Includes work(s) by Giovanni Paisiello. Conductor: Federico Guglielmo. Soloists: Furio Zanasi, Donatella Lombardi, Luca Dordolo, Marina De Liso.

BACH Sonata in a, BWV 1020. Little Preludes: Excerpts. Partita No. 2 in d, BWV 1004: Chaconne. Italian Concerto, BWV 971 . Sonata No. 1 in g, BWV 1001: Presto. Sonata No. 1 in C, BWV 1033 • Dorina Frati (man); Piera Dadomo (gtr) • DYNAMIC 514 (74:09)


This is a lovely disc. The combination of mandolin and guitar brings a sparkling vivacity to the faster movements and a delicate charm to the slower ones. The mandolin is not able to sustain long melodies and so must fall back on tremolos to prolong the notes: it can’t compete with the flute or the violin’s abilities in this regard. However, if the listener accepts this limitation, the music is still well served. The silvery sound of the mandolin contrasts nicely with the more resonant guitar: imagine a harpsichord’s lute stop but with added piquancy in the upper register. Bach’s works have probably been transcribed for more instruments and ensembles than any other composer’s, and they fare well here. And of course, one doesn’t have to look too far to justify transcription, as Bach was so fond of it himself. The musicians also perform as soloists. Piera Dadomo’s Chaconne may be less forceful than some, but I found its gentle, intimate approach most persuasive: it’s an alternate view of a familiar masterpiece. Dorina Frati plays the Presto with engaging virtuosity, and left me eager to hear more solo Bach on the mandolin. There’s often a festive quality to this recording, joyful and spontaneous, and I found it a pleasing alternative to the original versions.


Just in case you haven’t memorized all the BWV numbers, 1020 and 1033 are for flute and harpsichord, 1001 is for the violin, as is the famous Chaconne from 1004, and the Italian Concerto is a perennial favorite with harpsichordists and pianists. Seven of the Little Preludes are included, short but “expressive little masterpieces” (Forkel). If you think you would enjoy hearing Bach expertly played by this musical duo, then don’t have any qualms about acquiring this CD.


FANFARE: Robert Schulslaper

BELLINI: Capuleti e i Montecchi (1830 La Scala version)

PONCHIELLI: Gioconda (La)

In 1874 Tchaikovsky composed an opera, Vakula the Smith, that like many of his operatic works, failed with the public. Years later in 1885, Tchaikovsky resurrected the work, refashioned it, and renamed it Cherevichki, which translates as The Little Shoes. The plot still centers around Vakula, who is in love with the beautiful Oksana, who has him so wrapped around her little finger that she drives him to thoughts of suicide with her indifferent posturing. Oksana informs Vakula he can again win her love only by securing the slippers worn by the Czarina herself, a task Vakula accomplishes with the aid of the captured and subdued devil. Vakula returns triumphant, and Oksana, true to form, declines the slippers, stating that Vakula's love is treasure enough for her. (Gee, thanks a lot, babe!) Yes, of course there are more characters and subplots involved, but you get the gist of the story.

For this tale Tchaikovsky provided his characteristic melodic, passionate, dramatic music, including quite a few tuneful arias. Actually, a lot of it sounds like Swan Lake, and while there may not be passages of haunting despair of the type found in Eugene Onegin (with its Pathétique pre-echoes), there are plenty of emotionally intense moments, especially from Vakula, sung with tremendous feeling by Valerij Popov. Ekaterina Morosova combines the sweet and the tart with a beautiful voice to bring the facile Oksana to life, while her father, Cub, gets a warmly gruff portrayal by Vladimir Ognovenko.

As in Onegin, Act 3 features a seemingly obligatory extended solo for bass, the character in this case being His Serene Highness, sung in a dull but appropriately ceremonial manner by Grigory Osipov. Gennady Rozhdestvensky again proves his long-held Tchaikovsky credentials, reveling in the score's balletic passages and dramatic climaxes, all the while getting the Orchestra of the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari to sound like Russian orchestras of old. The live recording balances the voices (including the excellent chorus) and orchestra very well, bringing the drama right into the theater. The included applause reveals a strangely tepid audience response after each act, except at the very end.
--Victor Carr Jr., ClassicsToday.com

