Italian Music from the Late Renaissance and Baroque

Started by Que, July 27, 2007, 06:52:19 AM

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Que

Let's give Italian Baroque music also a proper home on this forum - Vivaldi already has his own thread: Vivaldi recordings.
Please post your recommendations and questions on Italian Baroque. We'll see how it goes.... ::)



                      Audio Clips

Besides the beautiful cover and the fact that Ottavio Danone now seems enlisted with Decca,
the unusual repertoire also caught my eye. It's rather new, but does anyone already know it?

Q


71 dB

#1
Corelli, Locatelli, A. & D. Scarlatti, Carissimi, Caldara, Albinoni,...

Here is 2 less known Italian baroque composers on Naxos Label.
Good performances by Le Concert Sprituel/Hervé Niquet

Orazio Benevolo (1605-1672)

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Paolo Lorenzani (1640-1713)



This is my favorite "Christmas" CD. Concertos and Cantatas by Stradella, Marcello, Scarlatti, Albinoni and Corelli. I especially like Stefan Schilli's Oboe playing.

[asin]B00002EPSH[/asin]
Spatial distortion is a serious problem deteriorating headphone listening.
Crossfeeders reduce spatial distortion and make the sound more natural
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bwv 1080

Arguably D. Scarlatti should be considered a Spanish rather than Italian composer.  He would have never wrote the music he did had he remained in Italy

Que

Quote from: 71 dB on July 27, 2007, 07:30:25 AM
Here is 2 less known Italian baroque composers on Naxos Label.
Good performances by Le Concert Sprituel/Hervé Niquet

I've been greatly impressed by Niquet in the French repertoire, thanks 71 dB! :)

Quote from: bwv 1080 on July 27, 2007, 07:32:06 AM
Arguably D. Scarlatti should be considered a Spanish rather than Italian composer.  He would have never wrote the music he did had he remained in Italy

Maybe we should include Spanish Baroque in this thread? :)

BTW, was Dominico Scarlatti influenced by Spanish Baroque or did he write in that style IYO?

Q

Tancata

Well, there is also Claudio Monteverdi, who doesn't have his own thread at the moment (he's a baroque composer, right?  :P).

Some recommendations for the operas:

Rene Jacobs' DVD of L'Orfeo. Minimalist staging with lots of well-executed dancing, great performance with Simon Keenleyside an excellent Orfeo (better than Anthony Rolfe Johnson for Gardiner or Ian Bostridge for Emmanuelle Haim).

William Christie's DVD of Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria - superb use of "singing actors" rather than pure singers to bring the drama to life.

For the 1610 Vespers, two excellent and contrasting versions are Robert King on Hyperion, which is a superb "standard" version - excellent singing and playing. Paul McCreesh on Archiv is quite different, using a very sparse continuo much of the time and fewer singers - a more risky performance but very memorable.

A question: What good DVD versions of L'incoronazione di Poppea exist? I have the Rene Jacobs one from 1993 and it's alright, but I don't like the drab production or some of the singing (Nerone is transposed down to the tenor range altering the effect of his duets with Poppea, and Jeffrey Gall is a weird choice for Ottone).

Is the Pierre Audi Monteverdi cycle any good?

Apologies if this post stretches the definition of the Italian baroque...  8)

Que

Quote from: Tancata on July 27, 2007, 07:57:59 AM
Well, there is also Claudio Monteverdi, who doesn't have his own thread at the moment (he's a baroque composer, right?  :P).

General opion is that Monteverdi was a transitional figure who qualifies as a Renaissance and a Baroque composer.
So he is more than welcome! ;D And so are your recommendations. :)

Q

71 dB

Quote from: Que on July 27, 2007, 07:35:54 AM
I've been greatly impressed by Niquet in the French repertoire, thanks 71 dB! :)

No problem Que!

I've been greatly impressed by Niquet in the French repertoire too.  ;)
Spatial distortion is a serious problem deteriorating headphone listening.
Crossfeeders reduce spatial distortion and make the sound more natural
and less tiresome in headphone listening.

