William Dongois is one of the best-known cornettists of our time. He is able to play the repertoire of his instrument - the cornett resembles...

William Dongois is one of the best-known cornettists of our time. He is able to play the repertoire of his instrument - the cornett resembles a flute in its construction, whereas its wooden mouthpiece is used similarly to that of a trumpet - with dancelike elegance, rhetorical concision and, often, even with a certain 'groove'. On this CD, together with the Ensemble Le Concert Brisé, he presents a portrait of the composer Antonio Bertali (1605-1669), who hailed from Verona and was active at the Habsburg court in Vienna starting at the age of 20. He composed in the stylus fantasticus, which represents a synthesis of the Italian and Austrian styles. Typical of this style are echoes of dance movements, sections written above ostinato basses having the effect of improvisations, chromatic passages, but also dialogues and echo effects - all combining to form a music full of interpretative freedom that always appears to be telling a story. Today, Bertali's great Chaconne for solo violin (also recorded here) belongs to the standard baroque repertoire, but Dongois and his ensemble also demonstrate in the lesser-known works how variegated and enticing this music is.