Tag: Baroque

A Courtly Garland for Baroque Trumpet

Post author By EMR2015
Post date October 26, 2018
No Comments on A Courtly Garland for Baroque Trumpet

Robert Farley, Orpheus Britannicus, Andrew Arthur
resonus RES10220

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his CD of courtly music for Baroque trumpet accompanied by strings and/or organ features all the likely names – Viviani, Biber, Schmelzer, Fantini, Torelli – and a couple of unexpected ones such as Godfrey Finger, Andrea Grossi and Gottfried Reiche. There are also a couple of solo organ sonatas Pasquini and Frescobaldi played by Andrew Arthur. Clearly, this programme relies heavily on the merits of the soloist and fortunately these are many. Robert Farley has a radiant trumpet tone and his playing has an innate musicality, bringing out the full subtlety of movements which in the case of some of the early Baroque slow movements such as the Viviani are somewhat skeletal melodically. He is also a master of phrasing and dynamics, while introducing delicate ornaments and subtle trills as appropriate. The Sonata in C for trumpet, violin and continuo by Godfrey Finger turns out to be one I have performed on Baroque clarinet, and is a work of genuine originality and subtle beauty, powerfully brought out here by Robert Farley, with Theresa Caudle providing an eloquent account of the violin part. Perhaps the most striking music is by Biber – his Sonata a5 no. 4 in C, in which the strings play in a calm and sustained manner under the flamboyant trumpet part, before joining in the technical fireworks. This a lovely CD, thoughtfully programmed and beautifully executed.

D. James Ross

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=infocentral-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B07DVGWHDS&asins=B07DVGWHDS&linkId=31de2828c3ad86a7a742655c16d3c151&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”]

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=DE&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=earlymusicrev-21&language=de_DE&marketplace=amazon&region=DE&placement=B07DVGWHDS&asins=B07DVGWHDS&linkId=b8dcda1a982502671d8dc50f0a3d5ba4&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”]

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=earlymusicrev-20&language=en_US&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B07DVGWHDS&asins=B07DVGWHDS&linkId=8b7f1211c554dc7e5ad123dc169b525f&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”]

This site can only survive if users click through the links and buy the products reviewed.
We receive no advertising income or any other sort of financial support.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

Tags Baroque

Recording

The Nightingale’s Response

Post author By EMR2015
Post date October 26, 2018
No Comments on The Nightingale’s Response

Fontanella Recorder Quintet
43:44
Barn Cottage Records bcr015
Music by Campion, F. Couperin, Merula, Purcell, Van Eyck, Vivaldi & modern composers

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his charming CD of music for recorders ranges from Elizabethan repertoire to contemporary repertoire, taking in music by van Eyck, Purcell, Couperin and Vivaldi on the way. A general rustic theme with particular focus on the nightingale relies to some extent on arrangements of original works by members of the group such as the Vivaldi Concerto ‘Pastorella’ which is played in a lovely arrangement by Rebecca Austen-Brown. Although details are sparse in the programme booklet, it sounds to me as if they use Renaissance instruments for the earlier repertoire and Baroque recorders for the later material. In any case, the playing is beautifully sensitive, the blend and tuning wonderfully focused and the performances delightfully musical and involving. Particularly striking is the group’s account of Volière from Saint-Saens Carnival of the Animals in a brilliant arrangement by Annabel Knight.

D. James Ross

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=infocentral-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B0784L5QDP&asins=B0784L5QDP&linkId=79495069b47c68443417fe8978d9fa26&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”]

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=DE&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=earlymusicrev-21&language=de_DE&marketplace=amazon&region=DE&placement=B0784L5QDP&asins=B0784L5QDP&linkId=dd1dad7cad98b07f1fdfda30294e2252&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”]

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=earlymusicrev-20&language=en_US&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B0784L5QDP&asins=B0784L5QDP&linkId=203a98e24c2f7b36f8845048a23a90f0&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”]

This site can only survive if users click through the links and buy the products reviewed.
We receive no advertising income or any other sort of financial support.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

Tags Baroque

Recording

Porpora: Germanico in Germania

Post author By EMR2015
Post date October 26, 2018
No Comments on Porpora: Germanico in Germania

Max Emanuel Cencic, Julia Lezhneva, Mary-Ellen Nesi, Juan Sancho, Dilyara Idrisova, Hasnaa Bennani, Capella Cracoviensis, Jan Tomasz Adamus
218:18 (3CDs in a box)
Decca 483 1523