My Sound Cloud page <-- NEW Jan. 2024 "Harpeggiator"

bwv 1080

Quote from: Que on July 27, 2007, 07:35:54 AM


Maybe we should include Spanish Baroque in this thread? :)

BTW, was Dominico Scarlatti influenced by Spanish Baroque or did he write in that style IYO?

Q

Its hard to say.  Probably Spanish folk musics were the stronger influence (but of course they also influenced other Spanish baroque composers).   There is alot of guitar strumming in Scarlatti's keyboard pieces.

Josquin des Prez

#8
Quote from: bwv 1080 on July 27, 2007, 07:32:06 AM
Arguably D. Scarlatti should be considered a Spanish rather than Italian composer.  He would have never wrote the music he did had he remained in Italy

Actually, i think a certain amount of his sonatas date from before his Spanish period so, no. There's a lot of the Italian in the music of Scarlatti, more then it's given credit for. The problem is that Italian composers preferred the medium of the concerto rather then the keyboard, so it's easy to miss the connection, but just listen to Bach's concerto in the Italian style and you'll notice quite a few similarities with a lot of Scarlatti's sonatas.

If you want a comparison take k69 (where the influence of Spanish music is quite clear) and then listen to k70, which is a toccata in a clear Italian voice.

Harry

Quote from: Que on July 27, 2007, 06:52:19 AM
Let's give Italian Baroque music also a proper home on this forum - Vivaldi already has his own thread: Vivaldi recordings.
Please post your recommendations and questions on Italian Baroque. We'll see how it goes.... ::)



                      Audio Clips

Besides the beautiful cover and the fact that Ottavio Danone now seems enlisted with Decca,
the unusual repertoire also caught my eye. It's rather new, but does anyone already know it?

Q




Its on my order list Que, and what I heard of it, its darn good. Also 9.99 euro for a SACD.
I saw it announced a few weeks ago. :)

Harry

Que, adding to this thread is the following excellent recording of these Italian composers:

On Capriccio, 3 discs full with goodies.

Angelo Ragazzi
Giuseppe Antonio Avitrano.
Francesco Barbella.
Pietro Marchitelli.
Nicola Fiorenza.
Emanuelle Barbella.

I bet you did not know those names, now did you?
This is fine music my friend, and for the budget price I bought it for at JPC, is a true bargain.


Harry

O, and before I forget, I must post this beauty too, again a unknown composer for you, but boy what fine music. :)

Steve

Excellent thread, Que  :)

I would add to the fine list already here a performance of the Concerti Grossi of Corelli




Scriptavolant

#13
There is another quite good recording of Corelli's Concerti Grossi, which is the one with Biondi and Europa Galante.



Some fine disc I would recommend are:

Pietro Castrucci, Concerti Grossi Op.3. Not an innovator, but a skillful craftsman. These works are notably tuneful and pleasing.

Another one is Alessandro Scarlatti, 6 Concerti Grossi. Very fine recording also on a purely audio-quality point of view.

For what concerns the more general issue, I think there are a couple of names which cannot be set aside when speaking about Italian Baroque.
Francesco Geminiani (1687-1762) and Giuseppe Torelli (1658-1709).

Gurn Blanston

A few of my own favorite, off-the-beaten-path IB composers include Marcello, Bonporti and Geminiani. All 3 produced some very nice concerti, ala Corelli. Another, more well known, is Locatelli, whose Op 3  "L'Arte del Violono" pretty much says all you need to know about the state of the art in violin playing in the first half of the 18th century. :)

I'll look up the recordings I have of the first 3 tonight and link them. Not bad, not bad at all!

8)
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Haydn: that genius of vulgar music who induces an inordinate thirst for beer - Mily Balakirev (1860)

Que

Quote from: Harry on July 27, 2007, 10:00:26 AM
Que, adding to this thread is the following excellent recording of these Italian composers:

On Capriccio, 3 discs full with goodies.

Angelo Ragazzi
Giuseppe Antonio Avitrano.
Francesco Barbella.
Pietro Marchitelli.
Nicola Fiorenza.
Emanuelle Barbella.

I bet you did not know those names, now did you?
This is fine music my friend, and for the budget price I bought it for at JPC, is a true bargain.

Thans for the rec. Harry! Of course I'd just like to know... ;D are those recordings on period instruments?

