Passo di pena in pena

The cantata da camera genre enjoyed its Golden Era in the early eighteenth century in Italy, mainly in Rome, through the auspices of employers as Cardinals Ottoboni and Pamphiliij and the Marquis Ruspoli, who organized several Accademie in their homes, weekly meetings in which music, poetry and discussions about art or philosophy attracted the most important nobles of the city. The most distinguished of these Accademie saw the presence of the great composers of the time: the newcomer Handel, Alessandro Scarlatti, Gasparini, instrumentalists as Arcangelo Corelli and Domenico, the son of Alessandro Scarlatti ... The highlight of these meetings was the time of the performance of some cantate da camera by such great personalities.

The extraordinary artistic atmosphere that existed in the Accademie soon expanded to other cities in Italy and from there to the rest of Europe. Our recording aims to recreate the repertoire that was heard in these Accademie when the cantata genre had spread and had evolved, around 1730: from the wonderful style, nostalgic and always surprising of Alessandro Scarlatti to the lyricism of Bononcini, the glow and melodic treatment of the voice of Porpora or the rich sounds of Vivaldi, all seasoned with an instrumental Triosonata by Locatelli.

There are few occasions when a record producer has the great pleasure and honor to present a truly unique artist, as the Italian countertenor Flavio Ferri-Benedetti. In his recording debut, we fall in love with his beautiful voice, sensual, round and firm. He captures us with his wonderful way to say the text, to feel the emotions, with his perfectly - it could not be otherwise - shaped Italian. He gives each phrase, each word, its accurate meaning and draws from every note exactly what the listener wants to perceive, displaying an unusually brilliant technique. Flavio is joined in this extraordinary recording by the ensemble Il Profondo, a group specializing in the interpretation of the basso continuo, created by young musicians from different countries (Switzerland, France, Japan, Italy, Spain) formed in the prestigious Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. They offer a colorful accompaniment, robust, sensitive to every nuance, attentive to detail, a pleasure to the ears. Surely, all those who buy this CD will agree that they have rarely had the pleasure of listening to a countertenor recording of this technical and artistic level. We believe it will become a benchmark in the early music discography.

The Art of the Baroque Trumpet � Vol. 5

"[Eklund's] virtuoso skills, consistently sweet tone, purity of intonation, and sense of ease rank him as the world's best." --American Record Guide, August 2002

Reviewing the first volume in Naxos's "The Art of the Baroque Trumpet", Gramophone magazine said of Eklund, "let me rejoice at playing of rare technical ability and musical panache."

Great Baroque Masterpieces (10-CD Box Set)

Baroque music describes the period in Western classical music dating from approximately 1600 to 1750. The Baroque period saw the development of functional tonality, as well as new instrumental playing techniques and musical notation. It was during this time that opera was established as a musical genre, and the period also saw the expansion of the range and complexity of instrumental performance.

This collection concentrates on the instrumental music of the period. No survey of the Baroque would be complete without the music of JS Bach, whose Brandenburg concertos are commonly regarded as the apex of Baroque music. The radiant concertos of Vivaldi demonstrate the exhilarating range of instrumental colour that flourished at this time and contrast with the orchestral zest of Handel�s robust Water Music. From classical favourites such Pachelbel�s Canon and Albinoni�s Adagio, to Concerti Grossi from composers as diverse as Corelli, Handel, Locatelli and Geminiani, this set is the perfect compilation of works from this most fascinating of eras.

Vivaldi: Flute Concertos

��Pahud's performances are natural and convincing, yet at the same time subtly stylish in matters of ornamentation, articulation and rhythm; the lilting first and second movements of No 5 are superbly poetic matchings of Baroque sensibility and technical control. ...he is keenly partnered by his excellent accompanists, and indeed the taut but far from unyielding contribution of the Australian Chamber Orchestra is of the highest order throughout. A disc to give nothing but pleasure.� --Gramophone Magazine, June 2006

�Pahud�s playing is always crisp and stylish, whether in virtuoso display or in more tender passages where the flute traces a line of filigree delicacy.� --The Daily Telegraph, April 2006

�Among the first flute concertos ever written, Vivaldi's Op 10 are also among the most imaginative.
With vivid descriptive writing and everywhere unmistakably Vivaldian vitality and sparkle, they are surely a must for all flautists Baroque and modern. Taking time off from the Berlin Philharmonic, 'modern' Emmanuel Pahud establishes a mastery of them that blasts out of the water any concerns about what kind of instrument he is using. His tone is light and liquid, his technical command complete and, more importantly, he is utterly at one with the music's character.

Where some 'modern' players who dip into Baroque music work too hard, overburdening the music with stiff interpretative detail and resolutely showing off the embellishments they have learned, Pahud's performances are natural and convincing, yet at the same time subtly stylish in matters of ornamentation, articulation and rhythm; the lilting first and second movements of No 5 are superbly poetic matchings of Baroque sensibility and technical control.

Not that he neglects the pictorial; he adds joyous extra bird-trills to Il gardellino, and enters deep into the spectral world of La notte, emerging from the impressionistic 'sleep' movement into a finale in which we can almost feel the last phantoms of the night flying past our heads. In this he is keenly partnered by his excellent accompanists, and indeed the taut but far from unyielding contribution of the Australian Chamber Orchestra is of the highest order throughout.