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he recent ‘rediscovery’ of Porpora’s operatic oeuvre has been one of the major events in the world of early opera in recent years. Fortunately, it has been timed to coincide with spectacular developments in the technique of male alto singers, allowing them to do justice to Porpora’s demanding castrato roles. At the centre of this latest project is the male alto, Max Emanuel Cencic, a remarkable singer who has previously impressed with his accounts of music written for the castrato Senesino and who here takes on a role first taken by the celebrity alto castrato Domenico Annibali. Porpora was a singing teacher as well as a composer and so his compositions for voice are intentionally highly technically demanding, and from his first dramatic appearance, Cencic shows that he is the full master of all the vocal fireworks that Porpora’s original virtuosi displayed. Before this, however, the Capella Cracoviensis replete with brass and woodwind instruments have provided stunning accounts of Porpora’s showy instrumental writing, while a superb cast have ensured that all the characters are powerfully represented musically. Particularly fine is Julia Lezhneva as Ersinda whose blizzards of passaggi would have made even Porpora’s jaw drop. She sings with such enormous musicality and assurance, that her remarkable technique seems almost incidental. But this is a cast where virtuoso singers are just lining up to show off their technical prowess and Hasnaa Bennani possesses a similar blend of interpretive talent and stunning technical assurance. The exploration of the world of Neapolitan Baroque opera has led to several major eye-opening discoveries, and this has the feel of another one. With his strategic use of wind instruments, Porpora’s scores are automatically more colourful than most of this period, and when you add to this the technical fireworks he writes into his vocal lines he more than deserves the prominent place he is beginning to be restored to in the pantheon of early opera.

D. James Ross

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=infocentral-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B06XRKCKML&asins=B06XRKCKML&linkId=9a15ff6b71c3abfe2e3714cd712db69b&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”]

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=DE&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=earlymusicrev-21&language=de_DE&marketplace=amazon&region=DE&placement=B06XRKCKML&asins=B06XRKCKML&linkId=12de397f9689baf41085bd2bc3ff5313&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”]

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=earlymusicrev-20&language=en_US&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B06XRKCKML&asins=B06XRKCKML&linkId=5e56c7da92a93fcb2eac6bdc2a49ed91&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”]

This site can only survive if users click through the links and buy the products reviewed.
We receive no advertising income or any other sort of financial support.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

Tags Baroque, Opera

Recording

A. Scarlatti: Oratorio per la Sanctissima Trinita

Post author By EMR2015
Post date October 26, 2018
No Comments on A. Scarlatti: Oratorio per la Sanctissima Trinita

Linda Campanella, Silvia Bossa, Gianluca Belfiori Doro, Mario Gecchetti, Carlo Lepore, Alessandro Stradella Consort, Estévan Velardi
83:51 (2 CDs in a single jewel case)
Brilliant Classics 95535

[dropcap]Y[/dropcap]ou wait years for a recording of an oratorio by Alessandro Scarlatti and then two come along at once. Recorded for Brilliant Classics by the same forces as Il Dolore di Maria Vergine and also in an edition by Velardi, the present oratorio was probably composed just two years previously in 1715 and therefore probably intended for performance in Naples. Its cast of allegorical characters – Faith, Divine Love, Theology, Infidelity and Time – make it much less appealing to a modern audience, but my feeling is that the music, too, is inferior with rather brief and obvious arias and nothing like the emotional appeal of the Dolore. The present performers do the best for it that they can, with ravishing accounts of some of the arias and some lovely playing from the instrumental soloists. Certainly, with these two recordings, Estévan Velardi and his excellent forces have made a compelling case for Alessandro Scarlatti’s oratorios becoming better known. An excellent and detailed programme note by Mario Marcarini as well as a listeners’ guide helping the unfamiliar to find their way through the score both enhance this package and are an indication of the performers’ evangelising role.

D. James Ross

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=infocentral-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B077Y63GY6&asins=B077Y63GY6&linkId=dadeb749a8fc769d2ddee3cf9e1a34b7&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”]

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=DE&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=earlymusicrev-21&language=de_DE&marketplace=amazon&region=DE&placement=B077Y63GY6&asins=B077Y63GY6&linkId=b3d6e67b69538a76539a84a64b2a13c1&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”]

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=earlymusicrev-20&language=en_US&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B077Y63GY6&asins=B077Y63GY6&linkId=b1516d8f575db0d1dcc28a8fd2284905&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”]

This site can only survive if users click through the links and buy the products reviewed.
We receive no advertising income or any other sort of financial support.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

