Gandharvas, Musica Angelica Make a Solid Team

The ebullient, colorful Vesper music that Monteverdi published in 1610 has become something of an early music standard. Not so “Selva Morale e Spirituale,” the conceptually similar anthology he issued in 1640. Gandharvas--a new vocal ensemble from New York--and the local heroes of Musica Angelica sampled the latter collection in a loose, engaging concert Monday at First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica.

Thirty years, we discovered, can be a long time when measured by work as original as Monteverdi’s. This is tighter music; more concentrated in sound, more abstract in structure and more secure in style.

“Selva Morale e Spirituale” also provides a varied showcase for a smart, joyful and ambitious singing group, as Gandharvas seems to be. The big concerted pieces here, three psalms and a Gloria, revealed an octet of agility, amplitude and inconsistent diction, conducted from a rather clattery little organ by Robert Barrows.

Solo numbers displayed the quality of the individual components of the Gandharvas mix, beginning with clarion tenor Michael Steinberger in the brilliantly elaborated psalm Laudate Dominum. Bass Russell Ashley explored the abysses of “Ab aeterno ordinata sum,” and mezzo Karen Krueger mourned lusciously through the “Pianto della Madonne,” an odd Marian paraphrase of the “Lamento de l’Arianna,” one of the most voluptuous of Monteverdi’s solo madrigals.

Virtuosity was certainly not alien to the Monteverdian aesthetic, as demonstrated by sopranos Michele Eaton, bright and nimble in “Sanctorum meritis,” and Eileen Clark, rich and charismatic in “Confitebor tibi.” Alto Susan Altabet, tenor Peter Bannon and baritone Mark Wagstrom sang expressively in small ensembles.

Supporting the celestial musicians--as Gandharvas are in Sanskrit--was a quartet from L.A.’s own angelic music. Violinists Susan Feldman and Suzanna Giordano played fluidly in thevocal interstices, and lutanist Michael Eagan and Denise Briese on a pair of stringed bass instruments kept everything solidly anchored.