Benedetto Marcello
was born into a versatile family. His
father was both a violinist and a politician
- he was a senator of the Venetian government
- while his mother was an artist and
a poetess. It is perhaps under her influence
that Benedetto valued poetic use of
words very highly. Like his father he
wasn't a man of just one profession:
apart from being a musician he was active
as a lawyer, administrator, philologist
and writer. It seems that there was
a strong rivalry between Benedetto and
his older brother Alessandro, who -
according to one story - didn't think
very highly of his brother's musical
skills.
Benedetto Marcello's
interest in poetry was demonstrated
in his 'Estro poetico armonico', a collection
of fifty psalm settings held in high
esteem in his own time and which still
belongs amongst his best-known works.
In the programme notes Martino Noferi
suggests the title was perhaps a taunt
in Vivaldi's direction, who published
a collection of 12 concertos under the
title 'Estro armonico' in 1711 in Amsterdam.
If he is correct the title of Marcello's
collection may well indicate what he
thought was lacking in Vivaldi's music:
poetry. Marcello himself was praised
for "strength and regularity of design"
and "noble simplicity". This simplicity
was a feature associated with 'early
music', meaning the music of the 16th
and early 17th century, in which Marcello
was strongly interested.
Marcello's first publication
was a collection of concertos which
appeared in 1708, and from which Johann
Sebastian Bach took one piece to transcribe
for keyboard (BWV 981). The twelve sonatas
for recorder and basso continuo, the
first six of which are played on this
disc, were published in Venice in 1712.
The popularity of this collection is
proven by the fact that they were published
again the same year by Estienne Roger
in Amsterdam. And as late as 1730 John
Walsh in London published these sonatas
in a transcription for transverse flute,
which had replaced the recorder as the
most fashionable wind instrument.
The poetical character
of Marcello's style doesn't mean that
the music lacks contrast and drama.
That is most impressively demonstrated
in this recording, where Il Rossignol
and its recorder player, Martino Noferi,
give very dramatic and gestural accounts
of the first six sonatas. These are
certainly not without twists and turns,
and the players don't hesitate to explore
them. Noferi often goes to the limits
of the dynamic possibilities of the
recorder. And his colleagues give excellent
support with an imaginative realisation
of the basso continuo part, and also
show a very good sense of rhythm. It
is in particular in the slow movements
where we meet the poet Marcello. Here
Noferi excels in the abundant addition
of ornaments. I sometimes feel that
the 'adagios' are played a little too
fast, though.
The recorder sonatas
are interspersed with pieces for keyboard,
which come from a manuscript in the
library of the Naples conservatory.
The fugues are rather old-fashioned,
and it is interesting to note that the
subject and countersubject of the Fugue
in e minor appear almost unchanged in
Bach's Toccata in e minor (BWV 914).
The sonatas show some affinity with
those of Domenico Scarlatti. The keyboard
works get excellent performances from
Ottaviano Tenerani on a beautiful Italian
harpsichord.
This disc offers an
enthralling interpretation of these
sonatas by Marcello. This is what I
expect from an Italian performance of
Italian music, underlining the theatrical
character of Italian music. In the booklet
the release of the other sonatas from
this opus is announced. I can hardly
wait.
Johan van Veen
see the TACTUS
Catalogue
for
details
Il Rossignolo: Martino Noferi (recorder), Raffaele
Sorrentino (cello), Gian Luca Lastraioli (archlute,
guitar), Ottaviano Tenerani (harpsichord) 