Tags Baroque

Recording

Heinrich Schütz: Psalmen

Dresdener Kammerchor and Barockorchester, Rademann
74:50
Carus 83.016

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his latest volume in the Carus edition of the complete works of Schütz comes to some of the real musical bread and butter of the composer’s output with his settings of the psalms. Generally syllabic and homophonic, or modestly polyphonic, and designed for congregational and domestic performance, this music is at the opposite end of the scale from his epic polychoral compositions. The danger with a complete recording of this material would appear to be boredom in the listener, but the performers cleverly vary the textures from choral performance to soloists with a variety of accompanying instruments. In fact, like all great masters, Schütz manages to inject a high level of inventiveness into even this rather humble genre, and some of the settings for solo voices take on the polyphonic intricacy of solo sections in his more ambitious works. And then even the chordal homophonic settings bear the Schütz stamp of originally, moving idiomatically through unexpected harmonic progressions. By this time very familiar with Schütz’s quirky idiom, the Dresdener choir sing with a smooth authority which it would be hard to match, while the contribution of the fine vocal soloists and instrumentalists provides the perfect foil to the beautiful choral sound.

D. James Ross

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=infocentral-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B06Y5ZCDZH&asins=B06Y5ZCDZH&linkId=c78c491bf4d9b7befb1c701301699fa1&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”]

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=DE&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=earlymusicrev-21&language=de_DE&marketplace=amazon&region=DE&placement=B06Y5ZCDZH&asins=B06Y5ZCDZH&linkId=b57135f4d7cfc3738eded04d3ca00ff7&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”]

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=earlymusicrev-20&language=en_US&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B06Y5ZCDZH&asins=B06Y5ZCDZH&linkId=ca0d2333079e109f093d4786e1fe7e5d&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”]

This site can only survive if users click through the links and buy the products reviewed.
We receive no advertising income or any other sort of financial support.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

Tags Baroque, Choral music

Recording

Vivaldi: Concerti pour deux clavecins

Post author By EMR2015
Post date October 26, 2018
No Comments on Vivaldi: Concerti pour deux clavecins

Gwennaëlle Alibert, Clément Geoffroy
67:29
Encelade ECI 602

[dropcap]I[/dropcap] was surprised that I had never heard of Vivaldi’s concertos for two clavecins – of course, there are Bach’s transcriptions of Vivaldi for two harpsichords and strings, and indeed transcription turns out to be the key to this CD. Frustrated by the lack of music by Vivaldi for harpsichord, Gwennaëlle Alibert and Clément Geoffroy have transcribed a selection of his concertos and trio sonatas for a pair of harpsichords. This would appear to be a singularly random thing to do until you read François Couperin’s instructions on how to transform the orchestral music of previous generations into music for two harpsichords. We should bear in mind that, before the days of electronic music reproduction, to hear Vivaldi’s music in the later Baroque you had to assemble a chamber orchestra and persuade them to play this outdated repertoire. Much easier to devise a way of reading it on two harpsichords with one of your mates! The results sound quite unlike anything else you are likely to hear on the harpsichord, wonderfully dense tinkling textures through which you follow the melodic lines like an inquisitive hobbit through Fangorn Forest. Bach’s transcriptions for massed harpsichords such as the charming concerto for four harpsichords spring to mind, but in these transcriptions, all the lines including the orchestral strings are taken by the two keyboards. I found the results absolutely delightful and a feast for the ears – a million miles perhaps from Vivaldi’s original intentions, but – if we are to believe Couperin and others – a sound which might not have been all that alien to the ears of the later Baroque musician. Alibert and Geoffroy use a 2012 Marc Ducorner harpsichord after Ruckers and a 2013 Michel Chabloz harpsichord after the legendary Edinburgh le Taskin, which together produce a wonderfully tinkling ensemble sound. Not everybody’s cup of tea but I love it!

D. James Ross

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=infocentral-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B0762CWGGZ&asins=B0762CWGGZ&linkId=3cf40b3b03b8b02fec34c4dd72d1c6d4&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”]

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=DE&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=earlymusicrev-21&language=de_DE&marketplace=amazon&region=DE&placement=B0762CWGGZ&asins=B0762CWGGZ&linkId=1494fed61dee1ec7b142a0807a846fbe&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”]

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=earlymusicrev-20&language=en_US&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B0762CWGGZ&asins=B0762CWGGZ&linkId=fe08bd3ee48cca88d4eb01bcdf4a2caf&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”]

This site can only survive if users click through the links and buy the products reviewed.
We receive no advertising income or any other sort of financial support.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

Tags Baroque, Keyboard music

Recording

1717: Memories of a Journey to Italy

Post author By EMR2015
Post date October 26, 2018
No Comments on 1717: Memories of a Journey to Italy

