Giuseppina Bridelli / Quartetto Vanvitelli APPENA CHIUDO GLI OCCHI

 

APPENA CHIUDO GLI OCCHI

 

Francesco Corti JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH Little Books

 

LITTLE BOOKS

 

Quartetto Bernardini AROUND MOZART

 

AROUND MOZART

I Cavalieri del Cornetto / Andrea Inghisciano / María González TEMPESTA DI PASSAGGI

 

TEMPESTA DI PASSAGGI

 

Luigi Piovano / Antonio Pappano BRAHMS | MARTUCCI Two Sonatas and Two Romances for Cello and Piano

 

TWO SONATAS AND TWO ROMANCES FOR CELLO AND PIANO

 

Il Ricercar Continuo PULCHRA ES

 

PULCHRA ES

 

Coro e Orchestra Ghislieri / Giulio Prandi NICCOLÒ JOMMELLI Requiem

REQUIEM

 

Affinità / Elisabeth Baumer VENICE AND BEYOND

VENICE AND BEYOND

 

Concerto Scirocco / Giulia Genini GIOVANNI PICCHI Canzoni da sonar con ogni sorte d'istromenti

CANZONI DA SONAR CON OGNI SORTE D'ISTROMENTI

 

Sara Mingardo / Cenacolo Musicale SE CON STILLE FREQUENTI

SE CON STILLE FREQUENTI

Europa Ritrovata AFFECT IS NO CRIME

Period instruments such as the traverso, the Baroque violin, the viola da gamba and the harpsichord offer an incredibly wide palette of new sound possibilities suited to contemporary ears. From the early 1960s an increasing number of postmodernist composers began looking at these instruments as perfect tools to reconnect with both their audience and the music traditions from the past. Contemporary experimental “effects”, through the use of extended techniques and electronics, are proven able to create a fruitful dialogue with the perennial “affects” that baroque instruments are capable of arousing. Based on the Ph.D research of Matteo Gemolo at Cardiff University (UK), Affect is no Crime explores the heterogeneity of this new path, presenting 5 world premiere recordings of 5 works written for these 4 instruments from 5 celebrated living composers, from 5 different countries: from Anspielungen by H.M. Linde, an atonal patchwork enriched with baroque quotations, to the ironic and microtonal Tiet/Lots by J. Tiensuu; from the neo-impressionistic La Fenêtre Ouverte by J. Fontyn to Revenant by J. Morlock, a modal and minimalist homage to Bach, passing through the experimental Sun Bleached with electronics, freshly commissioned from T. Polymeneas Liontiris.

Mario Brunello JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violoncello Piccolo

Since winning the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1986, Mario Brunello has established himself as one of the foremost living cellists. An eclectic musician, for some years Brunello has also taken an interest in the world of historically informed performance practice and the rediscovery of the four-string ‘violoncello piccolo’. This instrument, slightly smaller than the cello, is known today for its presence in some sacred cantatas of Bach, but it was surely used much more widely in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries than the currently known repertory would lead us to think.This recording of the Sonate & Partite per violino solo inaugurates the collaboration on the Arcana label with a ‘Bach Brunello Series’ of three CDs, in which important compositions for the violin from his catalogue will be performed on the violoncello piccolo. The booklet includes texts by Bach scholar Peter Wollny and Italian writer Alessandro Baricco.

‘I want to approach the Sonatas and Partitas “from the ground up”, in every sense. Violinists “fly high”, they are always on top of the melody, they see the music from above. I am therefore not proposing an imitation of the violin, but rather a specular reading, a conquest of the summit by another route. A mountain seen from the south or from the north changes the perspective, but not the substance.’ – Mario Brunello

Voces Suaves / Concerto Scirocco STEFANO BERNARDI Lux Æterna - Ein Salzburger Requiem

After rediscovering the music of Giovanni Croce, maestro di cappella at St Mark’s cathedral in Venice, Ensembles Voces Suaves & Concerto Scirocco take us to Salzburg and put the spotlight on the Verona-born composer Stefano Bernardi, a contemporary of Monteverdi. Bernardi reached the peak of his career in Salzburg, when he was appointed the first Kapellmeister of its newly constructed cathedral, a position he held from 1628 to 1634.

Bernardi contributed greatly to the integration of the Italian nuovo stile in Salzburg, especially of features such as polychorality and the stile concertato, and may therefore be seen as the musical forefather of later, more famous Salzburg musicians. The outstanding stature of his music is clearly evident from his majestic Requiem, the manuscript of which is still preserved in the Salzburg cathedral archives. Particularly impressive is the Sequentia, which forms the core of the work and opens with an elaborate Dies irae section, based on the famous chant melody. The Requiem, as well as a number of Motets by Bernardi, is recorded here for the very first time.

