Geminiani: La Forêt enchantée / Nannini, Elisa Baciocchi Ensemble
Tactus
CD
$21.99Mar 04, 2022
The musical production of Francesco Saverio Geminiani is totally focused on instrumental music, and includes two collections of violin sonatas, one of cello sonatas, three of concerti grossi, two of Pièces de Clavecin, and a series of transcriptions and revisions of works by other important Italian composers such as Arcangelo Corelli and Francesco Mancini. Geminiani was very active as a treatise writer: he published no less than six works, among which the one that stands out is The art of playing on the violin, published in 1751 and still regarded as the most important violin treatise of that period, together with that of Leopold Mozart from 1756. The treatise became quite famous at once, and was much used by the composer’s contemporaries; several versions of it were published up to 1790, with English and French editions, reaching the New World. The composer’s only digression from his customary work consisted of La Forêt enchantée, a theatrical pantomime meant to be performed by mimes and dancers on expressly-composed music; it had been inspired by Canti xiii and xviii of Gerusalemme liberata, by Torquato Tasso (1544-1595). The version drawn up by Claudio Valenti – who devised the dramatic part together with the actor Piero Nannini – seeks out and re-creates the prosodic relationship between the text and the music that constitutes the core of the composer’s inspiration in his reading of Tasso’s text. For this reason, the work is presented not only in its version for string instruments alone, with the addition of a single flute, but has also been stripped of its orchestral repetitions (all of them), so as to outline an instrumental structure that is transparent, but able to catch and amplify the expressive peculiarities of the score in relation to the text, achieving a novel sort of representative madrigal.
The harpsichord concertos of J.S. Bach form the origins of the keyboard concerto genre that was to continue to flourish through the music of his sons, C.P.E. Bach and J.C. Bach, and onwards. Here, celebrated keyboardist Steven Devine is joined by members of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in this recording that features the Concerto in D minor, BWV 1052, Concerto in A major BWV 1055, and the Concerto in D major BWV1054, together with a new reconstruction by Steven Devine of the Concerto in D minor BWV 1059.
The trio sonata was one of the baroque period’s most popular instrumental forms. While in its ‘classic’ form it features two higher pitched instruments, a melodic bass instrument and basso continuo, there were several others, including a popular variant for one high-pitched instrument, one bass instrument and continuo, chosen by a substantial number of composers in the 17th century and beyond, and resulting in a significant number of compositions.
In this setup, the writing for the melody instrument is more virtuosic than in a ‘conventional’ trio sonata, and it performs more of a solo role, unlike in the trio sonata, where it is more a first among equals. At the same time, the bass instrument is used idiomatically instead of being relegated to a mere basso continuo. This contributed greatly to bolstering its role as a solo instrument, and it was given ever greater prominence as the second half of the 17th century progressed.
From the numerous Italian composers who wrote for this genre, for this album Mvsica Perdvta have selected the two who had the greatest influence on the establishment and development of chamber music: Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583–1643) and Dario Castello (1602–31). The first edition of Frescobaldi’s Canzoni da sonare a uno, due, tre e quattro, published in Rome in 1628 (and later republished in a slightly different version in Venice in 1634) sits chronologically between the two books of Castello’s Sonate concertate in stil moderno, published in Venice in 1621 and 1629 respectively. While Frescobaldi’s canzoni can be considered the culmination of a genre that was already in decline, Castello ushered in a form that, evolving through countless different variants, would for centuries remain the leading chamber music genre. Castello’s style is faithful to the promise of its title: it still sounds very ‘modern’ for its time, especially when – as in this album – it is paired with the oeuvre of Frescobaldi, the epitome of the instrumental canzona.
Completing the CD is a short work by Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger (Venice, c.1580 – Rome, 1651), the only sonata that the composer known as the ‘Tedesco della tiorba’, or ‘German of the theorbo’, wrote for this ensemble, taken from Il primo libro di Sinfonie a quattro con il basso continuo (Rome 1615).The sonata à tre was one of the most typical instrumental forms of the Baroque era. While in its 'classical' form it calls for two treble instruments combined with a melodic bass instrument and basso continuo, it had several 'variants' in the ensemble, including the one for treble instrument, bass instrument and continuo, which was very popular. In this formation, to which a substantial number of composers (not only of the 17th century) dedicated an important number of compositions, the part of the treble instrument presents a more virtuosic and soloistic writing than that of the 'conventional' trio sonata. At the same time, the bass instrument, not reduced to the sole function of basso continuo, is treated as an equal melodic counterpart.