A disc to give nothing but pleasure.� --Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

Vivaldi: Concertos for Strings

The acclaimed Polish period band Arte dei Suonatori perform eight of Vivaldi�s concertos a Quattro. Their version of Handel�s 12 Concerto grossi Op. 6 was awarded �Orchestral Choice of the Month� in BBC Music Magazine, alongside further critical acclaim from the international music press.

As well as being a major composer in the formation of the solo concerto, he also was the leading exponent of the older concerto a quattro � music in four parts, with several players to a part. His works in this genre are notable not only for their beauty, but also for their experimental character and for providing the most important examples of fugal writing in Vivaldi�s instrumental music.

This recording includes eight of the concertos, as well as the Sinfonia from the serenata La Senna festeggiante (The Rejoicing Seine) composed in honour of the young French king Louis XV, and the Sonata a 4 in E flat major �Al Santo Sepolcro�.

Five Italian Oboe Concertos

'Nicholas Daniel's playing, beautifully controlled and judiciously ornamented, makes it easy to listen again to a choice selection' --Fanfare, USA

'Nicholas Daniel plays quite superbly' --Gramophone

The Musical Treasures of Leufsta Bruk I

In the 18th century, Leufsta Bruk � some 140 kilometres northwest of Stockholm � was the centre of a major industry producing iron both for Swedish needs and for export. It was a little principality in the middle of the forest governed by the descendants of Louis De Geer, a Belgian financier who developed the ironworks. The family was highly cultured and musical, and in particular Charles De Geer, a noted scientist as well as industrialist, contributed greatly to the remarkable collection of musical scores at Leufsta. These scores were to a large extent brought from Amsterdam and mirror the development of music and music publishing on the continent, as well as the musical activities at a flourishing Swedish manor of the period.

Not surprisingly the collection � and this disc � contains music by well-known composers such as Vivaldi and Tartini, but there are also rarely heard works, for various instrumental combinations. Duets, keyboard solos, trio sonatas and the charming collection of �Boer Dances� bear testament to the entertainments � often with the active participation of members of the De Geer family themselves � that enlivened the evenings at Leufsta in the mid-18th century.

Bringing these musical treasures to life is the Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble, whose many recordings on BIS have created a following around the world. Released in 1985 their version of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, with soloist Nils-Erik Sparf, is considered one of the classic recordings of this work. A much later disc, Telemann�s Don Quixotte (BIS-CD-1226) was recommended by the Spanish magazine CD Compact, and received a 5 star review in BBC Music Magazine, containing the following words of praise: 'the Drottningholm musicians capture all with admirable esprit and no breaches of stylistic decorum.' The same may safely be said about the present recording.

Vivaldi: Concerti With Bassoon 2

"Frans Berkhout is an outstanding virtuoso ... and surmounts any apparent difficulties, and is able to make the music sing without any of the antics of another well-known bassoonist of the age. Flautist Georgia Browne is the perfect duetting partner ... A thoroughly enjoyable disc that I happily recommend." --Brian Clark in Early Music Review, October 2011

Antonio Vivaldi is by far the most prolific composer of concertos in musical history; around 475 of his concertos have survived. As a celebrated virtuoso violinist, it is not surprising that he composed mainly for violin, either as soloist or in the concertante group. But Vivaldi also demonstrated a keen interest in other melodic instruments of the period, enriching their repertoire with imaginative and virtuosic compositions. His second choice of solo instrument is, surprisingly, the bassoon. His 39 concertos for bassoon with strings and continuo remain somewhat of an enigma. They are the first such works in history, and there is no indication for whom they are written nor why there are so many. It is possible that they were written for a student virtuoso at the Ospedale della Piet�, where Vivaldi served intermittently throughout his career, and one visitor indeed listed the bassoon among the instruments he heard there, but there are no records of a bassoon teacher nor of the purchase of any such instrument. Furthermore, the instrument is conspicuously absent even among those typical Piet� showcases of rare instruments, such as the oratorio Juditha Triumphans of 1716

Vivaldi: Concertos & Cantata with Bassoon 1

These are magnificent performances from bassoonist Frans Robert Berkhout. He was lead bassoonist with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Amsterdam Bach Soloists. As a baroque bassoon and dulcian player he joined many authentic ensembles such as the Leonhardt Consort, La Petite Bande and the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century. La Suave Melodia was formed in 1998 and have since been highly acclaimed in both the concert hall and the recording studio.

This second CD with the highly esteemed baroque ensemble La Suave Melodia features Frans Berkhout on the baroque bassoon. This is a unique collection of concerti and even more so because of the small number of musicians accompanying. Next to that, Frans Berkhout plays a type of bassoon used in the time of Vivaldi gives a strong and passionate
 

For Frans Robert Berkhout (1950) the bassoon was love at first sight. From his sixteenth year Frans Robert received lessons from Brian Pollard, solo bassoonist of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, who also encouraged him to start playing on period instruments. For many years he played in several orchestras, e.g. the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Amsterdam Bach Soloists and the Combattimento Consort Amsterdam. As a baroque bassoon and dulcian player he joined many authentic ensembles such as the Leonhardt Consort, La Petite Bande and the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century (Frans Br�ggen).