Scaramuccia (Javier Lupiáñez violin, Inés Salina violoncello, Patrícia Vintém harpsichord)
62:19
Snakewood Editions SCD201801
Music by Albinoni, Fanfani, Montanari, Pisendel, Giuseppe Valentini & Vivaldi

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he title of this excellent project refers to a study tour undertaken by Johann Georg Pisendel – at the expense of the Saxon court – which saw him rub shoulders with all of the leading Italian violinists of his day. As well as pieces written especially for him, there are sonatas written in collaboration or dedicated by one of them to another, and a couple of world premiere recordings. Albinoni’s B flat major sonata is far more virtuosic than most of the music you may know by him (probably inspired by the German’s virtuosity). The sonata in E minor by Montanari and the Vivaldi/Pisendel piece are both augmented by sets of variations (legitimately enough, since these are frequently a feature of the Red Priest’s works) by the violinist and harpsichordist of the group. Clearly, this is demanding music – Lupiáñez combines a fine bowing arm with some nifty fingerwork, seemingly undaunted by the technical challenges, while his continuo partners provide stylishly supportive accompaniment. It is a sobering thought that these six extremely fine works represent only the tip of the tip of the iceberg that is Pisendel’s library of works gathered from his Italian contacts – that the library in Dresden has made them all available online is encouraging groups like Scaramuccia (who have even established their own recording company to produce this CD!) to explore the vast riches which it contains. Given the high standards set here, I hope it will not be too long before we hear more from them!

Brian Clark

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=infocentral-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B07JNSZG8H&asins=B07JNSZG8H&linkId=2519ddfdb05f8fdce70d2709aaf79d5f&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”]

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=DE&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=earlymusicrev-21&language=de_DE&marketplace=amazon&region=DE&placement=B07JK48LPQ&asins=B07JK48LPQ&linkId=98446cc3422e0d17a54926bdb08fe210&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”]

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=earlymusicrev-20&language=en_US&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B07JL513PV&asins=B07JL513PV&linkId=8fbe55972c9710187bdaaf5547240140&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”]

This site can only survive if users click through the links and buy the products reviewed.
We receive no advertising income or any other sort of financial support.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

Tags Baroque, Chamber music

Recording

German Cantatas with solo violin

Post author By EMR2015
Post date October 25, 2018
No Comments on German Cantatas with solo violin

Nahuel Di Pierro, Johannes Pramsohler, Andrea Hill, Jorge Navarro Colorado, Christopher Purves, Ensemble Diderot
77:40
Audax ADX 13715

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his programme of cantatas in Latin and German featuring parts for obbligato virtuoso violin opens and closes with the music of Heinrich Biber and visits the output of Johann Christoph Bach (first cousin of J. S. Bach), Nicholas Bruhns, Daniel Eberlin and Johann Pachelbel in the course of a varied and intriguing selection of works. Although I am sure I will have heard cantatas with obbligato violin parts before, I was unaware that there is a mini-genre in German music. The opening Biber piece is an interesting case in point as the showy violin part, possibly written by Biber for himself to play, seems to force the voice into an almost subservient role, reduced in its virtuosity by comparison with, for example, the showy vocal solos in Biber’s settings of the Mass. In the music by Johann Christoph Bach, the voice and violin share the limelight to a much greater extent, and it is always good to hear some fine original music by Pachelbel as a tonic to the ubiquitous Canon, where once again the solo violin and the voice take it in turns to shine. Andrea Hill, who sings the soprano part in the Pachelbel as well as the contralto part in Bach’s Ach dass ich Wassers genug hätte, sounds a little uncomfortable in the upper end of the soprano range, or perhaps she is just slightly wrong-footed by Pachelbel’s quirky vocal lines. This attractive programme, shining a spotlight on an unexpected genre of music, culminates in an impressive duet cantata for two basses and obbligato violin, which like most of the rest of the fine repertoire performed here would rarely have seen the light of day.

