Classical Music

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.



It's rare to experience the level of artistic rapport heard on this recording from [Petri and Esfahani]… In Petri's capable hands, the recorder becomes a medium through which she conveys a more vocal interpretation of thematic material than ever a violin could… Esfahani crafts the most imaginative and engaging accompaniments and repartee I have ever heard.

– Gramophone Magazine

Petri and Esfahani's is an invigorating ensemble effort, with each sparking off the other.

– BBC Music Magazine

Arcangelo Corelli was "world famous" even in the world of his day. Copies of Corelli's works appeared in St. Petersburg as well as in Constantinople, Stockholm and even in America, where Thomas Jefferson spoke of being charmed completely by Corelli's music.

Despite its popularity only a handful of his original manuscripts exist today and the Violin Sonatas Op. 5 have a place of honor. The pieces on this album were drawn from the second half of Op. 5 and in the original edition of 1700, published as "Parte seconda: Preludii, Allemande, Correnti, Sarabande, Gavotte, e Follia." Baroque sonatas having been inspired by dances, and playable on violin and harpsichord or ona variety of instruments, in this case, recorder and harpsichord.

The easy-held nature of the sonatas allows great freedom for ornamentation and improvisation, which Michala Petri and Mahan Esfahani savor with pleasure.

Recent research has revealed the existence of a practice which has been hitherto ignored: that of doubling the instrumental music composed and conducted by Corelli with all sorts of wind instruments. This practice forces a re-examination of the faithful reproduction of the compositions as printed, which has prevailed up until now. This is thus the first complete performance of the twelve Concerti Grossi by Corelli which attempts to accurately reconstruct the works' historical-musical context.

Corelli: Concerti Grossi, Op. 6, Nos. 7-12

The most impressive public celebration in baroque Rome was given in honor of Louis XIV in 1686. To celebrate the undisputed protector of the Catholic Church, and one year later the successful operation on the anal fistula of the Great King, the French Ambassador organised a grandiose open-air event on the Pincian hill, between the Trinità dei Monti and the Piazza di Spagna. Corelli’s prestigious orchestra in full formation performed "Sinfonie" with trumpets and timpani, accompanied by fireworks. The virtuoso violinist Emmanuel Resche-Caserta reconstructs this extraordinary musical feat, restoring the cantata in honor of the King of France composed by Alessandro Melani. Here is a revival of the Roman baroque splendor that so marked the French court!

Born in Rome in 1678 into a family of German origins, Nicola Francesco Haym (1678-1729) was employed as a violone and cello player by Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni in the orchestra led by Arcangelo Corelli. Later he moved to London where he took a leading role in establishing Italian opera which was beginning to flourish, while serving as a continuo cellist in the Drury Lane theatre and the Queen’s Theatre. In 1713, Haym started to work as librettist for Handel and the collaboration continued until 1728. During this period Haym acquired the role of secretary at the Royal Academy of Music. Haym’s sonatas with flute are the first flute sonatas by an Italian composer to be published. The Sonate a Tre (Op.2) and the Sonate da camera a flauto traversa, haubois o violino solo, are strongly influenced by Corelli in the profound knowledge of counterpoint and the wide spectrum of expression of feelings and affects. From his familiarity with Corelli’s music, Haym was able to assimilate the gravity of style and nobility of expression while retaining his own musical personality.

Played by the Cappella Musicale Enrico Stuart, consisting of Chiara Strabioli (transverse flute and recorder), Romeo Ciuffa (recorder and transverse flute), Rebeca Ferri and Marco Vitale (harpsichord). Founded in 1998 the Capella Musicale Enrico Stuart specializes in 17th- and 18th- century repertoire in which wind instruments play a central role. They previously made for Brilliant Classics highly praised recordings of Boismortier and Valentini.

CORELLI: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1-6, Op. 5

The Italian Ensemble Aurora will celebrate their thirtieth anniversary in September of 2016. Since their very first concert in 1986, the ensemble has been particularly interested in the music of Arcangelo Corelli. It is only fitting that this is the music chosen to commemorate a long and successful career. Previous recordings of Corelli’s music have garnered them critical acclaim as well as several international prizes. Particularly notable on this recording is the inclusion of Corelli’s Sonatas Op. V. The perfect synergy of the ensemble represents a milestone recording which will be a model for many performers and listeners.

