Francisco CORSELLI (1705 - 1778)
Music at the 18th-century Spanish court
Overture Achille in Sciro (1744) [7:05]
A ti, invisible ruiseñor canoro, cantata (1749) [12:21]
Achille in Sciro: marcia (allegro) [1:03]; marcia (maestoso, e staccato)
[2:02]
Lectio 2a in Sabato Sancto (1749, rev. 1761) [12:04]
Overture Oratorio de Santa Clotilde (1733) [2:23]
Lamentación 2a del Jueves (1773) [6:04]
Sinfonia Il Farnace (1739) [6:21]
Hasta aquí, Dios amante (1740) [7:49]
Il Farnace: marcia (stacato) [2:00]; marcia [1:54]
Nuria Rial (soprano)
El Concierto Español/Emilio Moreno
rec. February 2002, San Lorenzo de El Escorial (Monasterio), Spain
Lyrics, no translations
GLOSSA GCD C80307 [62:33]
Since the late 17th century Spain had come under the influence of the Italian
style in musical matters. It is hardly surprising that during the 18th century
various Italian composers played an important role in the music scene. The
most famous of them was Domenico Scarlatti. Other names to be mentioned are
Gaetano Brunetti, Luigi Boccherini and Francesco Corselli. The present disc
is devoted to the oeuvre of the latter.
He was born in Piacenza of French parents; his original family name was Courcelle.
His father was dance master to the Farnese family. At an early age he was
active in Parma and became maestro di cappella of the Chiesa della
Madonna della Steccata there. From 1727 to 1733 he was also maestro di
cappella of the Duke of Parma, the future King Carlos III of Spain. When
the Duke’s mother, Isabelle Farnese, the second wife of King Felipe
V, was looking for a music master for the royal children, she turned to Corselli,
who arrived in Madrid in January 1734.
Corselli was not only active as music teacher at the palace, he also composed
music for the theatre, among them the only two operas from his pen which have
been preserved complete: Alessandro nell'Indie (1738) and Il Farnace
(1739). These were among the first specimens of the opera seria genre
which were performed in Spain. In the next decades Corselli would compose
mainly sacred music: masses, Offices of the Dead, sequences, responsories,
Vespers, Magnificats, motets and villancicos. This was the consequence of
his appointment in 1738 as Maestro de la Capilla del Rey; in this capacity
he succeeded José de Torres who had died earlier that year.
In his sacred music he shows that he was looking forward, both in regard to
harmony and to instrumentation. The latter aspect is especially interesting.
On Christmas Eve 1734 a fire had destroyed the old Alcázar and its
entire music archive. It was Corselli's duty to reorganise music life and
build up a new repertoire. He wanted to purchase music by some of the most
prominent Italian and Spanish composers of his time, such as Galuppi, Porpora
and Durante, but that was not allowed. He was more successful in his reform
of the chapel in that he added a viola to the string corpus. He also added
wind instruments, especially bassoons and horns, to the orchestra. That left
its mark on his own compositions in which he often gave wind instruments a
prominent role.
That is also the case in some of the compositions recorded here. Most remarkable
is the Lectio 2a in Sabato Sancto which is for soprano with strings,
flutes and trumpets. The Latin letters are - as was common practice - set
to long melismas but they are quite different from those in lamentations of
the baroque period. They are mostly fugal. The lessons are rather concise
and have hardly any repeats. The Lamentación 2a del Jueves Santo
is different: the instrumentation is confined to violins and violones.
The latter term refers to low strings - here: two cellos and one violone.
They play with mutes.
The two cantatas are strongly operatic in character. They begin with a recitative
which is followed by a da capo aria. In the aria from A ti, invisible
ruiseñor canoro which is about the three wise men visiting baby
Jesus, the flute plays an important role. The text refers to Philomena who,
according to classical mythology, was the daughter of Poseidon and was turned
into a nightingale. No wonder the aria begins with the flute imitating birdsong.
Then the soprano enters, also imitating the nightingale; these imitations
are then repeated by the flute. I am not quite sure what the other cantata
is about, except that it has a sacred subject as well and could also be about
the wise men. It is a shame that the booklet omits an English translation
of the lyrics.
The rest of the programme is devoted to instrumental music from various vocal
compositions. The music and the instrumental scoring confirm the suggestion
that Corselli was quite an original composer and that his oeuvre deserves
to be thoroughly explored. I would like to mention here a recording of two
of his masses by vocal soloists and the Orchestra of New Spain, directed by
Grover Wilkins who also wrote the article on Corselli (under the name 'Courcelle')
in New Grove. It was released by the Dorian label and I reviewed that
disc here.
This disc was originally released in 2002; apparently I missed it, as this
is the first time I have heard this recording. I am happy that it is reissued
because Corselli is a most interesting composer and the performers serve him
very well. Nuria Rial is a celebrated singer in the early music scene these
days. At the time this recording was made she was still very young and her
voice was lighter and less dramatic than it is today. Even so, all the qualities
for which she is admired today are already there, including an extremely fine
expression of the text. She matches the orchestra perfectly, and the balance
between voice and instruments is very good. El Concierto Español delivers
convincing interpretations of the orchestral scores; the wind players are
especially admirable.
For those who have a special interest in Spanish music this disc is not to
be missed.
Johan van Veen
http://www.musica-dei-donum.org
https://twitter.com/johanvanveen
Corselli is a most interesting composer and the performers serve him very
well.
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