Tag: Baroque

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Venetian Cello Sonatas

Under the Shade of Vivaldi
Gaetano Nasillo cello, Anna Fontana harpsichord, Sara Bennici cello, Evangelina Mascardi theorbo
77:24
ARCANA A465
Sonatas by Girolamo Bassani, Bigaglia, B. Marcello, Martinelli, Platti, Stratico, Vandini & Vivaldi

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The tireless Gaetano Nasillo, featured as soloist on a couple of the CDs in the Naples boxed set I reviewed earlier, continues his exploration of Italian Baroque cello sonatas with this CD of sonatas by composers resident in Venice. The CD is subtitled ‘under the shade of Vivaldi’, and it is true that many of the composers languish in relative obscurity compared to the ubiquitous Red Priest. That is not to say that their music is in any way inferior, and indeed most of it is strikingly imaginative and original. Just as a tourist visit to Venice nowadays gives the impression that the city only had one real composer and all he wrote were The Four Seasons, the recording industry has been slow to explore the rich musical context in which Vivaldi operated, and it is good to see Girolamo Bassani, Giovanni Benedetto Platti, Diogenio Bigaglia, Antonio Martinelli and Michele Stratico being given a moment in the sun beside their more august fellow residents, Marcello and Vivaldi. Gaetano Nasillo’s superb Baroque cello technique and intimate knowledge of the Italian music of this period make him an authoritative guide to this affable repertoire, and he is ably supported throughout by his continuo team. While it is hard to hear any link with the previous generation of Venetian musicians, it is clear that the Venetian school of cello composition is distinctively different from the Neapolitan one Nasillo has previously explored, although both were clearly seminal to the subsequent development of the cello as a solo instrument.

D. James Ross

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Dresden

Cover of Zeifro CD devoted to Dresden baroque chamber music

Music by Califano, Fasch, Heinichen, Lotti, Quantz, Telemann and Vivaldi
Zefiro, Alfredo Bernardini
77:52
Arcana A438

A few years ago I reviewed an intriguing recording of the Corelli op. 6 Concerti Grossi with added parts for wind instruments ‘as they might have been performed at the 18th-century Court of Dresden’, and this present CD further explores the rich context of the ‘Churfürstliche Sächsische Cammer-Musique’ in a series of chamber works for two oboes, bassoon and continuo. The music played in Dresden in the first half of the 18th century did much to shape the playing techniques and repertoire for these recently invented wind-instruments. Heinichen, Quantz and Arcangelo Califano all worked at the Saxon Court at some point, while Vivaldi and Lotti encountered musicians on tour from Dresden and were persuaded to compose for them. Telemann’s music, ubiquitous throughout the German lands, is extensively recorded in the Dresden Court archives. These are charming and very accessible pieces, played with complete technical assurance and considerable musicality by Zefiro, providing a window on an otherwise under-explored area of chamber music, a period of particular magnificence at the Court of Dresden, and a crucial stage in the development of the oboe and bassoon.

D. James Ross

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Monteverdi: Vespro

Cover of a DVD of Monteverdi Vespers by Pichon

Pygmalion, choir & orchestra, Raphaël Pichon
117:00 (DVD)
Château de Versailles Spectacles CVS018

