Giovanni PICCHI (1572-1643)
Canzoni da sonar con ogni sorte d’istromenti (Venice 1625) [71:29]
Concerto Scirocco/Giulia Genini
rec. 2018/2019, Chiesa di Santa Marta, Carona, Switzerland & Sala della Carità, Padua, Italy
ARCANA A476 [71:29]
Giovanni Picchi’s name crops up from time to time in programmes of Italian and Venice-themed Renaissance music, but he is by no means familiar in the mainstream so here is some background. Born in Venice to a musical family, he worked there for most of his life, was organist at the prestigious Basilica dei Frari, had fourteen children and was famed as a performer of dance music and with a considerable network of patrons to keep the family in funds. He was nicknamed El soto dei Frari, or "the lame man of the Frari" in the charges pressed against him in 1610 for teaching music to the nuns in the Spirito Santo without a license, and by all accounts he was quite a character.
The Canzoni da sonar is a collection of 19 compositions for various combinations of instruments which follow the Venetian tradition of the canzone-sonata for concertante instruments and basso continuo. Most of these use instruments found elsewhere in Venetian music of the period: violin, cornett, recorder, sackbut and bassoon with, in this recording, trombones and a continuo of organ and lute in the earlier works, harpsichord also being introduced later on. The impression in the earlier works is one of chamber music rather than anything truly grand, though as the set progresses there are works with increasing numbers of voices and instruments, creating a broader pallet of colour and complexity. There is no shortage of contrast here as a result of all this shifting instrumentation, though the music has a consistent stylistic line that takes its cue from Giovanni Gabrieli. The final group of three pieces A Doi Chori have impressive antiphonal effects and virtuoso writing that are “the quintessence of the Venetian school.”
Rodolfo Baroncini’s booklet notes tell us that this collection was long overlooked, possibly due to some kind of improper classification, but also likely to be the result of obscurity - if the manuscripts had Gabrieli’s name on them they would have been picked up sooner for sure. Whatever the reason, this complete recording of these works provides us with a kind of musical overview of Picchi’s career: “...the collection contains traces of the composer’s formative and performative experience, his training with Giovanni Croce, evident in the contrapuntal diligence which characterises all of the canzoni, his familiarity with the genre of dance music…” and the list goes on. The lively dotted rhythms of the dance-derived pieces is one of the delights in this set, and the increasing adventurousness of Picchi’s harmonic writing as the collection progresses means that our ears are always being teased with new things.
Careless proofreading has left J.S. Bach’s dates of 1685-1750 printed on the back cover of this release, but other than that this is a very nicely presented album, with an additional commentary on each canzon by Giulia Genini. The notes are also printed in French and Italian, and there is a complete instrumentarium in the back of the booklet which reveals a very fine collection of reproduction instruments. Period instrument making and playing has come such a long way since the 1970s and 80s, and these performances are all beautifully in tune and rich in their variety of sonorities. This is a valuable and highly enjoyable recording which deserves your attention.
Dominy Clements
Previous review: Johan van Veen
