Opera Qvinta
109:27 (2 CDs in a single jewel case)
Tactus TC 670290
Click HERE to buy this on amazon.co.uk
One of the very few uncontested biographical facts about the Bologna-based composer Besseghi is that he played a Guarneri violin. His publications and even the style of his compositions reflect the dominating influence of Corelli, and indeed his limited surviving output has been almost entirely eclipsed by his more famous contemporary. Besseghi spent some time, possibly the bulk of his career, in France in the service of the wealthy Fagon family, who in turn enjoyed close contacts to the court of Louis XIV and rubbed shoulders with the likes of Rameau. It has to be said, however, that you would search in vain for any influence on the course of French Baroque music from Besseghi’s compositions which remain entirely Italianate in style. These accounts of the opus 1 Sonate da Camera of 1710 are played with imagination and considerable musicality by Fabrizio Longo and his ensemble, who continue to cast an informative light on the regiments of Italian Baroque composers upon which the fickle light of celebrity has long since ceased to shine.
D. James Ross