Ask 100 people and you'll know 100 things. Talking about numbers in Vivaldi's work is mind-boggling! 96 operas, dozens of cantatas and sacred pieces, over 600 instrumental pieces, including 230 violin concertos. One movement per day over a 40-year career... With this recording, Giuliano Carmignola reaches the milestone of 100 violin concertos for the first time in the history of recordings! 13 new compositions reveal the Treviso virtuoso's incomparable affinity with this repertoire of inexhaustible charm.
Pergolèse - Vivaldi: Stabat Mater pour deux castrats
Château de Versailles Spectacles
CD
$20.99Mar 05, 2021
Two countertenors for Pergolesi's Stabat Mater: this is the resurrection of the first performance in France of this work, introduced by two Italian Castratos from the Royal Chapel of Louis XV, who were enthusiastic propagators of it both at Court and at the Concert Spirituel. Paris was conquered and saw in it the revolutionary mark of a Neapolitan genius, who alas passed away so young. Pergolesi, shortly before his death at the age of 26 and affected by illness, expressed the Virgin's suffering with the language of passion more typical of opera. The Stabat Mater, first performed in 1736, is one of the emblematic works of the baroque and had a profound effect on the musical world of the 18th century. To give full splendor to the sumptuous duet of angelic voices lamenting the pain of Mary at the foot of the Cross, two performers are required who blend their timbres, like the two Neapolitan castratos for whom this music was composed. The brilliant sopranist Samuel Marino and the no less brilliant counter tenor Filippo Mineccia form the exceptional duo for this programme of emotion and virtuosity.
The Bevan Family Consort return with a selection of choral works celebrating the season of lent and passiontide, including a world premiere recording of of the six-voice Lamentations by Alfonso Ferrabosco the Elder. The programme follows the liturgy from the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday to the darkness of Holy Saturday. For each day of Tenebrae, they've included a setting of a Lamentation. "Recording an album with the family is always moving, but this one was especially so because of the theme of the music... Like previous albums, this one contains well-worn family favourites beside newly-discovered or un-recorded rarities, thanks to our in-house editor and arch-polyphony enthusiast, Francis... We hope you enjoy our selection and that it can be a prayerful accompaniment to the Lenten season." - Michael Bevan
The Eight Seasons - Vivaldi, Piazzolla / Morton, Scottish Ensemble
Signum Classics
CD
$19.99Jan 01, 2011
A unique disc from one of Scotland's most dynamic and versatile groups – the Scottish Ensemble is a tight-knit band of outstanding string players from around Europe who perform regularly together under Artistic Director, Jonathan Morton. This disc – one of their first solo releases following acclaimed discs with artists such as Alison Balsom and Toby Spence – contrasts Vivaldi's timeless Four Seasons with Piazzolla's tango-inspired The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires.
Combining Vivaldi and Piazzola together like this underlines the meteorological and cultural differences between Mediterranean Europe and the heart of South America. To have them performed side by side creates a fascinating programme of similarities and contrasts.
This release continues Carlo Grante's series of Domenico Scarlatti's complete keyboard works. This series is the only one ever recorded with the same pianist playing all of the works.
"...beautifully played, and recorded, the first box in Music & Arts' series is profoundly impressive." - Jonathan Woolf, Music Web International
"Carlo Grante is one of the most astonishing artists I have ever known and worked with." - Fabio Luisi, The Metropolitan Opera's Principal Conductor
Caldara: Gloria; Respighi: Lauda per la Natività del Signore / Canova Chamber Orchestra
Urania Records
CD
$21.99Jan 19, 2024
A tribute to Italian Baroque, Antonio Caldara and his Gloria a 8 voci, transcribed, performed and recorded for the first time ever, a masterpiece of pompous Venetian sacredness to which the wonderful Lauda by Ottorino Respighi was wanted to be juxtaposed. Two centuries later, the Bolognese composer gives a perfect example of rewriting together medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music. A way to reaffirm the strong bond between Baroque and the 20th century, always a source of great inspiration.
Discover the allure of Gran Teatro La Fenice, one of Italy's most iconic theatres and among Europe's grandest opera houses. Known for hosting groundbreaking opera premieres in the 19th century, La Fenice has staged legendary works from the masters of the Bel Canto era-Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, and Verdi. Each year, a quarter-million visitors from around the globe are drawn to this historic venue, while the Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro La Fenice now perform worldwide, including a celebrated appearance at Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie in July 2024. Now, Teatro La Fenice proudly presents a collection of it's finest opera recordings from the past 30 years, available for the first time on CD. Featuring between 10 and 15 carefully selected operas each year, these recordings bring the magic of La Fenice's world-renowned performances to your home. Indulge in the timeless beauty of Italian opera at it's best.