This new recording presents the two composers who most influenced the birth and development of instrumental 'chamber' music, namely Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643) and Dario Castello (1602-1631). Whereas Frescobaldi represents the pinnacle of an older style, the works of Castello look forward and form the basis of the chamber music style of centuries to come. The soloist of this recording is David Brutti, playing the Cornetto, a hybrid instrument with the fingerholes of a woodwind and a brass-type mouthpiece. Renato Criscuolo plays the bass violin, and the organ or harpsichord is played by Nicola Lamon.
Muffat: Componimenti Musicali per il cembalo (1739) / Loreggian
Brilliant Classics
CD
$8.49$16.99Save 50%Feb 16, 2024
Gottlieb Muffat’s oeuvre, dedicated almost in its entirety to keyboard instruments and skilfully straddling the stile antico and stile moderno, deserves more detailed attention than it has ever been afforded. The majority of sources containing music by Muffat are unpublished, with only two collections published at the composer’s own behest during his years in the Emperor’s service in Vienna. One of these is the Componimenti Musicali per il Cembalo (Augsburg, 1739).
This collection contains 6 Suites and a Ciacona with 38 variations for solo harpsichord. The composer describes these seven works as capricci or galanterie to be performed in the stile moderno and to suit modern tastes. Although arranged in the conventional order of Allemande–Courante–Sarabande–Gigue, Muffat also added various optional dances, displaying no shortage of innovation. The first movements are introductory in nature, often fugal in form and varying in style and pace: Ouverture (Suites 1 and 5), Prelude (Suite 2) and Fantaisie (Suites 3, 4 and 6). The seventh piece in the collection, the Ciacona con 38 Variazioni, is a special case. As Christopher Hogwood suggests in his introduction to the modern edition (Orpheus, 2009), the Ciacona could be another tribute to the imperial family, as the number of variations matches the age Charles VI’s niece, Maria Amalia, would have been on 22 October 1739.
Muffat’s interest in contemporary harpsichord composition is most clearly evident in his transcription and reinterpretation of works by George Frideric Handel, based on a manuscript copy of the Suites des pièces pour le clavecin he held in his library. Muffat reworked the suites in Handel’s collection, suggesting new ornamentation, distributing the notes differently between the hands, changing the clefs and sometimes note values, and adding slurs and cadenzas. He then applied everything he had observed while rewriting Handel’s suites to his own Componimenti musicali: including a table of ornaments, which the composer asks be played with ‘art and discretion’; he considers the positioning of the player’s hands on the keyboard in his writing and avoids using multiple clefs on one line to prevent confusion; he describes the optimum way to use the thumb for accidentals; and he provides the correct technical interpretation of trills and slurs.
Study of the Componimenti reveals what could be defined as a pedagogical intent, as well as a clear desire to make the score unambiguous and accessible by means of his introductory instructions. The collection contributed greatly to setting a new benchmark for keyboard writing in the lands of the Viennese Empire.
A Thousand Charms invites listeners into two centuries of English song, from Campion's intimate ayres to Purcell's theatrical masterpieces and Handel's deeply expressive arias. The programme traces how solo song evolved from lute-inspired simplicity to richly ornamented drama, blending poetry with music of striking clarity and depth. Grace Davidson's pure, agile voice and Julian Perkins's sensitive harpsichord accompaniment bring freshness and immediacy to this repertoire, emphasising it's refinement, inventiveness and humanity. For anyone drawn to the beauty of early music, this recording offers an engaging journey through some of it's most timeless works.
The six trio sonatas recorded on this CD present the largest group of Zelenka's chamber music for a single ensemble. Despite their high quality they were forgotten for centuries; they were only rediscovered a few decades ago. Our fascination for this rich and profound music has spurred us on to come closer on this CD to the special tonal language, evocative complexity, and audacious invention of Zelenka's music.