D. James Ross

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=infocentral-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B07BYQLQMQ&asins=B07BYQLQMQ&linkId=126bb6ab6b2a1a3b2cafb068a779f078&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”>]

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=DE&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=earlymusicrev-21&language=de_DE&marketplace=amazon&region=DE&placement=B07BZ42GR3&asins=B07BZ42GR3&linkId=d8d6fd44c3ffac864bf2b6644726a485&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”]

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=earlymusicrev-20&language=en_US&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B07BYQS5WF&asins=B07BYQS5WF&linkId=38ff67b90dec50391811e704183600ff&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”]

This site can only survive if users click through the links and buy the products reviewed.
We receive no advertising income or any other sort of financial support.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

Tags Baroque

Recording

Lulier: Cantate e sonate

Francesca Boncompagni, Accademia Ottoboni, Marco Ceccato
54:16
Alpha Classics 406

5455

[dropcap]G[/dropcap]iovanni Lorenzo Lulier flourished in the burgeoning music scene of late 17th-century Rome, moved in the privileged musical circle surrounding Cardinal Ottoboni, and undoubtedly rubbed shoulders with the likes of Corelli and Sir John Clerk of Penicuik. His secular cantatas and sonatas would be pretty unexceptional early Baroque fare, except for the unusual prominence given to the cello, for which he writes with genuine vision and striking originality. In the Sonata in D major for violin, cello and basso continuo, for example, the cello very much duets on equal terms with the violin, while in the cantatas it steps forward from its continuo role to interact dynamically with the voice. In the Accademia Ottoboni, the cellist Marco Ceccato is also significantly the director of the ensemble, and his plangent cello tone is a constant presence in this programme. The playing of the instrumental ensemble is wonderfully idiomatic and delicately ornamented, while the vocal contribution of Francesca Boncompagni is technically impressive and beautifully dramatized. I found the recorded sound a little ‘toppy’ and brittle, but nothing to disturb the enjoyment of this interesting repertoire. This revelatory CD emphasizes the point that in Italy at the turn of the 17th century, there were dozens of musical circles similar to Cardinal Ottoboni’s each boasting several fine composers contributing to a truly vast body of fine instrumental and vocal music.

D. James Ross

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=infocentral-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B07GW2T3N1&asins=B07GW2T3N1&linkId=66d3c4355fd3764383c8dbfa5ef4f3d7&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”]

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=DE&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=earlymusicrev-21&language=de_DE&marketplace=amazon&region=DE&placement=B07GW2T3N1&asins=B07GW2T3N1&linkId=c4040de1148f40e84aea55d155258b64&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”]

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=earlymusicrev-20&language=en_US&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B07GW2T3N1&asins=B07GW2T3N1&linkId=bf45d992b66893786d01f146edec5cbe&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”]

This site can only survive if users click through the links and buy the products reviewed.
We receive no advertising income or any other sort of financial support.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

Tags Baroque

Uncategorized

The Piper and the Fairy Queen

Post author By EMR2015
Post date October 25, 2018
No Comments on The Piper and the Fairy Queen

Camerata Kilkenny, David Power
68:29
RTE lyric CD 156

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n its own words this CD is ‘exploring the common heritage of traditional Irish tunes and Baroque dances’, a project for which the string ensemble is joined by uillean piper, David Power. It is widely known that Baroque composers frequently drew on the ‘traditional’ music they heard around them for their instrumental music. Telemann, in particular, makes very distinctive and daring allusions to the folk traditions of eastern Europe. The Camerata Kilkenny do play some Telemann, but (unfortunately, perhaps) they go with the subtitle of their CD and choose his rather conventional Suite La Musette and the witty Gulliver Suite for two violins, neither of which frankly have much of a common heritage with traditional music. The other major Baroque suite seems similarly ill-chosen as it is music from Purcell’s Fairy Queen – fine for a title but adding little to the declared theme. The playing of the ensemble in this Baroque repertoire is competent enough, but they don’t seem to me to transfer any of the flair of traditional playing to the Baroque repertoire. The participation of David Power on uillean pipes includes several pipe solos relating to the CD’s title and several more interesting collaborations between pipes and strings such as the account of Handel’s famous pifa from Messiah and Leclair’s Musette and Menuets from Scylla and Glaucus. In these, the tuning isn’t always entirely comfortable. I think if this CD had focussed on its declared aim of finding links between the Baroque and traditional heritages it would have been more engaging than I found the CD which was eventually produced.

D. James Ross

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=infocentral-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B07CPBVVK4&asins=B07CPBVVK4&linkId=86f826457ff118f08391ff237f9ec8ff&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”]

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=DE&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=earlymusicrev-21&language=de_DE&marketplace=amazon&region=DE&placement=B07CPBVVK4&asins=B07CPBVVK4&linkId=cc95d2be82d739ad1669601c98aa0ff9&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”]

[iframe style=”width:120px;height:240px;” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ src=”//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=earlymusicrev-20&language=en_US&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B07CPBVVK4&asins=B07CPBVVK4&linkId=eae3ef3e5068be312af4bd7ee1d08da8&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true”]

This site can only survive if users click through the links and buy the products reviewed.
We receive no advertising income or any other sort of financial support.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

Tags Baroque, Traditional