Dones & Taralli: Requiem in Memoriam / Ohbayashi, Spadarotto, Mezzaro, Fabbian, Orchestra d'Archi Italiana
Tactus
CD
$21.99Mar 04, 2022
The artistic event “La Grande Guerra – Requiem in memoriam” (The Great War - Requiem in memoriam) is a mark of profound gratitude and deeply-felt remembrance, created in order to keep alive among all of us today the memory of those who gave up their precious lives on the battlefields between 1914 and 1918. A multitude of young people from both sides, sacrificed on the great altars of homeland and fraternity; a warning for today’s generations and an appeal to life through the vehicle of music, whose ability to touch the sublime opens the door to the infinite and to the essence, reaffirming the longing for peace and hope that we carry with us in our hearts. A unique event, a unique situation, honored by the presence of the major institutional authorities. Hence the idea of a new work that engages with the past using today’s forms of artistic expression, entrusted to two internationally-recognized musicians – Maurizio Dones and Marco Taralli. The result is a fascinating and radiant requiem that appeals on first hearing even to the musical neophyte, being captivating for the performer and easy upon the ear despite its virtuoso touches and rough edges.
Dolente Partita - Madonna e Maddalena - Works by Monteverdi and his contemporaries
Coviello
CD
$22.99Apr 05, 2024
The depiction of emotions came to the fore in the music of the late 16th century. Religious content is foregrounded, told from the perspective of the protagonists in order to generate compassion and understanding. In Tarquinio Merula's Canzonetta sopra la nanna, Mary's love for her child is just as palpable as her fear of his impending fate. Sacred songs such as the Salve Regina are transformed by Claudio Monteverdi into an intimate prayer to the Virgin Mary. Placing secular texts in a spiritual context was another means used by early Baroque composers. Claudio Monteverdi rewrote the then-popular Lamento d'Arianna as Lamento della Maddalena; Arianna, who laments for her beloved Theseus, becomes Marie Maddalena, who has been abandoned by Jesus. The Aria sopra la Romanesca by Paolo Quagliati is a reinterpretation of a love sonnet. "Working out and showing all these emotions in an almost theatrical style is the appeal of this music. We particularly enjoyed doing that," says Pia Davila.
This thoughtfully sequenced recording explores sacred music written in the sixteenth and twenty-first centuries. It includes a famous madrigal, a starting point for a mass setting by Philippe de Monte, positioned alongside well-crafted, but previously unrecorded music from the same period. They are complemented by striking contemporary pieces by female composers, including Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Cecilia McDowall, Melissa Dunphy, Rosa Elliott and Kerry Andrew.
The unsuspected summits of virtuosity Playing fast and loud... Letting the rapidity of your fingers go to your head... Is this really the definition of virtuosity? Virtuosity has it's origins in 'virtue'; a set of moral qualities, before evolving into something purely technical. By choosing works by Brahms, Mozart, and Liszt, Michel Dalberto will take us on the lengthy journey towards an increased understanding of these pieces. The difficulty of performing them is just one of the ways in which the texts take on their full meaning. So that the scores can reveal the full genius of their creator. Their humanity.
Rameau: Rameau Triomphant / Vidal, Jarry, Ensemble Marguerite Louise
Château de Versailles Spectacles
CD
$20.99Jun 11, 2021
Master of 18th century French opera, Rameau wrote for the stage for three decades (1733-1764). His thirty or so operatic works give considerable space to the haute-contre voice, the quintessence of most of the title roles: Platée, Dardanus, Hippolyte, Pygmalion… Mathias Vidal, a brilliant representative of this haute-contre tessitura, is one of its foremost specialists. Having sung the majority of Rameau’s operas on stage, he is an obvious paradigm of their characters. Together with Gaétan Jarry, he has conceived a programme of the most dazzling and expressive arias, to which have been added scenes accompanied by a chorus. This anthology brings to the fore the radiant voice of this pillar of the Royal Opera of Versailles. For this passionate singer of the French repertory, to record a recital dedicated to Pierre de Jelyotte, Rameau’s haute-contre, makes the theatricality of his music resound to a thrilling climax!