TARTINI, G.: Violin Concertos, Vol. 7 (L'Arte dell'Arco) -

Revived after 171 years in oblivion, the staging of Rosmonda d’Inghilterra at Bergamo’s Teatro Donizetti proved fascinating for the Italian public. From the excellent cast of singers, Jessica Pratt and Eva Mei gave standout performances. The opera revolves around a tale of love and intrigue surrounding the main protagonists- the famous Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, her husband Henry II of England, and the fair Rosamund de Clifford. Rosmonda is the quintessential innocent, unaware that the man she loves is the King of England and that she has unwittingly become a rival to the much-feared Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine. Eleanor, having already had her first marriage annulled for reasons of consanguinity, is unwilling to se her second marriage also fail. Only the faithful page Arturo, secretly in love with Rosmonda, knows that the Queen is aware of her husband’s betrayal; but he too is embroiled in this game of deceit hoping that he will end up winning the girl. The emotional and dramatic development is very effective. There is not a page in this score without some example of brilliant writing, a captivating theme, a moving passage. It all goes to prove how deeply original Donizetti was and how much there is still to be discovered about this underappreciated composer.

CANTICO DELLE CREATURE

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Written almost two centuries ago by Saverio Mercadante, coveted by many theatres of the day, Francesca da Rimini was, in fact, never staged. Every time it was scheduled for performance, something happened and it got canceled. A long series of incidents prevented it from reaching the stage for as many as 185 years. Its forgotten manuscript, which was only known for its ill-starred fate, suddenly re-emerged five years ago in Madrid, teh city where it was to have been premiered in 1831. The soprano Leonor Bonilla is quite impressive in the part of the protagonist: she portrays the character's psychological frailty as well as her determination wtih a steely vocal technique, spinning out incredible modulations, displaying strong and dazzling vocalizations, easily soaring into the high register and flaunting such an attractive, casual and poignant stage presence that she even dares moving some dance steps with the corps de ballet. Aya Wakizono is an admirable Paolo: endowed with a superb mezzo voice, she seeks and achieves consistency throughout the range, is virtuosic in the coloratura, and fluent. No less demanding is the part of the tenor Lanciotto, with its fearful leaps and ornamentation worth of the Neapolitan Rossini: Mert Sungu might in time get rid of a touch of harshness here and there, but already now he can tackle all the difficulties of the part with a timbric quality and an expressively worth of note...

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Macbeth undoubtedly marked a turning point in Verdi’s operatic writing, i.e., the foregrounding of the characters’ introspective, psychological aspects. This DVD/Blu-ray captures the production staged at Novara’s Teatro Coccia during the 2013-14 season, with thriller/horror filmmaker Dario Argento tackling opera direction for the first time. One could only expect a direction in line with his films, and from that point of view this Macbeth meets expectations, with the visualization of the opera’s bloody, indeed gory scenes matching the dark, brutal character of Shakespeare work.

Format: 1080 60i, 16:9; PCM 2.0, DTS HD master 5.0
Region: 0 (All Region)
Subtitles: Subtitles: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese

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Francesco Cavalli was the most successful Venetian opera composer of the mid-seventeenth century. In the wake of Monteverdi, opera was enjoying a real boom, and this spread to the rest of Europe because the ruling classes often met up at the Venice carnival. Giasone displays Cavalli’s sense of drama and musical lightness, as well as a grotesque humour typical of the great Italian baroque operas.

This new production is orchestrated and conducted by the internationally reputed baroque specialist Federico Maria Sardelli. It is directed by the young Frenchwoman Mariame Clément, who is currently making a name for herself with her infectious directing in German and French opera houses. The title role is sung by the promising countertenor Christophe Dumaux.

Francesco Cavalli
IL GIASONE
Federico Maria Sardelli, conductor
Symfonisch Orkest van de Vlaamse Opera
Mariame Clément, stage director
Julia Hansen, scenes & costume designer
Giasone: Christophe Dumaux
Medea: Katarina Bradic
Isifile: Robin Johannsen
Giove/Besso: Josef Wagner
Demo: Filippo Adami
Delfa/Eolo: Yaniv d’Or
Amore/Alinda: Angélique Noldus
Ercole/Oreste: Andrew Ashwin
Vlaamse Opera, Antwerpen, 2010

Sound Format: LPCM 2.0, Dolby digital 5.1
Picture Format: 16:9
Running Time: 198 minutes & 5 minutes (interview)
Language: Italian
Subtitles: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Korean
Booklet Notes: English, German, French, Italian

G.A. Perti in S. Petronio

GALUPPI 6 Trio Sonatas • Accademia dei Solinghi • DYNAMIC 694 (54:05)