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This exciting new series of DVDs presents live performances of major works of early music by leading names in the field at the Palace of Versailles. The present DVD of Monteverdi’s Vespers plays out in the Palace Chapel Royal, a space fashioned with a number of balconies ideal for presenting this spatially adventurous work. Pichon and his Pygmalion forces emphasise the theatrical aspects of the work, moving very effectively around the space, usually in darkness and with minimum noise, to appear magically all around the building. The performance opens with a piece of plainchant – a Pater Noster, but one treated like a processional before the drama of the opening ‘movement’ of the Monteverdi. Similar chant interpolations occur throughout the performance, musically a very effective way of breaking up the very dense Monteverdi score (probably never intended to be performed all in one go anyway) and often a handy ‘cover’ for singers to move around the building. One of my very few criticisms of the package is that Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s ‘blow-by-blow’ account of the music in the programme notes – very helpful to the non-specialist viewer/listener – makes no mention of these interpolations, nor of the ‘additions’ at the end (of which more anon), nor of the liturgical context which is being aimed at. My on-screen subtitles also seemed at a loss as to just what this material was. The insertion of a Marian motet by Monteverdi from another source before the Sonata sopra Sancta Maria also passes without comment. The performance ends as it began with the dramatic opening toccata set to new text – a complete fabrication, and depending on your point of view, an outrageous liberty or a theatrical coup. I have heard this done before, and while I initially inclined to the former reaction, increasingly I feel that Monteverdi the opera composer might just have approved of this ‘grand finish’ to one of his most dramatic works. Enough griping about details – the performance is superlatively polished and dynamic, the solo singing stunningly ornamented and beautifully coordinated, the orchestral sound rich and varied and the choral contributions, at ‘high’ pitch, wonderfully precise and focussed and full of drama. Particular mention should be made of the wonderfully leonine solo basses, the declamatory solo tenors, the sublime solo sopranos and the stunning contralto Lucile Richardot, whose voice and presence so impressed my in John Eliot Gardiner’s 2017 Monteverdi opera trilogy – I realise I have just singled out all the soloists for praise! Pichon conducts with passion and gets a hugely passionate performance out of his musicians – occasionally the camera catches individual instrumentalists and singers with expressions of genuine ecstasy on their faces. It is humbling to be reminded at the end that this has been a live performance, having watched a piece of such complexity unfold to such perfection. Mention should also be made of the technicians who lit and captured this complicated event – the sound balance is unerringly superb, no mean feat in this spatially very fluid presentation.

D. James Ross

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Morel: Premier Livre de Pièces de Violle

Cover of Morel viol music CD

Alejandro Marías viola da gamba, La Spagna
71:28
Brilliant Classics 95962

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A pupil of the great master of the viol, Marin Marais, to whom he dedicates his Premier Livre de Pièces de Violle of 1709, Morel has sunk into almost complete obscurity to the extent that his exact dates of birth and death are unknown. He takes the distinctive world of French music for the viol into the next generation, developing on the virtuosic and highly decorative style of Marais and others, while providing his Suites for Viol and continuo in score form rather than only in separate parts, suggesting perhaps that their increased complexity demanded that each of the three players needed to know exactly what the others were doing at any given moment! He also began to organise the various dance movements into more coherent sequences, avoiding duplication and marking an advance in the direction of the high Baroque Suite with its expected set of dance forms in a predetermined sequence. This more ordered approach to viol composition is apparent in these superbly expressive recordings by La Spagna, Alejandro Marías (solo gamba) and Pablo Garrido and Jordan Fumadó, (continuo gamba and harpsichord respectively). Marías’ accounts of the four Suites (three of which are world premieres!) are thoughtful and compelling, with a fine sense of the overall structure and lyrical charm of these varied and inventive works. For the concluding Chaconne, the only piece by Morel to be regularly performed nowadays and ironically one of the less imaginative pieces on the CD, the ensemble is joined by flautist Alvaro Marías.

D. James Ross

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Thomas Arne: The Judgment of Paris

Cover of Arne Judgment of Paris

Mary Bevan, Gilliam Ramm, Ed Lyon, Susanna Fairbairn, Anthony Gregory SSTST, The Brook Street Band, John Andrews
67:50
Dutton Epoch CDLX 7361

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Poor Arne was overshadowed in his lifetime by Handel and the plethora of other continental composers who crowded into 18th-century London, and afterwards suffered from the loss of his music, much of it in a fire at Covent Garden Theatre. Amongst the surviving scores is this Arcadian pastoral The Judgment of Paris, first performed in 1742 as an adjunct to Handel’s Alexander’s Feast and remarkably receiving its first modern performance here. That Arne also composed a number of innovative operas, one of them featuring a clarinet making its UK theatrical debut, is apparent in this tuneful, witty and dramatically convincing piece. Like Handel, Arne has a fine way with a melody, writing particularly effectively for voices, and the present line-up of accomplished young vocal soloists prove powerful advocates for his music. It is clear that characterisation through music is one of the composer’s top priorities, and it would be fascinating to hear how this developed in his later operatic creations, which still await modern performance. There is some lovely idiomatic solo and ensemble singing here, ably supported by an expanded Brook Street Band, the perfect ensemble for obbligato soloists to step forward from with ease, but also to provide a full Baroque orchestral sound.