On this sixth volume of Alessandro Scarlatti's opera omnia for keyboard, once again the star is the eighteenth century Italian Anonymous Ferrarese harpsichord owned by Francesco Tasini. Toccatas, Arpeggi, Introduzioni, and even the famous "Folly of Spain," are contained in this volume featuring the brilliant and rich harmonics of the precious historical instrument. Extremely interesting is the interpretation by Francesco Tasini, that - absolute master of the period performance practice - succeeds in giving us a perfect understanding of the correct approach to the compositions by Alessandro Scarlatti, true founder of the Neapolitan keyboard School. Francesco Tasini studied at the Conservatories of Bologna and Milan, graduating cum laude in Organ and Organ Composition, and Harpsichord and Composition. He is a member of the Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna, and of the Diocesan Commissions of Sacred Music of the Archdiocese of Bologna and of the Diocese of Ferrara.
The recording of the two harpsichord sonatas by Bernardo Pasquini, master of the Italian style of the organ and harpsichord in the period between the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth century, is a particularly interesting cameo in the panorama of the music dedicated to the genre of the partimento, advanced practice of the basso continuo that in Italy formed the basis of compositional and keyboard teaching in the 18th century Neapolitan school. In fact the sonatas consist of only the bass lines on which the two performers must create the entire composition thanks to the technical and expressive expertise obtained from a consummate knowledge and experience of the performance practice of the time. Marina Scaioli and Francesco Tasini face this instrumental 'challenge' on two Italian historical harpsichords copies: a 1725 Giovanni Ferrini and a 1778 Roberto and Federigo Cresci.
A visionary composer, Domenico Scarlatti pushed beyond the frontiers of keyboard writing, fusing radiant melodies with spirited rhythms and daring technical feats. In this compendium of his most attractive sonatas, Javier Perianes employs his consummate virtuosity with audible enjoyment, revealing all the richness and inventiveness of his adoptive compatriot's musical language.
Domenico Scarlatti: Complete Piano Sonatas, Vol. 12
TACET Musikproduktion
CD
$21.99Mar 20, 2026
Who would have thought at the beginning of the great Scarlatti adventure 15 years ago that there would be no CD at the end? The four of us, who sail the two-voiced oceans of the world in the Scarlatti boat, certainly not: Captain Christoph Ullrich at the steering wheel (keyboard), Gerd Finkenstein in the engine room (grand piano), me as radio operator (recording), and Thomas Seedorf (scientific support and texts) in the crow's nest. All old white men with weathered faces. Well, the CD is still alive. But the project needs another two years... We're going to see it through! Who knows, maybe it will be the last serious big complete edition ever produced for this medium? Then, among many other things, it will also be a tribute to the days when you could still hold what you loved in your hands. Our current position: Domenico Scarlatti wrote 555 piano sonatas. This is volume 12 of 17. Volumes 14 and 15 are already available, a total of 12 double and 2 triple CDs so far. Volumes 13 (already recorded, not yet released), 16 (30 sonatas), and 17 (12 sonatas) are still missing. This means that 513 of the 555 sonatas have been recorded and 477 released. There are still 42 left to go to the home port. We are getting closer to our goal! There are so many interesting, admirable, and thought-provoking aspects to this opus! It would fill books. But we'll save that for the end. Turn these 30 new sonatas into an Advent calendar! Or a January calendar. Every day is unique; every day deserves a different sonata by Domenico Scarlatti!
Pietro Giannotti, who in the title page of Op. 1 (entirely written in Italian) is described as native of Lucca, was born in that independent Tuscan city, in an unspecified year between the end of the seventeenth century and the beginning of the eighteenth. We do not have any information about his education or his musical pursuits before his activities in France began, in 1728, when he moved to Paris. From the subsequent year to 1758 we know that he served as a double-bass player at the Academie Royale de Musique. A much-appreciated performance of his as a violinist is documented at the "Concert spirituel" of 28 March 1749; on this occasion he also played some pieces of his own. He remained in Paris until his death, on 19 June 1765. In Paris he published about twenty works, all of instrumental chamber music. In all likelihood, Giannotti also carried out his activities within private circles, in the house of an influential French nobleman, as is demonstrated by his first publication, to which we must now turn our attention: Op. 1 is dedicated to Jean-Charles de Crussol (1675-1739), seventh Duke of Uzes and French peer, scion of an ancient aristocratic family, who was not only a patron but also an "amateur" who practised music for his own enjoyment. Pierluigi Mencattini, accompanied by the ensemble Labirinto Armonico (already protagonists of the edition of the sonatas by Giovanni Antonio Piani, tc 671690) in this double CD performs the full version of the Op. I collection.
