Bernardo STORACE
Selva di varie per cimbalo et organo
Francesco Cera (harpsichord
& spinet)
Tactus TC 60901 [69.30]
Almost nothing is known about this original composer from the 17th
Century, because of the continuous earthquakes which afflicted Messina until
the beginning of the 20th Century. One copy has survived of a
large collection of his music, printed in Venice in 1664, and including all
the pieces given here. It consists of a vast florilegium of variations based
upon most of the popular tunes of the time. Storace is able to sustain long
sets of variations without even modulating. His Passagagli sopra A la
mi re varies the decending tetrachord ninety-eight times, reminiscent
of Frescobaldi's Cento partite sopra Passagagli.
Francesco Cera was noted by S&H in a London organ recital
Musica
Transalpina , and
this CD fully vindicates the good impression which remained. He plays a copy
of a Cristofori harpsichord once belonging to Prince Ferdinando de Medici,
a forthright, rather pungent-toned instrument. For contrast there is a sweeter
toned spinet, a copy of a 1663 Neapolitan instrument. Various authentic tunings
(meantone, a Sicilian and a Siracusan temperament) are used, and these give
an added piquancy for those with sharp ears.
With unknown music it is always hard to determine the contribution of composer
and performer to the success of a realisation. I found this an absorbing
and inspiring CD. Cera maintains a steady underlying pulse and holds the
interest through the eleven pieces with subtleties of attack and delay, eschewing
changes of register which an older generation of harpsichordists relied upon
for variety. I played it straight through - which is unusual for me with
collections of shorter pieces.
Cera celebrates the 'infinite creativity' of this mysterious figure in the
liner essay, and I hope that the Parte seconda of this Selva will
be recorded in due course. From hearing it without access to the score, I
endorse the title page's statement that the music would be equally suitable
for organists to be encouraged to explore.
http://www.tactus.it
Peter Grahame Woolf
See
another CD of Storace