La Suave Melodia was formed in 1998 to explore the trio sonatas of Dietrich Buxtehude and the Pi�ces de Clavecin en Concerts of Jean-Philippe Rameau. They met with immediate success as prize-winners in the 1998 Van Wassenaer Concours for Early Music and have since been highly acclaimed in both the concert hall and the recording studio. Their first CD on the Etcetera label (with the world premiere of Johannes Schenck's Giardino Armonico) has been acclaimed as �one of the best new releases of the year 2007�, and �a magnificent recording�.

Vivaldi

"I've realized that even more that what is beautiful about the accordion is to play with a single finger sometimes, with a very pure, very pointed sound that gives a lot of poetry and emotion." - Richard Galliano on Vivaldi. A seasoned performer of jazz and French folk music, renowned accordion player Richard Galliano still approaches every piece with delicacy and excitement. 

The end result is a new take on even the most traditional and popular pieces. On Vivaldi, Galliano re-imagines (and re-arranges) one of the most performed pieces of all time, making it refreshing and groundbreaking yet familiar because of the accordion's warm, classic sound.

"The themes are constructed like songs: simple, repetitive melodic cells that can be developed. It's optimistic music. Even in the 'Winter' concerto. It ends with a great deal of energy, a great deal of hope, in a highly virtuoso fragment." - Richard Galliano on Vivaldi, 2013

Vivaldi: The Four Seasons, Etc

Long live the tube! This newest release in the "transistor-free" series by Tacet is another musical jewel. The music that Tonmeister Andreas Spreer with his nostalgic, exquisite recording technique, using nothing but tube microphones and tube amplifiers, has conjured onto the disc boasts a naturalness, warmth and vividness we thought had disappeared forever and had almost forgotten. Here a violin still sounds like a violin.

 This disc is noted for the all-tube equipment in the recording chain up to the point when the analog signals captured initially by the Neumann M49 tube microphones (the music) is converted to digital and normalized to the so-called Red Book CD Standards so as to be played as regular CDs. It should be noted that these classic Neumann M49 tube microphones were developed in 1949 and manufactured around 1951. From the top, to my ears this orchestra just got rid of all romanticized vibrato and played with pure tone, and as a result the instruments sound much older than they really are. The music's execution thus shows a small chamber orchestra becoming in touch with the past; it is a modern instrument orchestra that sounds like a period instrument ensemble. Changing to period bowing styles makes a world of difference and there is no question about it, the tempi are fast and there is nothing ponderous in these enlightened performances. On this disc nobody gets in the way of Vivaldi, nor interferes with him either, and all seem to be Vivaldi's advocates! The Four Seasons from the Opus 8 is a unique set of four violin concertos by Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) composed in 1723 and first published as scores for solo violin and string quartet in 1725. The present version is a modern transcription with different instrumentation for a small chamber orchestra including a harpsichord providing the basso continuo part.

These four concertos were written by Vivaldi to go along with four sonnets and they are, therefore, true tonepoems, and an early example of programmatic music. Do yourself a favor and follow the music with the text of the sonnets and see how much more sense the whole thing makes. The text for the sonnets can be found at www dot baroque-music-club.com/vivaldiseasons.html. On listening to this Four Seasons there is a physical sensation that can, as in this recording, be transformed into an emotional sensation that comes through the sounds and the expert manipulation of stringed instruments' acoustics; instrumental acoustics is not the same as hall acoustics. Instrumental acoustic balancing control is exemplary throughout but none more so than in Tracks No. 8 (Adagio molto), No. 14 (Adagio) and No. 17 (Adagio). Moreover, the strings are supremely strong and precise throughout while observing a warm pure tone as in Track No. 10's an Allegro molto violin solo with cellos and contrabass accompaniment which in turn moves swiftly to the marvelous violin pizzicatos of Track No. 11's Largo with their perfect syncopation, and the remaining strings providing pure tonal harmony.

The music in this disc is not about anyone, not even about Daniel Gaede - the violin soloist - the music is about Vivaldi with a very lean and taut sound. The present orchestra jells together very well their modern instruments and period sound with their lilting fast allegros, sharply-executed phrasing in the slow middle movements, and the joyous final prestos. There is energy and commitment from the orchestra's parts, the soloist and the conductor as evidenced by their precise entrances and of all things no discernible mistakes. All this I am saying about the Four Seasons can be transposed to the other two violin concertos on this disc just as well. The 'tubes only' sound is adequate but nothing on the spectacular side; I am not convinced that 'tubes only' regular CDs have much to contribute and I would rather see (or hear) a 'tube only' SACD. On this CD imaging is excellent but dynamics are just rather flat, save for an occasional entrance of the cellos and/or the contrabass when playing very loud. My very subjective opinion is that an SACD recording would have been a much better choice. In this 'tube only' incarnation the sound is less than... Final words: fortunately the artistry of the performance amply surpasses the just average...John Nemaric --Audiophile Audition