Giovanni Battista Columbro and the Orchestra Barocca Di Cremona perform Corelli's 6 Concerti Grossi, Op. VI. The Opus number VI presents itself as the 'quintessenza di una ben altrimenti fluida e ricca prassi orchestrale' ('quintessential fluent and rich orchestral practice). On the wave of the transcriptions of opus VI, in this album the musicians employed wind instruments in addition to the strings. This choice is a filological one seeing that, after years of research it has been proved that in the Corellian orchestras there was a significant presence of wind instruments. In this version, the original tonalities have been maintained (which does not often happen in other transcriptions) and the original parts of the two solo violins have been assigned to two transverse flutes as it happened in the first decades of the XVIII Century.

Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) was an influential composer, musician and prominent figure in the musical world in the last part of the seventeenth and very early eighteenth century in Italy and beyond. It is indeed hard to accept that all the known works of Corelli can be contained on just ten CDs. But they can; they have been; and they're available again in a re-issue of Brilliant Classics 92403. That set had a slightly different disposition of works but is essentially the same.

The set is valuable as a single survey of the great composer's work - especially since it contains many items otherwise unavailable. The period instruments sound well, the playing throughout is accomplished and achieved with a certain almost nonchalance that suggests the players are very familiar with the music.

– MusicWeb International

CORELLI 12 Violin Sonatas, op. 5 • Corelli Trio • BRIDGE 9371 (2 CDs: 125:34)

Here is an absolutely dazzling album that I reviewed, more or less, on a whim. Arcangelo Corelli, a fine composer who certainly introduced some innovations (those marvelous and unexpected string slides that take your breath away), wasn’t exactly a Buxtehude or a Bach, yet as this two-CD set amply proves, his music can certainly hold its own in interest and especially in charm with anyone from the Baroque era, even his fellow Italians Scarlatti and Vivaldi.

Of course, as in the case of virtually all music, the aural impact is highly dependent on the performer, and on this recording we have a truly inspired violinist in Elisabeth Zeuthen Schneider. In the booklet she is quoted as saying that Corelli’s sonatas “are an invitation to explore the most sunny and expressive voices of the violin as well as having the fun of the dancing and wild abandon of ‘La Folia’ that closes the whole set of 12 sonatas.” Further on, she makes a distinction between the church sonatas on disc 1, which she feels explore “more profound and spiritual feelings” than the chamber sonatas on disc 2, but even in those first six sonatas Schneider’s playing is sunny, singing, and full of vitality. I think that she just can’t help herself from feeling good while playing this music; I certainly couldn’t help smiling or feeling good all through the sonatas on the first disc. Schneider’s playing has that same rare combination of sweetness, elegance, charm, and sheer sunniness that one heard in the playing of Yehudi Menuhin. Also, different from most historically informed violinists, she is not averse to playing a few notes with a light vibrato, which adds piquancy and charm to her interpretations.

Moving from disc 1 to disc 2, the secular sonatas, one notices very little difference in general layout, tempos, or indeed inflection. I find Schneider’s playing no lighter, more buoyant, or infectious than on CD 1, but then again, there’s no drop-off in quality, either. She’s just plain good.

An interesting observation: All of the church sonatas are in major keys, but half of the secular sonatas are in minor, including, of course, “La Folia.” In the latter, Schneider pulls out all the stops—literally, including double-stops!—and her performance is indeed lively.

Like so many trio sonatas of this era, the accompanying instruments are just that—background to the soloist. As a result, despite the fact that they are well-trained musicians who play well, there’s really not a lot one can say about Viggo Mangor on archlute and theorbo or Ulrik Spang-Hanssen on continuo organ except that they are there, they give good support, and they keep the rhythm light.

In the booklet, it says that Corelli was a quiet man who “never devoted much time to self-promotion” and “didn’t nurse his reputation publicly in his later years.” Apparently, much the same can be said of the Corelli Trio, for although there are bios of all three musicians, there’s not a single word as to how or why they formed or call themselves “Corelli Trio”! But you certainly won’t keep their presence much of a secret once you hear this album.

FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley

Inbar Solomon is a Recorder player, performing both early music and Israeli/ international contemporary music in several ensembles. She collaborates with composers from Israel, USA, Japan, England and Argentina, and in the past years she premiered over 20 new solo & chamber music Recorder pieces dedicated to her. New pieces performed and recorded by her were published in many albums, and had their creators win important prizes, such as the Prime Minister Prize for Composers and ACUM Award. For her newest release she is joined by Ophira Zakai, Amit Tiefenbrunn, and Yizhar Karshon for a unique program of early and contemporary Folias.