D. James Ross

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Napoli

Cover of box of CDs called Napoli

At the Crossroads between Popular and Art Music
660:30 (10 CDs in a cardboard box)
Arcana A201

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This bumper box gleaned from the Arcana back-catalogue brings you Neapolitan music from a variety of contexts from the 15th to the late 18th century, although mainly from this later Baroque period. Kicking off with two splendidly dynamic and imaginative CDs of ‘street music’ from through the ages, the consequent programmes occasionally throw in a ‘trad-style’ piece, such as the superb anonymous three-part Stabat Mater on the disc otherwise devoted mainly to Pergolesi. Those who have been following the process of uncovering Naples as the cradle of the classical cello will enjoy the CDs of Neapolitan cello sonatas superbly played by Gaetano Nasillo as well as his CD of Neapolitan cello concertos. Nicola Fiorenza was a name new to me, but a CD of his concertos for violins and recorder have convinced me that he is worthy of more attention, while it is nice to be reacquainted with Alessandro Scarlatti’s striking church music in a magnificent CD featuring his Missa defunctorum, Salve Regina, Magnificat and Miserere. Even more intriguing is a CD of church music by Nicola Porpora, best known as the teacher of the celebrity castrato Farinelli – some surprisingly perky settings for solo voice and strings of the Notturni per i Defunti! This is matched by an equally perky setting of the Notturni for the Mattutino de’ Morti by Davide Perez, another name new to me, who employs the same sort of large-scale orchestrations featured in Neapolitan operas at the end of the 18th century. Finally, and possibly most intriguing of all, a CD of liturgical music by Gennaro and Gaetano Manna and Francesco Feo, all of whom deserve much more attention. I love these huge bumper boxes of treasures, and this one offers consistently high standards of performance and intriguing unexplored material in a wonderful range of styles – all the musical background you need to begin to understand the musical importance of Naples, and just the thing for a month of self-isolation!

D. James Ross

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The Spohr Collection

Cover of Ashley Solomon Spohr Collection CD

Ashley Solomon historical flutes, Reiko Ichise gamba, David Miller theorbo, Julian Perkins harpsichord
69:45
Channel Classics CCS 43020

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The repertoire on this beautiful CD is perhaps of secondary interest to the instruments it is played on. Fresh from a recording using George III’s Meissen porcelain and gold flute, the ever-enterprising Ashley Solomon has been exploring the historical flutes in a remarkable private collection of historical flutes in Frankfurt, the Spohr Collection. In all, he plays nine instruments, finding appropriate repertoire for each by Jacques Morel, Bach, Leclair, Hotteterre, Jean-Baptiste Barrière, Telemann and Locatelli. Beautifully illustrated on the CD cover, these spectacular Baroque instruments include particularly lovely instruments by Jakob Denner (inventor of the clarinet) and a couple of ivory instruments by Oberlender and Scherer (who also made a famous D clarinet in ivory). Expertly accompanied by his colleagues of Florilegium, Solomon’s consummate flute technique and superb musicality allow him to bring out the strengths of the various instruments. Even as only a very basic player of the Baroque flute, I was intrigued by the subtly different timbres of these instruments, and began to feel the eighteenth-century fascination with the instrument which verged on flautomania. I remember finding an 18th-century version of the complete Beggar’s Opera in the archives of Brodie Castle for unaccompanied flute, and wondering whether even I would want to sit through that complete performance – certainly if the player were Ashley Solomons and he had access to the Spohr Collection, I think I probably would!