Venetian composer Baldassare Galuppi wrote his six trio sonatas, according to Danilo Prefumo’s notes, in 1760, and with their homophonic textures, relatively simple melodic patterns diced into relatively short, often repeated phrases, and their division into three movements each (fast-slow-fast), they look forward to the Classical era rather than back toward the Baroque, despite their being composed in the venerable genre of the trio sonata (it’s a case of new wine in old bottles rather than old wine in new bottles). William S. Newman treated Galuppi’s works (primarily his keyboard sonatas) in his book on the Classical era rather than in his volume on the Baroque: He deemed Galuppi a preeminent pre-Classical composer. The sonatas surely aren’t without affecting sentiment, as the First Sonata’s slow movement or especially the sighs from the Second Sonata’s corresponding movement show (in addition, in the Second Sonata, to the dialog pitting the two violins against the harpsichord). The first movement of the Second Sonata bustles with a kind of energy that even Antonio Vivaldi’s sharply chiseled concerto subjects don’t always evince. It may not be surprising to find all these concertos written in the major mode (in this case, A, F, D, G, B?, and E) in light of Newman’s estimate that Galuppi wrote more than 80 percent of his sonatas in major.


In general, the sonatas’ first movements crackle (many listeners, cueing a random track, might relatively easily identify it as a first movement or a finale); the second movements, as noted above, include sensitive turns of phrase and harmonic subtleties (some even recalling Mozart, though Newman dismisses the suggestion of a direct influence on the later composer); the finales, though often marked Allegro , frequently glide elegantly rather than drive forward (with occasional exceptions, like the finale of the Fifth Sonata, the jaunty figuration of which spans both manners). Prefumo notes the title given the Sixth Sonata’s slow movement, Dialogo tra Pasquino e Marforio , perhaps referring to two Roman “talking statues.” In any case, this brief movement, subtitled Recitativo instrumentato , features passages that Galuppi, as a noted opera composer, may have delighted to transfer to this instrumental genre; the sonata’s finale also bears a title, in this case, Ritornello , though the device hardly suggests the one by the same name that characterized Vivaldi’s concertos. The Accademia dei Solinghi (Claudio Adriani playing an Andrea Guarneri violin from 1675, Franco Simeoni playing a violin made in 2007 by Franco Simeoni, Alessandro Peiretti playing an anonymous late 18th-century cello, and Rita Peiretti playing a harpsichord made by Davide Peiretti in 1986) endows these sonatas with a brusque energy that brings to vivid life Charles Burney’s remarks, after he’d encountered Galuppi’s music in Italy, about the composer’s youthful imagination. Dynamic has provided a close up portrait of the ensemble, yet surrounds the instruments with enough reverberation to fuse their crunchy textures into a pleasingly mellifluous amalgam. On the basis of the sonatas’ lively and ingratiating melodic imagination and of the energetic and sympathetic performances by the Accademia, Dynamic’s release should appeal more widely than to specialists.


FANFARE: Robert Maxham


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For some centuries Venice was one of the main centres of music-making in Italy. In the early 18th century Vivaldi was the key figure in the music scene, composing numerous operas, sacred works and instrumental pieces. After his death in 1741 his place was taken by Baldassare Galuppi, who soon became the most fashionable Italian master. His popularity was such that pieces by other composers were sold as written by Galuppi. One example is a setting of the Dixit Dominus which was purchased by the court in Dresden as a composition by Galuppi. Only fairly recently the true identity of the composer was discovered: Antonio Vivaldi.

Galuppi was born in Burano which explains his nickname 'Buranello'. His father was a violinist, who worked as a barber for a living. Galuppi's main teacher was Antonio Lotti. The English journalist Charles Burney visited Galuppi in 1770 and wrote: "Signor Galuppi was a scholar of the famous Lotti, and very early taken notice as a good harpsichord player, and a genius in composition. (...) He certainly merits all that can be done for him, being one of the few remaining original geniuses of the best school perhaps that Italy ever saw. His compositions are always ingenious and natural, and I may add, that he is a good contrapuntist, and a friend to poetry."

Galuppi has mainly become famous as a composer of operas, both serious and comic. His output in this genre is huge. In addition his work-list includes a large number of serenatas, oratorios and liturgical music. The largest part of his instrumental music is for keyboard. His oeuvre for instrumental ensemble is relatively limited: eight concertos for harpsichord and strings, seven concerti a quattro and the six trio sonatas which are the subject of this disc. They probably date from around 1760; they were not printed but have been preserved in a manuscript which is kept in the library of the University of Uppsala.