Quote from: Scriptavolant on July 27, 2007, 01:18:05 PM
There is another quite good recording of Corelli's Concerti Grossi, which is the one with Biondi and Europa Galante.

Another one is Alessandro Scarlatti, 6 Concerti Grossi. Very fine recording also on a purely audio-quality point of view.

The Biondi/Corelli recording seems a winner!
Very interested in Alessandro Scarlatti. And Dantone and his group are very good.

Speaking of wich - I was wondering: Any comments on this new Corelli violin sonatas recording?


              click picture for link

Q

Harry

Quote from: Que on July 28, 2007, 11:17:46 PM
Thans for the rec. Harry! Of course I'd just like to know... ;D are those recordings on period instruments

Q

It is not mentioned Que, but they sound like it, and a look at their instruments make me think so, but I will look on their website, to get a confirmation of that.
Goodmorning to you my friend. :)

Josquin des Prez

Quote from: Steve on July 27, 2007, 10:18:32 AM
Excellent thread, Que  :)

I would add to the fine list already here a performance of the Concerti Grossi of Corelli





That's actually one of the finest recordings Pinnock as ever made. A great companion to his Handel's Op.6, which were written after the style of Corelli in the first place...

SonicMan46

#18
Q - wanted to check my classical music database just to 'see' which composers I had from this era; below is my current list (a few are on either end of the transition, assuming a time period of 1600-1750 or so is considered the guideline):

A number of these composers have already been posted, and there are more mentioned, esp. by 71 dB & Harry, that I need to checkout myself:

Albinoni, Tomaso (1671-1751)
Allegri, Gregoria (1582-1652)
Bonporti, Francesco (1672-1749)
Caldara, Antonio (1670-1736)
Corelli, Arcangelo (1653-1713)
Geminiani, Francesco (1687-1762)
Locatelli, Pietro (1695-1764)
Monteverdi, Claudio (1567-1643)
Scarlatti, Alessandro (1660-1725)
Scarlatti, Domenico (1685-1757)
Tartini, Giuseppe (1692-1770)
Vivaldi, Antonio (1678-1741)

Except for Vivaldi (of course), probably the one above that I have the most discs is Pietro Locatelli (bought a bunch from BRO last year -  ;D):

Concerti Grossi, Op. 1; L'Arte del Violino; Sonatas, Op. 8; Flute Sonatas, Op. 2 & 5 - these are all multi-disc sets (first 3 from Hyperion & the flute works on Brilliant); plus, there are plenty more available on him that likely warrant consideration -  :D

 

 

Que

#19
Quote from: Que on July 28, 2007, 11:17:46 PM
Speaking of wich - I was wondering: Any comments on this new Corelli violin sonatas recording?


              click picture for link

Q

They must have read my request at Classicstoday.... ;D

Q

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ARCANGELO CORELLI
12 Violin Sonatas Op. 5
Stefano Montanari (violin) Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone
Arts Music- 47724-8(SACD)
Reference Recording - Melkus (Archiv), Kuijken (Accent), Holloway (Novalis)


Add yet another wonderful performance to the growing list of recordings of Arcangelo Corelli's glorious Op. 5 Violin Sonatas. In fact, this is the Accademia Bizantina's second cycle on CD (the first was recorded for Frequenz in 1990 as part of the group's complete Corelli edition), and in some respects it surpasses that otherwise excellent previous effort. For instance, violin soloist Stefano Montanari is more lucid and stylishly adept at drawing out the work's chromatic and rhythmic possibilities than the group's former director and violin soloist Carlo Chiarappa.

As with the Accademia Bizantina's earlier recording, the ensemble's conductor/harpsichordist Ottavio Dantone (who played the harpsichord as well as organ during the Frequenz sessions) has wisely chosen to opt for a full continuo (Corelli scored the sonatas for violin, viola da gamba, and harpsichord, though was known to encourage the use of additional instrumentation), occasionally supplemented by a second violin, archlute, and baroque guitar. Unlike its earlier effort, the superior engineering on this Arts SACD allows us to hear the often-luxurious array of instrumental timbres with far greater clarity and sonic richness. All told, this outstanding achievement must be ranked among the top period-instrument performances of these works to date. [2/1/2007]


--John Green