I Bassifondi / Simone Vallerotonda ROMA '600

A journey through seventeenth-century Rome, the rough and magnificent city where Caravaggio and Stradella lived. Strict counterpoint and learned polyphony in the lute and keyboard pieces by Kapsberger, Pasquini and Frescobaldi mingle with light dances and popular songs for guitar. Improvisation is the feature linking both sound-worlds: the high culture of church chapels and noble palaces, and the lore of streets and taverns. A careful study of the original sources guided our choices as to instruments and interpretation. According to historically informed practice, the celebrated Antidotum Tarantulæ and further early specimens of tarantella, as written down by the Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher, are played on bagpipes, drums and guitars.

While on their first album ‘Alfabeto Falso’ I Bassifondi refreshed the image of the Baroque guitar and its harmonic extravaganzas, with ‘Roma 600’ the ensemble brings the music of seventeenth century Rome back to life with inspired and imaginative improvisation. Soprano Emőke Barath and violinist Enrico Onofri are the distinguished guest artists who join I Bassifondi in this new adventure.

Girandole Armoniche EXTRAVAGANTES SEICENTO

The focus of Extravagantes Seicento is the musical exuberance of a century full of contradictions, and at the same time receptive towards all kinds of novelty. By means of a rich collection of instrumental sonatas for violin, viola da gamba and harpsichord, the recording portrays the peregrine world of composers and instrumentalists who travelled throughout Europe in their search for receptive cultural circles and the degree of financial stability required for the creation of new works. In particular the Habsburg courts of Vienna and Innsbruck attracted artists from Italy and central Europe, becoming hubs for innovation in the visual arts, the theatre and instrumental music.

Under the imperial protection of Ferdinand III, Leopold I and Archduke Ferdinand Karl of Austria, the great violinists of the 17th century Ignazio Albertini, Giovanni Padonolfi Mealli, Samuel Capricornus, Heinrich Schmelzer and Ignaz Biber expanded the technical potential of the violin and the viola da gamba, producing a repertoire of highly melodious sonatas featuring virtuoso brilliance and such eccentricity of sound as to surprise or even disconcert audiences, both then and today.

Archi di Santa Cecilia / Luigi Piovano TCHAIKOVSKY - DVORÁK Serenades

Following the huge success of the 2017 release, “Cinema per archi”, featuring the music of Rota, Morricone and Piovani, the Arcana label is back with another recording by the Archidi Santa Cecilia conducted by Luigi Piovano, the eminent cellist whose duo performances with Antonio Pappano have met with widespread acclaim among chamber music aficionados. Composed of players from the excellent Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the ensemble here interprets two of the best loved works of the entire string repertoire: the Serenata in C major op. 48 by Tchaikovsky, and the Serenata in E major op. 22 by Dvorák. Both of these works have been special attractions in concert programs at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome and in other prominent concert venues throughout Italy (Ravello Festival, Naples, Ravenna, Reggio Emilia, L’Aquila, Piacenza). The Ensemble’s enormously successful first recording of music by Schubert, including Mahler’s arrangement of Death and the Maiden, was described by Ralph Moore on “MusicWeb International”as «mesmerising, Intense, thrilling and liberated in away too few recordings are these days» and elicited David Vernier to declare in “Classics Today” that «the concluding fourth movement Presto is an impressive display of ensemble virtuosity».

Tripla Concordia / Walter van Hauwe JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH The Trio Sonata Project

‘The Trio Sonata Project’ takes inspiration from the Baroque practice of arranging pre existing music by other composers for a different set of instruments. As recorder player Walter van Hauwe emphasises, this is something that Bach did himself – borrowing from Vivaldi, Pergolesi and others – giving each his own touch without affecting the ‘message’ of the original works. But to touch Bach; when does admiration bleed into hubris? When do magpies morph into vultures? Charming booklet notes try to set this to rights: in an imaginary conversation, presumably over Zimmermann’s famous brew of coffee, Bach gives keyboardist Sergio Ciomei his blessing. This quasi-blind date (‘will he really come?’), while hovering on the absurd (‘Don’t ever stop, Sergio. You should produce, transcribe, play, record, teach and spread the news’), sets up an interesting transhistorical context for the project.