The judgement of Charles Burney that Galuppi was a "good contrapuntist" is affirmed by these sonatas which are written in the galant idiom. They are also an expression of the ideal of naturalness which was propagated by the Italian violin virtuoso and composer Giuseppe Tartini. All the sonatas are in three movements: fast - slow - fast. Although the two violins are basically treated on an equal footing, in several movements the first violin dominates, like the the first and last from the Sonata No. 1 in A and in the largo from the Sonata No. 3 in D. The adagio from the Sonata No. 2 in F is notable for its expression, partly through the use of general pauses. One of the most exuberant and technically brilliant movements is the closing allegro from the Sonata No. 4 in G.

The Sonata No. 6 in E has a remarkable middle movement, which is called Dialogo tra Pasquino e Marforio, in the form of a recitative. This is explained in the liner-notes: "Pasquinio and Marforio are names still used today in Rome for two statutes [=statues] from the Roman age, on which in past centuries the inhabitants of the Eternal City used to place mocking epigraphs and messages (called 'Pasquinate') referring to the establishment or public personalities. The statues were also called 'talking statues'; in Rome there were no fewer than six statues of this type, though Pasquino and Marforio were the most famous. Galuppi's short recitative may then be a playful allusion to some fact or event witnessed at the time of composition, or it might bear cryptic references to his time which, at the moment, we cannot clarify". This can only become clearer if we knew for sure the exact date and place of composition.

These trio sonatas are late specimens of a genre soon to disappear to make way for trios in which all parts were treated strictly equally, like the string trio. The Accademia dei Solinghi delivers good performances which may be a little less polished than we are used to hearing from the best ensembles of today. I have greatly enjoyed this disc, though, and if you decide to purchase it you certainly won't be disappointed. Music and performance make this recording well worth investigating.

-- Johan van Veen, MusicWeb International

Giovanni Battista Viotti Mezzena, Carbotta, Balzaretti, Ayo, de Bernart, Gugliemo, Scheidermann, Kamilarov, Bosna The Musical World of Giovanni Battista Viotti

From Frescobaldi to Brahms - A Homage to Giorgio Questa

THE LEGACY OF CREMANA:(CD plus BOOK) - Ruggiero Ricci plays 18 contemporary violins - THE LEGACY OF CREMONA: NARDINI: Larghetto from Sonata in D (violin by Gregg Alf); DVORAK: Romantic Pieces Op. 75 No. 1 (violin by Samuel Zygmuntowicz); SCHUBERT/PRIHODA: Litany for All SoulsÆ Day (violin by Peter Greiner); SIBELIUS: Romance Op. 78 No. 2 (violin by Primo Pistoni); LISZT/MILSTEIN: Consolation (violin by William Muller); SCHUBERT/ RICCI: Nocturne in C minor (violin by Patrick Robin); ACHRON: Hebrew Melody Op. 33 (violin by Alberto Giordano); GRANADOS/KREISLER: Spanish Dance Op. 37 No. 5 (violin by David Bague); SARASATE: Malaguena (violin by roger Hargrave); RIMSKY-KORSAKOV/KREISLER: Song of India (violin by Christoph Gotting); DOHNAYI: Andante rubato alla zingaresca (violin by Luiz Bellini); PAGANINI: Cantabile in D major (violin by Frederic Chaudiere); WAGNER/WILHELMJ: Albumblatt (violin by Domenico Fantin); SCOTT/KREISLER: Lotus Land (violin by Joseph Curtin); SARASATE: Faust Fantasy (fragment)(violin by Roberto Regazzi); WIENIAWSKI: Garden Scene from Faust Fantasy (violin by Giancarlo Guicciardi); TCHAIKOVSKY/GRUNES: Valse Sentimentale Op. 51 No. 6 (violin by Renato Scrollavezza); HUBERT LEONARD: Cadenza for the 2nd movement of BeethovenÆs Concerto (played on each of the violins).

MEYERBEER: Robert le diable

First performed in French at the Paris Opera in 1867, Don Carlo is in many ways an amazingly innovative work. The opera seems to underline Verdi's shift from the Manichean division between good and evil, which had been a clear, structural element of his dramaturgy up to that point in his career. In this opera, Verdi assembles all his mainstay music theatre themes: power, with its honors and burdens; the contrasts of impossible love; the conflict between father and son; and an oppressed people demanding freedom. Verdi radically revised the score in 1883, using an Italian libretto and reducing the opera from five acts to four. The popularity of Don Carlo has grown unremittingly ever since, with today's critics almost unanimously recognizing it as one of Verdi's greatest masterpieces, an opera that continues to reveal new gems. Daniel Oren is fully in control on the podium, ensuring unanimity between orchestra and singers. The Maestro softens teh dark tones of the score, which are well reflected in the visuals, choosing instead to emphasize the various changes of mood.

