The 1600 of the title should really be circa 1600;
no matter – it’s a convenient peg on which to hang a programme
designed to demonstrate the advances and developments in instrumental
music during the seventeenth century as it moved away from a
mere accompanying role and developed in its own right. Even
a glance at the dates of the composers will reveal that half
of them were not even born in 1600, let alone composing then.
The crucial dates for the development of purely instrumental
music are actually a little earlier than 1600: the publication
in 1587 of Antonio Gabrieli’s Ricercar per suonar and
his nephew Giovanni’s Sonata pian’ e forte (1597).
Nothing here is quite that early – the earliest date given is
1608: the Fantaisie attributed to Rossi the first item
was, presumably, placed first because in it the violin takes
on the role of the human voice, that of Orpheus lamenting the
loss of Euridice.
If that sounds like a mere intellectual exercise, let me say
at once that it’s much more than that. I can think of many other
more vital recordings by Concerto Italiano and Rinaldo Alessandrini
– the list in the booklet serves to remind us how many first-rate
recordings they have made for Naïve/Opus111 – but I very much
enjoyed hearing this new release.
Of the many other first-rate recordings which Concerto Italiano
have made, my own personal favourites are to be found in their
5-CD set of Monteverdi Madrigals (OP30348, also available separately),
Scarlatti and Pergolesi Stabat Mater (OP30160) and
Vivaldi Gloria (OP30195), with a warning that the last
two are taken at a very fast pace. If 1600 is not quite
in that essential category, it’s still very instructive and
very enjoyable indeed.
Brian Wilson
Having reviewed this briefly in my March 2012/2 Roundup,
I passed the CD on to Geoffrey Molyneux for a second, more detailed
opinion:
This is a very interesting CD, giving us a real insight into
the development of instrumental music in its own right, without
reference to texts and voices in seventeenth century Venice,
a city of prime importance in this genre. We hear early examples
of the kind of works which would gradually evolve into the fully-fledged
sonatas and concertos of the more famous later Baroque composers.
All the music here is played by a string quartet consisting
of two violins, viola and cello with the addition of varying
continuo – theorbo, harpsichord and organ.
One of the finest pieces on this disc must surely be the first,
a fantaisie thought to by Luigi Rossi, from his opera
Orfeo, first performed in Paris in 1647. The slow,
tragic opening section is movingly played by Alessandrini’s
players, and this is followed by a dramatic, quicker section.
The high quality of this performance sets the standard for the
rest of the CD.
The canzona ‘La Spiritata’ by Giovanni Gabrieli follows.
It was published in 1608 in an anthology of Venetian music and
is based on an earlier keyboard version. Although it is in a
minor key, it is mostly bright and dance-like in character,
and has a mixture of contrapuntal and simpler chordal sections.
This is a work that has been recorded many times in a variety
of instrumentations. Although the London Symphony Orchestra
Brass plays beautifully on Naxos, it is for me at least, unappealing.
It all sounds too beautiful and too easy on modern instruments,
totally out of style. In fact, I really disliked this CD from
the time when I first bought it. Similarly the American Brass
Quintet’s performance from 1986 sounds inauthentic, so it is
really refreshing to hear this lovely performance from Alessandrini
and his colleagues. They capture the moods of the sections of
the canzona perfectly.
There are two pieces by Tarquinio Merula on this disc. The first
is a really ebullient canzona from the composer’s youth,
and later we hear his Capriccio cromatico transcribed
from a keyboard piece by Alessandrini. It is an affecting and
light-hearted piece, not quite what we expect from a piece with
a chromatic theme.
I only recently became familiar with the music of Dario Castello
during a trip to Venice, and it is a body of work well-worth
investigating. He worked alongside Monteverdi at St Mark’s Basilica,
and like Monteverdi was involved with the evolution of the new
styles and forms being developed at this time. The sonata recorded
here is in several sections full of variety in mood and colour.