D. James Ross

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Veracini: Overtures & Concerti Vol. 2

Cover of cpo Veracini CD vol. 2

L’Arte dell’Arco, Federico Guglielmo
56:22
cpo 555 220-2

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A slightly younger contemporary of Bach and Handel and younger still than Telemann, Veracini has always seemed to me to invite comparison with the last. Always imaginative and influenced by a range of musical styles, he appears however to lack the final spark of genius which Telemann displays. In fact, Veracini belongs to a whole separate tradition of the travelling violinist virtuoso composer, and both the flamboyance of the composer and the instability of the career are underlined by an anecdote relating how Veracini broke his leg by throwing himself out of a window while on tour. The composer’s more extravagant nature is most in evidence in the two sonatas for violin and continuo recorded here. The D major violin concerto is also a sparkling affair in the post-Vivaldi mode, with lots of virtuosic demands placed upon the soloist. Federico Guglielmo is an able and expressive soloist as well as directing the ensemble extremely effectively. So the present CD offers an interesting cross-section of Veracini’s output, with one major reservation. It is recorded in the Gabinetto di Lettura in Este, and sadly it sounds as if it was recorded in an actual cabinet – the ambience is startlingly immediate, brittle and dead. This an enormous shame as the performances sound really persuasive and technically impressive, but with such a dead acoustic this is not a relaxing listen.

D. James Ross 

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Handel: Concerti grossi Op. 6 (7-12)

Akamus Handel op 6 CD cover

Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Bernhard Forck
80:29
Pentatone PIC 5186 738

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When I was a child the first vinyl boxed set I bought was the famous Decca recording of Handel’s opp. 3 and 6 by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields – I recently ‘rebought’ it on CD and found to my delight that it stood up very well to the passage of time, with some extremely elegant and unfussy string playing and some deeply funky continuo playing from non other than Thurston Dart. As it happens, my absolute favourite concerto in the set is number 7 with its ‘fugue on one note’, and this new recording of the second half of the set opens of course with this concerto. Although it is the composer’s opus 6, he was already 54 when it went to print – he chose the low opus number with his publisher Walsh to encourage obvious comparisons with Corelli’s op 6 Concerti grosso. Dating as they do from his late middle age, they contain a wealth of material recycled from other pieces as well as music he would go on to ‘repurpose’, and as such they make a superb introduction to the musical world of the composer. So I love the music, but did I love this recording? I liked its crispness in the faster movements and its lyricism in the slower ones, and the playing is never less than polished and elegant. Compared to the ASMF accounts, the slow movements fairly race along, but this is in line with current thinking and the music never sounds perfunctory. If I appear to be almost damning with faint praise, that is probably unfair, but if you record Handel’s op 6 concerti these days you need to have something special to say about the music, and I’m not sure that the present performers have. At the moment, my favourite modern period instrument performance is the 2008 account on BIS by Martin Gester’s Arte dei Suonatori, a beautifully poised and thought-through account of the complete op 6. Would I replace this with the present recording? – I’m afraid not.

D. James Ross

 

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D’Amor mormora il vento

Cover of La voz galana's CD

Songs and Dances alla spagnola
La Boz Galana
69:42
Ramée RAM 1909

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Why you might ask is this delightful collection of 17th-century music alla spagnoletta largely Italian in language and origin? The solution is the lively printed music tradition in Italy at the time, which preserved the music inspired by Spain, sometimes composed and played by Spanish musicians and even the art of strumming accompaniments on the guitar, whereas in Spain itself these details went unrecorded. La Boz Galana (Sebastián León,  baritone, Louis Capeille, baroque harp, and Edwin Garcia, baroque guitar) provide beautifully engaging accounts of a selection of this repertoire by Landi and Kapsberger as well as less well-known composers such as Juan de Arañés, Giovanni Stefani, Carlo Milanuzzi and Antonio Cabonchi. Several of the pieces are anonymous, reflecting their almost pop-song status, and La Boz Galana capture perfectly this repertoire’s lightly innocent lyricism. Sebastián León has an effortlessly tuneful voice, which draws the listener in to this delightful material, while his instrumentalists accompany sympathetically while also injecting a distinctive alla spagnola flavour to their playing. The instrumental interpolations are not just padding but a genuine enhancement of this charming CD.

D. James Ross