Joseph Umstatt: Three Harpsichord Concertos & Two Flute Conc
CPO
CD
$18.99Jan 16, 2026
It is, quite simply, excellent, rich in the most beautiful 'affects', wonderfully transparent in sound, with a slight touch of swing in the fast movements that really allows this music to blossom, lively in the allegro, and wonderfully sentimental (but by no means saccharine) in the slow movements. This is what a reviewer wrote to us in his evaluation of this recording before it's release. Indeed, these concertos, recorded here for the first time on period instruments, possess a distinctive beauty that makes them "worth the fuss". In these virtuoso and weightless creations, their composer Joseph Umstatt (1711-1762) proves himself a connoisseur and master of the gallant style that took the entire music world by storm at the time - how else could he have spent the last decade of his life as court composer and kapellmeister to the Prince-Bishop of Bamberg?
Castrucci: Sonatas for Violin, Cello, & Harpsichord / Elias, Kishi, Palmer-Jones
Centaur Records
CD
$8.99$17.99Save 50%Apr 01, 2022
Pietro Castrucci (1679-1752) was a student of Arcangelo Corelli. Moving to London in 1715 he became concertmaster of the newly-founded Royal Academy of Music opera house. He went on to be one of the first beneficiaries of the Royal Society of Musicians, and became a trendsetting composer. The works featured on this release are among his finest. These are wonderful, historically informed performances. The works on this release are performed by Gerald Elias, violin; Pamela Palmer-Jones, harpsichord; and Noriko Kishi, cello, this is the first complete recording in history of Castrucci’s inexplicably neglected Opus 1 sonatas, composed in 1718.
A monumental collection of German-Baroque keyboard literature, presented complete for the first time on record, and coupled with dance suites by an unfamiliar name of the late German Baroque. The modern-day reputation of Christian Petzold (1677-1733) is almost wholly based on a single, modest minuet. Known to generations of young pianists as 'the Minuet in G', it was included by Bach in one of the notebooks of pieces he gave to his wife, Anna Magdalena, for her instruction. In turn this led to the minuet itself being mistakenly attributed to Bach himself. Yet much more of Petzold's output has survived, and only now is it coming to light. Having recorded complete sets of many unsung heroes of the German Baroque, Fernando de Luca now turns to the collection of no fewer than 25 'Concertos' for solo harpsichord by Petzold. Published in 1729 as 'Receuil des XXV', the collection first appeared in Dresden, where Petzold was organist to the royal court. The form of these concertos is Italianate, and their heavily ornate soundworld is recognisable from the better-known example of Vivaldi and Corelli. There are dance movements here and there - including minuets - but the predominant genres are determined by tempo: Allegro, Larghetto, Presto and so on. They make such an immediately attractive effect that it is surprising they are not better known, and this release will attract the attention of all adventurous listeners to Baroque rarities. Fernando de Luca pairs the 25 concertos of Petzold with a collection of three 'Parthias' - partitas by another name - from an even more obscure figure, Isfrid Kayser. Known as 'Concors digitorum discordia', this collection was published in Augsburg in 1746 and conforms to the conventions of a Baroque suite with it's graceful sequences of dances, prefaced by a grand overture and concluding with a dashing Presto movement. As so often, Fernando de Luca demonstrates his abilities to revive this music with lucid phrasing, lively registration and an unfailing sense of Baroque style. Scholarly background on both composers is provided in the booklet with an essay by Francesca Scotti. Christian Petzold (1677-1733) was a German organist and composer, holding court positions in Dresden. From 1703, he was organist at the Sophienkirche in Dresden and from 1709 also chamber composer at the Saxon court there. Extensive concert tours took him to Paris in 1714 and Venice in 1716.
Admiration for the French composer, harpsichordist and organist, Louis Couperin continues to grow steadily today, but it was not so during his lifetime. The first important edition of his work in modern times, in its latest revision by Thurston Dart (used for this set), catalogues 129 pieces as authentic. Collectively, they help to place Couperin among the greatest composers of the 17th century alongside Frescobaldi, Chambonnieres, Froberger, and D’Anglebert.
Though he wrote religious works as well as chamber music, harpsichord music forms the lion’s share of Louis’s nephew François Couperin’s output: 235 pieces in all, most of them published in the four volumes (or Livres) of Pièces de Clavecin, divided into 27 ordres.
