The Enchanted Forest is very interesting late-Baroque material. It has a rather atmospheric opening followed by a series of movements, many of which have a dance-like feel, reminding us of the work’s ballet origins.

After taking London by storm, not only as a violinist with a dazzling technique, but also as a composer of immensely popular concerti grossi and violin sonatas, Francesco Geminiani began to see his fortunes wane. As one of Corelli’s students who adopted a style very much in line with his, Geminiani was assured a warm welcome and many open doors. Eventually, the public’s tastes began to change and so did Geminiani’s style. The public and composer’s changes didn’t necessarily follow the same directions; consequently, Geminiani’s later works were not as well received. Musical styles deemed modern in the 18th century can be re-evaluated 200-plus years later using different criteria. They no longer sound alarmingly different to our ears. In his op. 7 concerti grossi Geminiani clearly had begun to develop his own musical voice and show a departure from Corelli’s style. The roles played by the middle voices are expanded, and Geminiani espoused the use of brilliant ornamentation. The inclusion of winds (optional) in op. 7/6 is noteworthy, as is the rather unorthodox structure of several of the numbers. It’s been suggested that Geminiani may have had a program in mind when composing op. 7/6, as there are six sections with a variety of tempos, but efforts to confirm this have not been successful.

He did have a program in mind for his orchestral concert, The Enchanted Forest (an alternative spelling: The Inchanted Forrest); it is the closest he came to writing for the theater. The music was originally composed for a ballet pantomime performed in Paris at the Grand Theatre du Palais des Tuileries; however, it has come down to us as a Concerto for Orchestra after Tasso. (The story was derived from Tasso’s Gerusalemme liberate, which also served as the basis for the Rinaldo, Armida, and Tancredi operas.) Compared to most of Geminiani’s other compositions, The Enchanted Forest is richly orchestrated: trumpet, two flutes, two horns, two bassoons, concertino (two violins, viola, cello), strings and basso continuo. The liner notes detail the plot; however, the music is not particularly descriptive so matching music to story is conjectural at best.

As a strictly musical entity, The Enchanted Forest is very interesting late-Baroque material. It has a rather atmospheric opening followed by a series of movements, many of which have a dance-like feel, reminding us of the work’s ballet origins. La Stagione Frankfurt, a period-instrument group under Michael Schneider, has sandwiched this concert (in two parts and a finale) between the concerto grosso op. 7/6 and op. 7/4. The orchestration of the two concerti grossi includes the optional woodwinds (bassoon in No. 6, two flutes and bassoon in No. 4), which unites the material—unlike a recording released several years ago by the CBC Vancouver Orchestra under John Eliot Gardiner that rather jarringly paired The Enchanted Forest with the Vivaldi Concerto in D for two violins, RV 513.

This is a very nice recording of Geminiani’s works. The La Stagione Frankurt’s playing is lively and clean; the recorded sound is clear, letting us hear the inner voices. As indicated in the headnote, the album is titled and marketed with the title in German.

David L. Kirk, FANFARE