Florentine, born Francesco Maria Veracini (1690-1786), was considered one of the greatest violin virtuosos of his day. Periods of residence in London, Dusseldorf, Venice, and Dresden brought the eccentric musician international fame. Amongst his extensive output, his Sonate Accademiche Op. 2 (London/Florence 1744) for violin and basso continuo are the best known today. The character of the Sonate Accademiche is defined by a peculiar combination of the intellectual, the virtuosic, and the highly expressive. Despite the technically demanding writing for the violin, Veracini's masterfully idiomatic approach to his own instrument means the virtuosity flows with a natural ease and playfulness.
Vivaldi: Die Vier Jahreszeiten - Bach: Tripelkonzert in A Minor, BWV 1044 / Kiss, Redel
Bella Musica
CD
$20.99Feb 01, 2019
The present release pays tribute to Kurt Redel. Redel studied conducting and flute at the Breslau Conservatory. In 1938, when he was still quite young, he received a professorship for flute at the Salzburg Mozarteum. In 1941 he joined the Bavarian State Orchestra in munich as solo flautist. From 1946 to 1956 he was professor of flute at the Hochschule fur Musik Detmold. In 1952 Redel founded the Kammerorchester Pro Arte Munchen in Munich, with which he gave numerous concerts worldwide and made award-winning recordings, especially with works by Bach, Telemann, Haydn, and Mozart. For twenty years he directed the Easter Festival of Lourdes in France, which he also founded. He received numerous awards, including the Grand Prix du Disque, the Prix Orphee of the Paris Opera, and the German Federal Merit Class Prize.
Herve Niquet possesses two constant character traits: he is an indefatigable excavator of forgotten music, and he loves polyphony and 'large forms'. A few years ago, he caused a sensation by exhuming the monumental music of Striggio. To mark the thirtieth anniversary of his ensemble, Le Concert Spirituel, he now tackles a new peak of polyphony: a mass by Orazio Benevolo (1605-72) performed by eight choirs of four singers, accompanied by fifteen continuo players. In concert, the choirs are spread out around the nave, with the audience in the middle. Benevolo was born to a Burgundian confectioner father who had emigrated to Rome. Educated at the choir school of San Luigi dei Francesi, he became one of the greatest geniuses of polychorality, a prolific composer who represented the splendours of French art in Rome. He ended his career as maestro di cappella at the Vatican. This music has been resurrected thanks to the work of the great musicologist Jean Lionnet, who spent many years copying out by hand the music of numerous Italian composers in the Vatican archives, from which it was impossible to borrow documents. As a result of his labours the Missa Si Deus pro nobis has now been recorded, accompanied by vocal and instrumental pieces by Monteverdi, Frescobaldi and Palestrina.
One must get past the cliche ('Vivaldi composed the same concerto 500 times') to understand the extent to which composer, instrument and genre form an indissoluble whole; and that is what Theotime Langlois de Swarte and the musicians of Le Consort have set out to do. From his early youth in Venice to his last days in Vienna, the 'red-haired priest' pushed back technical and academic boundaries, constantly creating new narrative forms: the journey of a lifetime.
Vivaldi: 12 Violin Concertos, Op. 4 "La stravaganza" / Sardelli, Martynov, Modo Antiquo
Dynamic
CD
$24.99Jan 11, 2019
Federico Maria Sardelli is perhaps one of the word’s most notable experts of Vivaldi music as well as a versatile and gifted artist (he’s a painter, a novelist, a conductor, a composer and a musicologist). He wrote many books about Vivaldi including a prize-winning novel. Twice nominated for the Grammy Awards (in 1996 and 1999), since 2007 he has been in charge of the Vivaldi catalogue (The Ryom Vivaldi Werkverzeichnis). He is the founder and the director of the baroque ensemble "Modo Antiquo". The Russian violinist Anton Martynov completes this remarkable cast for an outstanding Vivaldi. The ensemble Modo Antiquo performs here with aplomb alongside Martynov and Sardelli. Modo Antiquo is a protagonist of the current Vivaldi renaissance, having premiered on stage and in recording operas such as Arsilda, Tito Manlio, and others. Committed to the divulgation of Vivaldi’s rarest and unpublished operas, Modo Antiquo regularly records the latest rediscoveries as world premiere recordings.
