers collections, with the second CD containing most of the music that can't be fitted into the others.
This works extremely well, not least because those who aren't ready to sit through it all at one sitting can get a satisfying musical unit from any one of the discs.
The 12 singers of Cantus Cölln have among them enough variety of colour to keep the sound lively and interesting. They are always clear, disciplined and balanced; and Junghänel directs the often episodic works with a firm control of their shape. The peerless Johanna Koslowsky leads much of the time in the larger pieces and contributes marvellous solo numbers.
For the large-range bass solos Stephan MacLeod makes the impossible lines sound almost effortless.
This set is a remarkable achievement.

This is an issue of tremendous importance. While most recent Monteverdians make selections from the 1640 publication of sacred works (its title means Moral and Spiritual Forest), Junghänel gives us Monteverdi's 'testament' complete. The collection contains some of Monteverdi's most sublime creations - the first Beatus Vir and the solo Pianto della Madonna, based on Ariadne's laments from his mostly lost opera of 1608, are the best known - and it's impossible to do justice to the riches recorded here in a short review. Cantus Cölln...is consistently beautiful. Johanna Koslowsky deserves special mention for her ravishing singing of the Pianto, and Junghänel's realisations of the instrumental parts are sumptuous.

The performances have all the necessary brilliance and sense of excitement. The three-disc set may be a major investment, but its four hours of endlessly varied listening provide a magnificent return.

this recording sparkles from start to finish: the singers are supported by the wondrous Concerto Palatino and an equally fine string-and-continuo band.