Like the better-known Jacques Duphly and Claude Balbastre, Armand-Louis Couperin belongs to the last generation of French harpsichord composers. The modesty and success which profited Armand-Louis handsomely during his lifetime rather dimmed the light of his creative legacy. He published little during his own lifetime. One of only a few opuses, the magnificent volume of Pièces de clavecin deserves consideration alongside the viol fantazias of Purcell and the Lachrymae of Dowland, examples of lateness in music, where the fruit has ripened beyond high summer, yet there is much of interest in these pieces, beyond their historical value at the end of a distinguished family line.
Armand-Louis’s son, Gervais-François Couperin, studied with his father then replaced him at the Sainte-Chapelle organ. His keyboard compositions reveal a profound understanding of the delicate nuances and expressive capabilities of the harpsichord, characterized by elegance, refinement and meticulous attention to ornamentation. Yet Gervais-François was also a virtuoso on the new instrument of his day, the fortepiano, and this set features his music performed on that keyboard of greatly expanded expressivity.
REVIEW:
Brilliant Classics’ Couperin Dynasty collection usefully gathers together François’s four dazzling books of harpsichord pieces (Michael Borgstede), Massimo Berghella playing harpsichord suites by Louis (historically the first important member of the Couperin family), harpsichord pieces by Armand-Louis (cousin of François) played by Yago Mahugo and catchy, vivacious fortepiano music by Gervais-François (a son of Armand-Louis and a contemporary of Beethoven) adeptly performed by Simone Pierini. The range of music on offer stretches from Gervais-François’s feisty variations to François’s majestic Passacaille, one of the finest masterpieces in the genre. It’s a musical feast to relish, more varied than you might expect. Excellent sound, too, and informative notes by Michael Borgstede, Peter Quantrill, Brigida Cristallo and Massimo Berghella.
The harpsichord used in this collection is a modern instrument designed by the American David Way and it incorporates features of many French 18th century harpsichords.
I am indebted to Alan Cuckston for playing this repertoire in a 'straight' way. Too many players are so bogged down by fruitless attempts to produce 'authentic performances' that they miss the spirit of the music. Their playing is therefore inhibited and has three main annoying quirks at least. Firstly, they make far too much of ornamentation so that the essential mordents, trills and shakes are given such a dramatic exaggeration that they stand out like angry spots upon a blemished face. Mr Cuckston's ornamentation is beautifully incorporated into the natural flair of the music. Secondly, some players are afraid of lively speeds for the quicker movements ... I suspect it is because they do not have the requisite finger technique ... and so the music does not come to life. But, in these performances, it does. Thirdly, some players indulge in grinding rallentandos and, to make matters worse, hang on to cadences for an inordinate length of time so that if a cadence is crotchet, crotchet rest and crotchet at say allegro, which should take just over one second, it can take more than five times as long and has the nauseating aural effect like unto some servile servant apologising to his master, and most profusely, while backing out of his presence.
Mr Cuckston does observe some rallentandos but there is not this excess, this ghastly self-indulgence and musical fetishes!
But here Handel comes alive and surely all music should be both vibrant and alive. Players can kill music for reasons I have already mentioned and no corpse is ever pleasant and it certainly cannot communicate.
The energy and reliability of these performances are exemplary. The F sharp Suite is beset with all sorts of problems but they are not revealed here. The F minor Suite has splendid fugue and, as I have said before, couldn't Handel write a good fugue untrammelled by academia which sometimes the fugues of the great J.S. Bach may be.
The shorter pieces are a delight particularly the Capriccio and more so when it is played with such panache as this. The Air and Variations were the subject of Brahms's great Variations on a Theme of Handel (do investigate the brilliant recording by Peter Katin on Athene (ATH CD 9)).
A thoroughly enjoyable disc beautifully played and well-recorded. And all players of Handel should note. Play Handel like this and you and your audiences will reap deserved awards.
These are the most outstanding clavier works of Johann Sebastian Bach' - so declared Bach's first biographer, Johann Nikolaus Forkel, in 1802. Possibly conceived as a wedding gift for the composer's second wife, Anna Magdalena Bach, the six so-called 'French Suites' exemplify the Style Galante and are prized for their elegance and exquisite melodic refinement. In this new recording, the acclaimed early keyboard specialist, Andrew Arthur, takes us on a captivating journey through these cornerstone suites of the Baroque keyboard repertoire. Drawing upon an extensive re-examination of the intriguing array of primary sources, he performs on two exceptional harpsichords by Andrew Garlick and Keith Hill, built after distinguished eighteenth-century models by the celebrated Parisian makers, Jean-Claude Goujon (1749) and Pascal Taskin (1769).