The album is a mixed bag. Tripla Concordia’s version of BWV1039 – a historical arrangement by Bach himself – is particularly successful. Quietly menacing in the Andante, the two voice flutes open out to incisive playing that sways with imagination in the Presto. The arrangement of BWV997 for alto recorder and harpsichord is less convincing. Ciomei’s harpsichord-playing in the Prelude lacks lushness. The Sarabande also is, unfortunately, heavy-handed. However, van Hauwe’s elegant phrasing does the job for a teasingly short moment: the sunlight of the relative major appears in smiling inevitability – almost distracting from the strange abruptness in the continuo-playing. In tempo, the Gigue and Double lie on the safe side of exciting. Yet superb dynamic control in van Hauwe’s recorder makes for unpredictable intensity.

So, to borrow Ciomei’s analogy, would this album get a second date? Yes. It had its hiccups: a slightly gruff table manner dotted with some dull moments. Next time, I would expect what were flashes of imagination to pervade the conversation, and something that extra bit special to seal a kiss. (Mark Seow / Gramophone)

Giuseppina Bridelli / Le Concert de l'Hostel Dieu / Franck-Emmanuel Comte DUEL

Despite the rivalry between the operatic companies leaded by Haendel and Porpora in London (1734-1737), much has to be said about the real nature of the connection between the two composers. Both the musicians were considered outstandingly original for their aesthetic choices. Both admired each other's music. The few whirlwind years of their defiance in Great Britain produced memorable scores: among them, Ariodante by Haendel and Polifemo by Porpora, performed with simultaneous runs in the city theaters. The fight between the two operatic company was an opportunity for the composers to meet and discover each other, to deal with the taste of the audience and to experiment new ideas, getting strength from the incredible skills of the members of the vocal casts (Farinelli, Senesino, Carestini, etc.). This CD tries to capture the soul of such a complicated intellectual relationship, presenting significant exemples of the composers' style and outlining the borders of the mutual esteem between two giants in the history of music.

On her debut solo album, the young talented mezzosoprano Giuseppina Bridelli performs with effortless bravery the difficult pages written for some of the most famous singers of the 18th century: between them, a version with original variations of Haendel Scherza infida.

Il Pomo d'Oro / Andrea De Carlo ALESSANDRO STRADELLA La Doriclea

Alessandro Stradella’s place in the annals of the history of music is not only due to the adventurous circumstances that marked his brief existence, but also to the reputation as an opera composer he has acquired since the 18th century. Inaccessible for many decades to specialists and scholars, La Doriclea is definitely the least known of all Stradella’s operas. However, it constitutes a particularly significant chapter in his overall output: composed in Rome during the early 1670s, to our knowledge La Doriclea represents the first opera entirely composed by Stradella. From the dramatic point of view, La Doriclea belongs to the comedy of intrigue genre typical of the 17th century Spanish theatre tradition. Refined and amusing, it alternates touching lamentos with irresistibly comic scenes, in which the character of Giraldo, a veritable precursor of the basso buffo, allows us to glimpse Rossinian atmospheres. Emöke Baráth (Doriclea) and Xavier Sabata (Fidalbo) alongside Giuseppina Bridelli (Lucinda) and Luca Cervoni (Celindo) and the comic couple of Delfina (Gabriella Martellacci) and Giraldo (Riccardo Novaro) bring a complex and fascinating role-playing game to life. This world premiere release of La Doriclea is a major achievement for The Stradella Project, which here reaches its fifth volume. “Through his festival and recording project, Andrea De Carlo is raising the profile of this pioneering Italian composer.” (Gramophone)

Zefiro / Alfredo Bernardini JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH The Brandenburg Concertos

The name of this group of concertos, attributed by Bach scholar Philipp Spitta, comes from their dedication to the Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg-Schwedt, half-brother of King Friedrich I of Prussia. The original title of the autograph score of 1721 reads: “Six Concerts Avec plusieurs Instruments Dediées A Son Altesse Royalle Monseigneur Crétien Louis, Marggraf de Brandenbourg ... par Son tres-humble et tres obeissant serviteur Jean Sebastien Bach”. The use of the French language was common at the German courts, reflecting the influence that the court of Versailles held over the other courts of Europe in matters of art and culture. 

The six Brandenburg Concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach are some of the most celebrated and fre- quently performed works in concerts and at festivals. And yet, this cycle presents numerous characteristics that are unusual when compared to the Italian models of recent invention. Indeed, Bach did not hesitate to incorporate among the more brilliant or cantabile movements typical of the concerto grosso or the Italian solo concerto certain elements characteristic of other styles.