Italian Music from the Late Renaissance and Baroque

[Coopmv]

Well, I finally ordered the third installment....and I have to say that I have not had this level of anticipation of a disc arrival in some time.  The first two were fantastic and I am guessing that the third will live up to the first two.  Again, thanks Dave for test driving and sharing your thoughts on this run.

These CD's are great, as I bought all of them in one shot.  Now I have to figure out where they are shelved.   

[The new erato]

You have shelves for them all? A small collection then? 

[Coopmv]

You have shelves for them all? A small collection then? 

Multiple shelves for my CD collection spread across different rooms.  My LP collection takes up a better part of my music room ...

[Bogey]

Multiple shelves for my CD collection spread across different rooms.  My LP collection takes up a better part of my music room ...

As it should be Stuart, as it should be.

[Coopmv]

As it should be Stuart, as it should be.

Bill,  You are probably second to none when it comes to vinyl among the GMG members ...     

[petrarch]

I am enjoying this Sunday morning with three italians that spent a significant portion of, if not most, their lives in the British isles. All excellent, clear performances and recordings:

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[Bogey]

Just heard excerpts here from a composer named Tarquinio Merula.  Anyone here have some on the shelf they would rec.?

[HIPster]

Just heard excerpts here from a composer named Tarquinio Merula.  Anyone here have some on the shelf they would rec.?

Hi Bill -

I highly recommend you check out this fine release:
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Superb playing and sound quality!

[Que]

Considering this, does anyone know it?

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Q

[North Star]

I see Alessandro Melani (1639-1703) hasn't been mentioned here at all.
Alessandrini & Concerto Italiano have recorded one album of his music, and Salve Regina a 9 voci on the album Per la Vergine Maria.
Both discs are marvelous. (See also the customer review at Amz UK)

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[The new erato]

They are both in the "big" (7 disc) reissue box that I was lucky enough to buy at £20, along with a good Monteverdi Vesper and a marvellous reconstructed Vivaldi Vesper service,

[North Star]

They are both in the "big" (7 disc) reissue box that I was lucky enough to buy at £20, along with a good Monteverdi Vesper and a marvellous reconstructed Vivaldi Vesper service,

I paid a couple of quids more for the same box, fantastic discs all of them - the Alessandro Scarlatti disc too.

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[Jo498]

While Albinoni's later (mostly oboe) concerti are quite well known, his earlier, chamber-like pieces are not. Someone above already mentioned his debut, the op.1 trio sonatas on cpo. I second this recommendation and want to add the following disc with his op.2 consisting of "concerti" and "sinfonie" (which are sonatas in the style of Corelli's church sonatas, but with 4 or 5 obligato parts). These pieces are rather different from the simple, melodic oboe concertos. Much closer to Corelli, but more dense, contrapuntal writing; very interesting pieces!

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[Mandryka]

I know three recordings either dedicated to Andrea Gabrieli's keyboard music, or with large selections:

Christopher Stembride, organ, with music by Giovani Gabrieli
Luigi Tagliavini and Liuwe Tamminga, organ, again with music by Giovani
Glen Wilson, harpsichord


Am I missing anything interesting?

[prémont]

I know three recordings either dedicated to Andrea Gabrieli's keyboard music, or with large selections:

Christopher Stembridge, organ, with music by Giovani Gabrieli
Luigi Tagliavini and Liuwe Tamminga, organ, again with music by Giovani
Glen Wilson, harpsichord


Am I missing anything interesting?

Yes, this one:

http://www.amazon.de/Pass-E-Mezzo-Bonizzoni-Fabio/dp/B00002473N/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1421867740&sr=1-1&keywords=bonizzoni+gabrieli

Edit:

I do not know the Stembridge recording, but I would suspect it to be most enjoyable.

A propos A. Gabrieli I searched the recordings listed by Amazon.it and found this:

http://www.amazon.it/Venezianisches-Spinett-Roland-G%C3%B6tz/dp/B000024PSR/ref=sr_1_25?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1421869413&sr=1-25&keywords=andrea+gabrieli

which I ordered at once, knowing Roland Götz as being a very HIP and versatile musician.

[Artem]

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I have that CD. It is so addictive and some of the pieces are almost like pop music, such catchy vocal lines.

[Mandryka]

Yes, this one:

http://www.amazon.de/Pass-E-Mezzo-Bonizzoni-Fabio/dp/B00002473N/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1421867740&sr=1-1&keywords=bonizzoni+gabrieli

Edit:

I do not know the Stembridge recording, but I would suspect it to be most enjoyable.

A propos A. Gabrieli I searched the recordings listed by Amazon.it and found this:

http://www.amazon.it/Venezianisches-Spinett-Roland-G%C3%B6tz/dp/B000024PSR/ref=sr_1_25?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1421869413&sr=1-25&keywords=andrea+gabrieli

which I ordered at once, knowing Roland Götz as being a very HIP and versatile musician.

Thanks. I'll check out the Bonizzoni, it's on spotify. And I can confirm that Stembridge is indeed enjoyable. Re roland Goetz's CD, there's very little on it by Andrea Gabrieli I think.

[prémont]

Re roland Goetz's CD, there's very little on it by Andrea Gabrieli I think.

Yes, and had I been uninterested in the other composers represented, I probably hadn´t ordered it.
But I also rely on Götz. One has to take chances now and then.

[Mandryka]

Francesco Tasini plays Toccatas by Claudio Merulo on Merula's organ at the Conservatory of Parma.

The Toccatas represent one of those big early music comrehensive encyclopedic works - two toccatas for each tone, nearly three hours of music. I'm impressed by the variety of feelings, and a sort of sweetness in Bk 1 at least. Book 2 of the toccatas goes even further in the direction of "great music", more abstract, I would say.

Claudio Tasini is a musician worth exporing I would say. His great strength over the other recordings of Merulo I've heard (Molardi) is that he plays for affekt: the music flows, the agogocs and syncopated rhythms sound natural, the virtuosity is unobtrusive, the registrations are colourful, the organ is dead right for the music, Tasini conveys a sense of abandon and freedom. In addition to this Merulo I've heard some fine Alessandro Scarlatti. Tasini's convinced me that Merulo's keyboard music is in the same league as Frescobaldi and Andrea Gabrieli, and I feel glad that my positive appreciation of Italian music is widening. I need to listen again to Tasini playing Frescobaldi Capricci.

The organ Tasini uses is quite simply wonderful - by turns sharp, sour, sweet and rich. Quality of music and variety of affects and Merulo's distinctive language apart, this is one hell of a recording from the point of view of colour, sound, tone.

[Mandryka]

Yes, and had I been uninterested in the other composers represented, I probably hadn´t ordered it.
But I also rely on Götz. One has to take chances now and then.

I think this was an outstanding suggestion, thank you. A musician whose style is one I like, a lovely instrument, and lots of new music for me to explore. I can see that there are a lot of recordings by Roland Götz by familiar and unfamiliar composers. You were dead right to call him versatile!

Any suggestions for particularly outstanding recordings? Or maybe I'll just buy all of them.

(Slowly the world of Italian baroque keyboard music is starting to reveal itself to me, more masterpieces are coming to light. That's very satisfying.)

http://www.studio-xvii-augsburg.de/cds