Though he was highly regarded in his day, the 250
th
anniversary of the death of Francesco Geminiani passed almost unnoticed by
the record companies; as usual, it was the smaller independents who noticed
and did something about it. There are new recordings of his music from Early
Music and Tactus and this set of the Op.1 Sonatas from Somm.
These sonatas are much less well known than his concerti grossi; indeed,
Geminiani’s
music in general is hardly over-recorded with only the second half of the
wonderful
Harmonia Mundi AAM/Manze recording of his twelve orchestrations of Corelli
still
available on CD (iTunes and Amazon offer the complete set as a download) and
he
doesn’t feature at all in the cut-down volume that now passes for the
Penguin
Guide. Though there is a recommendable budget-price Hyperion Helios
recording
which includes Op.1/3 and the Trio Sonata arrangements of Op.1/9, 11 and 12
(Purcell
Quartet and Band, CDH55234
-
review),
the new release of the complete opus is particularly welcome.
The Newcastle composer Charles Avison, who had met, possibly studied
with and befriended Geminiani during his stay in London, thought
sufficiently highly of the whole set as to rearrange eleven of the twelve as
Op.1 sonatas and in the preface to his Op.3 concertos wrote that his friend
was ‘the greatest Master of Instrumental Music’. The set of
Avison-Geminiani concertos has recently been recorded by the Avison
Ensemble, directed by Pavlo Beznosiuk, who has added his own arrangement of
Op.1/11, the one work from the set that Avison appears not to have worked
on. (Divine Art DDA21210, 2 CDs -
review and November 2010
Download Roundup).
All but one of the Op.1 sonatas on Hyperion are of the more
immediately attractive
sonata da camera type, but the first six
sonatas from the set are of the
sonata da chiesa type, so we have a
more rounded representation on Somm, including some arrangements for
harpsichord alone or with the recorder or flute - and who better to perform
this music than the London Handel Players who have given us fine recordings
of the Handel Op.5 Trio Sonatas (SOMMCD044 -
review) and a selection entitled
Handel at
Home (SOMMCD055 - February 2011
Download Roundup).
Regular followers of the London Handel Players will not be surprised
to learn that they take the four sonatas which are common to both recordings
at a more stately pace than the Purcell Quartet. Note that I didn’t
call the Handel Players slow or the Purcell Quartet fast, because it
isn’t just a matter of timings and both interpretations work extremely
well for me.
In the
sonata da chiesa Op.1/3 you may think that the Handel
Players’ slightly grander interpretation works slightly better than
that of the Purcell Quartet. In the
sonate da camera, on the other
hand, you may prefer the slightly brisker - but not always faster - Purcell
Quartet versions, but I wouldn’t stress the differences too much in
either case, especially as it’s not possible directly to compare
Geminiani’s own arrangements of Op.1/11 and 12 (Hyperion) with the
Barsanti version of No.11 and the original 1716 version of No.12 on Somm.
In Op.1/9, where both sets of performers choose the 1739 version for
violin, cello and harpsichord, the newer Somm performance is actually
slightly faster overall, especially in the second movement,
andante,
and the
allegro finale, yet the overall impression remains that the
Handel Players give the music slightly more gravitas.
The Somm recording comes with a very fine set of notes written by
Rudolf Rasch and Adrian Butterfield, even outdoing those which come with the
Hyperion which, for once, are a trifle sparse. The booklet is so large that
it’s hard to get it in and out of the case. The new recording, too, is
marginally to be preferred to the Hyperion; though the latter is bright and
fresh, the Somm shares these qualities but gives a slightly fuller
sound-picture, from which the harpsichord particularly benefits by being
more audible without sounding too prominent.
The Hyperion Helios reissue is a notable bargain - you should be
able to find it for around £6 - especially since it casts its net
wider than the Op.1 Sonatas, including Geminiani’s Concerto Grosso on
Corelli’s
la Folia, the ear candy of the 18
th
century, and the Concerto Grosso, Op.7/2, another wonderful Corelli-inspired
work. With bright performances and recording it remains a very desirable
purchase. For lovers of 18
th-century chamber music and of
Geminiani in particular both it and the new Somm recording are practically
mandatory. If, as I recommend, you start with the Hyperion you will almost
certainly wish to go for the Somm set as well, so you may as well get them
both together.
Brian Wilson
