Late 18th century Italian composer Luigi Boccherini produced a vast catalogue of compositions, several of which were chamber works featuring the flute. Australian flautist Sally Walker, whose first appearance on AVIE was in collaboration with harpist Emily Granger on the album Something Like This, has taken a deep dive into the provenance of Boccherini's works for her instrument to produce a 90-minute, 2-for-the-price-of-one volume of music that is infinitely elegant, virtuosic and beautifully refined. The relatively rare yet imaginative Six Quintets, Op. 19, for two violins, flute, viola and cello vary in their configuration, some intimate, others on a grander scale reminiscent of the composer's orchestral music. Also included are the first "Divertimento Notturno" from the Sextet, Op. 38 for violin, viola, bassoon, flute, horn and double bass; and, as a "bonus" the Quintet G.443 for flute, oboe, violin, viola and cello, a work attributed to Boccherini. Although it's authorship is contested, as Sally says, "it is such a beautiful work that we wanted to include it anyway."

Classical Music

Classical Music

A further chapter in Emilio Moreno’s championship of the music of Luigi Boccherini opens with a new album on Glossa entitled Apocryphal Sonatas, a quartet of works arranged for violin and keyboard; in them Moreno is joined by the harpsichordist Aarón Zapico. For all that there was a demand in the second half of the eighteenth century for works scored for violin and keyboard from Enlightenment professional musicians and music lovers alike, and for all Boccherini’s fecundity in producing chamber music, only a single set of violin sonatas appears to have been composed by him. Any new work from Boccherini would speedily find itself made available all across Europe in a variety of different guises. It is not surprising, consequently, to find that eighteenth-century contemporaries turned to the trios, quartets and quintets of this then hugely popular composer in order to create transcriptions for violin and keyboard from them – but with Boccherini unmistakably remaining the “author.” Moreno and Zapico enter into the transcription spirit themselves by producing two Boccherini sonatas: these have been derived from a pair of original chamber works with strong Spanish connotations, respectively nicknamed La Tirana and La Seguidilla.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

For the setting of the contemplative but highly emotional text of the medieval sequence Stabat mater Boccherini chose an intimate chamber music instrumentation of soprano and string quintet (in his preferred instrumentation with two violins, viola and two cellos). The five string instruments are not only accompaniment, but together with the singing voice they transform into one instrument section, so that one can speak of a sextet for singing voice and string quintet. With the angelic singing of Núria Rial, the work becomes a real treat for lovers of beautiful voices and chamber music lovers alike. Nuria Rial studied voice and piano in her native Catalonia and was a member of Kurt Widmer's class at the Basel Academy of Music. In 2003, she was awarded the "Preis der Helvetia Patria Jeunesse Stiftung" by the Pro Europa - for her exceptional achievements as a singer. She has performed at all the leading music festivals in Europe and collaborates with such conductors as Ivan Fischer, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Paul Goodwin, Trevor Pinnock, and Teodor Currentzis as well as notable ensembles, including Concerto Köln, The English Concert, Kammerorchester Basel, Collegium 1704, Il Giardino Armonico, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Elbipolis Barockorchester, Le Cetra Basel and L’Arpeggiata, Festival Lucerne Strings.

Including recently discovered works recorded here for the first time. Première Recording* For the first release, Cello Classics has chosen to bring out something of a coup, in hitherto unplayed works by the first great composer for the cello to achieve universal recognition, Luigi Boccherini. Three of the sonatas on this disc have been obtained from manuscripts until recently in a private collection, and provide a wonderful addition to the classical cello repertoire. Sebastian Comberti has been involved in the period instrument revival in London since the early 1980s and has made the study of late 18th Century cello repertoire something of a speciality. This recording has been made using original instruments with a continuo team unusually comprising archlute/guitar and cello, providing a rich and yet light accompaniment to these delightful works. It is bound to be of interest to lovers of the cello and scholars alike