A selection of dances from the only known work by Gasparo Zanetti
is recorded here. The dances seem very basic, but they are carefully
crafted and attractive, if musically undemanding. Musica Antiqua
Toulon have also recorded extracts from this work using a variety
of instruments including recorder, and they adopt more contrasting
tempi on the whole, but Alessandrini’s performances sound more
authentic and convincing. To give an idea of the style of these
pieces, they are similar to the more well-known dances contained
in Danserye published a few years later by Tielman
Susato. However Zanetti’s collection is for string instruments,
specifically designed for pedagogical purposes with bowing and
fingering marks.
Biagio Marini’s Passacaglia is set of variations on
a theme, a fine piece of music beautifully played by Alessandrini’s
ensemble. Tafelmusik also perform this music, but with a large
ensemble in a more romantic, if vibrato-less way, in a resonant
acoustic.
Giovanni Legrenzi was a fine and prolific composer, and a founder
of the trio sonata. He is represented here by his sonata, La
Cetra. The opening string motif in unison with harpsichord
sounds a bit out of tune, but this seems to add to the charm.
The opening Andante is the only substantial movement
and consists of a charming melody treated to fairly simple counterpoint.
The remaining movements take under a minute to perform, the
final humorous Presto ending very abruptly. This is
an excellent performance of one of my favourite pieces on the
disc. I heard the Nice Baroque Orchestra perform this piece
with a large ensemble, but Alessandrini’s performance is again
much more sensitive and stylish with great variety of moods
and tempi in each of the four movements.
Like Legrenzi, Giovanni Bononcini was well-travelled and he
became famous throughout Europe. He was very prolific, and the
Sonata da Chiesa recorded here was written when he was only
seventeen. It demonstrates how Bononcini was already competent
in the techniques of counterpoint and harmony of the time.
Giuseppe Torelli, a composer who had a great influence on Vivaldi,
is represented here by his Concerto Grosso Opus 6 No.1. The
performance is light and airy.
The final composer on this disc was previously unknown to me.
Evaristo Dall’Abaco may well have been a pupil of Torelli. His
Concerto Opus 2 No.1 has an opening Largo with delicate
contrapuntal lines and it is played very expressively and touchingly.
The fast movements are performed with great style and panache
and the final Allegro assai brings this disc to a fine
conclusion.
This is a superb release in every way. The music is engaging
and entertaining as well as being excellently played and recorded.
It is also historically informative and instructive and I recommend
it wholeheartedly.
Geoffrey Molyneux
Contents list
Anon. (Luigi ROSSI?
c.1597-1653)
Fantaisie (les pleurs d’Orphée) [3:12]
Giovanni GABRIELI (c.1554-1612)
Canzone a quattro detta la spiritata (1608) [3:05]
Tarquinio MERULA (c.1594-1665)
Capriccio cromatico a 4 [3:02]
Giovanni da MACQUE (c.1550-1614)
Consonanze stravaganti [1:37]
Girolamo FRESCOBALDI (1583-1643)
Canzona quinta a quattro (1614) [3:32]
Tarquinio MERULA
Capriccio cromatico [3:02]
Giovanni SALVATORE (c.1620?-c.1668)
Canzone francese seconda a Quattro (1641) [3:10]
Dario CASTELLO (c.1590-c.1658)
Sonata decima sesta à 4 per stromenti d’arco (1644) [5:56]
Gaspare ZANETTI (fl.1626-1645)
Il scolaro… per imparare a suonare di violino (1645) [9:45]
Biagio MARINI (1594-1663)
Passacaglio a quattro e a tre (1655) [4:04]
Giovanni LEGRENZI (1626-1690)
Sonata seconda a quattro (1662) [6:12]
Giovanni BONONCINI (1670-1747)
Sinfonia quarta (1687) [6:26]
Giuseppe TORELLI (1658-1709)
Concerto for strings, Op.6/1 [5:51]
Evaristo dell’ABACO (1675-1742)
Concerto a quattro da chiesa, Op. 2/1 in d minor (1712)
[7:49]
Mauro Lopes Ferreira, Nicholas Robinson (violins), Ettore Belli
(viola), Luca Peverini (cello), Ugo di Giovanni (theorbo)