Domenico, son of Alessandro Scarlatti, one of the great Italian composers, was born in Naples in 1685. In a letter addressed to Ferdinand de' Medici, Alessandro says, 'This son of mine is an eagle whose wings are grown; he ought not to stay idle in the nest, and I ought not to hinder his flight.' Curiosity about distant places and love of the unexpected made him leave Italy in 1719 for London, where his opera Narciso was performed the following year. From London he went to the Iberian Peninsula. In Lisbon he was appointed Maestro of the Royal Chapel, and he guided the musical education of Princess Maria Barbara. A desire to see his father again took Scarlatti to Naples in 1724. While there, he played the harpsichord for the great composer Hasse, who was delighted and amazed. Domenico left Italy and went back to Portugal, where he resumed his position and his harpsichord lessons with the Princess Maria Barbara. It was for her that he composed harpsichord pieces which he called Esercizi. Maria Barbara worshiped her Maestro and invited him to join the royal suite when she went to Madrid in 1729. From this time on Scarlatti did not leave Spain. Scarlatti wrote 555 Sonatas for the keyboard. Composed primarily for the harpsichord, these short, single-movement pieces explore bold harmonies, rapid hand crossings, and rhythmic vitality influenced by Spanish music. Each sonata feels like a miniature experiment, full of surprising contrasts and inventive ideas. Despite their brevity, they demand great skill and sensitivity from performers. Scarlatti's music stands apart from his Baroque contemporaries, anticipating Classical clarity while retaining a distinct personality. Played by Finnish keyboard player and conductor Aapo Hakkinen. A personal note from him: 'Scarlatti is the only composer who reminds me of the playfulness of a cat, and he does not suffer from this comparison. We all have seen a kitten play with a twig. It is impossible to describe it's grace, charm, vivacity, and inventiveness. For a very serious man, these puerile marvels are, of course, useless, to say the least. After all what is the cat's aim in playing with a twig? If only it were on the lookout for a mouse, it would be useful to the household and therefore acceptable. Among all the Scarlatti sonatas which appeared the most beautiful to me, I chose to play those which according to their affinities and to my fancy form a chain and pursue a single tale of love and wild adventure.' Hakkinen plays on a famous historical instrument, the Joao Baptista Antunes 1789, located and recorded in the Museu Nacional da Musica, Lisbon, Portugal.
The most extensive survey ever produced of music by an outstanding Baroque violinist-composer whose accomplishment and originality has only been rediscovered in recent years. In 2009, Brilliant Classics released the first album ever dedicated to the music of Carlo Tessarini. His music had featured before in a few compilations of Italian Baroque chamber music, but only with this, and three further collections also issued by Brilliant Classics, has the stature of Tessarini become clear, as among the most individual and impressive contemporaries of better-known violinist-composers such as Pietro Locatelli and Arcangelo Corelli. This set compiles several of those previous albums to present an attractive, budget-priced introduction to the appealing world of Tessarini. The historically informed interpretations communicate a lively sympathy for his music, and extensive booklet notes give full details of his life and career, in so far as they can be traced in the historical record, as well as discussions of the salient features of the music. Born in the Adriatic port of Rimini in 1690, Tessarini moved north to Venice for his training, and joined the musicians attached to the Basilica San Marco. His own compositions seemed to have travelled across Europe before he did, thanks to their fresh and appealing melodies and elegant construction. Thus his rising reputation enabled him to undertake extensive tours as a violinist, and eventually he settled in Holland (possibly the city of Arnhem), where he died in 1767. The Op.9 collection of trio sonatas dates from Tessarini's years in Venice and then Urbino, while the Op 12 and Op.14 set of sonatas belong to his touring years in the late 1740s. Engaging and various as these collections are in themselves, they only scratch the surface of Tessarini's productivity. He published at least 20 opus-numbered collections, and his surviving output amounts to around 280 works including 40 concertos. While his music could be summarised as a skilful synthesis between a Vivaldian, Venetian idiom and a new, French-accented galant style, Tessarini evolved and developed like every artist of note, and this set traces a portion of that personal development. Anyone who has not encountered Tessarini before will find that this set presents an ideal opportunity to make amends.