STRAUSS, R.: Daphne

This new release is homage to a great Italian soprano, Daniela Dessì, who passed away last year, just one year after these performances at Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa. This is a superb interpretation of this signature role of her long artistic career. Daniela Dessì was considered one of the world’s leading sopranos and a reference point for the Verdi, Puccini and Verismo repertoire. Thanks to the beauty of her voice, a strong technique and an intense dramatic talent, she was able to sing from Monteverdi to Prokofiev, performing in more than seventy different operas. This versatility has significantly been underlined when, in 2011, she was awarded with the Prize Belcanto “Celletti”, recognized as an “absolute soprano”. In this production of Umberto Giordano’s Fedora, she is joined by an all-star cast, including Fabio Armiliato and Daria Kovalenko.

Prokofiev: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 - Sonata for 2 Violin

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The cast is the best we could possible want for Vivaldi nowadays: Ottavio Dantone's skilfull conducting brings the best out of this orchestral enchantment. Sara Mingardo brings her classy voice and remarkable stage presence to the role of the naive Statira. Delphine Galou’s bright tone and excellent agility combine with perfect diction. Roberta Mameli's crystal clear notes make of the role of Alinda a masterpiece of expressivity. Recorded in high definition, this production offers subtitles in Italian, German, English, French, Japanese, and Korean. Octavio Dantone is an Italian conductor and harpsichordist who is particularly noted for his performances of Baroque music. He has served as the Music Director of the Accademia Bizantina in Ravenna since 1996.

Baroque composer and violinist Giuseppe Tartini took up the violin after fleeing persecution by Cardinal Giorgio Cornaro. While seeking refuge at the monastery of St. Francis in Assisi, he heard Francesco Maria Veracini’s playing. After hearing such virtuosic talent, he fled to Ancona and locked himself away to practice, emerging an extraordinary violinist. Tartini’s Sonatas show the intimacy of the composer’s abilities, while the Concertos broadcast the musician’s big artistic personality. The works brilliantly complement one another on this release. For more than twenty years, violinist Crtomir Siskovic has dedicated himself to Baroque music. He performs with a violin and bow from the era, and has recorded multiple albums of Tartini’s music.

Un mari à la porte ( A Husband at the Door) is a one-act operetta which was recorded at the Teatro del Maggio in occasion of the 200th anniversary of Offenbach’s birth. Premiered in 1859, this rarely performed work is a most amusing comedy of errors, which is the typical frameset that the composer used to represent and mock the quirks and vices of the French society of his times. The action takes place in Susanne’s bedroom, on her wedding night. She is in company of her friend Rosita, with whom she complains about having just found out about her husband’s bad character, that she decides to punish and leave outside the door. Rosita tries to soothe her naive friend and eventually leaves. While alone, the bride realizes that there’s a man hidden under the bed. It’s Florestan Ducroquet, a young and penniless musician, who had broken into the room falling from the chimney, while escaping from the fury of a jealous husband. Rosita joins the pair in the room as Henry, the groom, is waiting outside the door pleading to come in, yet thinking the two friends are pulling a prank on him. Finally the intruder manages to flee from the window, seconds after having proposed to Rosita. Order is restored and love triumphs over all. This carefree play of allusions and misunderstandings is accompanied by the brilliant music of Offenbach that moves gracefully to the rhythm of dance: polka, mazurka and especially waltz. The strong points of this production are indeed the colorful, flamboyant setting and costumes and the amazing acting ability of all four singers, who have the audience laugh with sheer delight.

Brazilian composer Ant�nio Carlos Gomes was among the many musicians who travelled to Italy to master the language and the rules of operatic works. He studied in Milan and succeeded in having a few operas staged at Italian venues, before returning to Brazil where he was hailed as the most famous living national composer. Gomes felt compelled to commit his work to the country's anti-slave cause, which was still legal practice then. Lo schiavo was therefore conceived as a politically engaged work. However, the issue was rather volatile and the composer had to change the contemporary time setting to a more distant one. In Brazil the opera was a triumph, but elsewhere it failed to gain popularity and soon fell into oblivion. This recording of the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari's production documents the opera's first performance in modern times and reveals Gomes' flamboyant richness of melodic creativity, his sound grasp of construction, and a technical mastery of the theatrical mechanisms that are always of the highest level. "The most popular title of the entire Brazilian repertoire. The most represented and, perhaps, the most loved one." (John Neschling, conductor)