Italy, c. 1600 Part 2

Program: #14-27   Air Date: Jun 30, 2014

NOTE: This is the second of two programs looking at recent releases centering on the musical scene in Italy at the cusp of the Baroque.

I. Verso Venezia: Castello/Merula/Legrenzi Sonate & Canzoni (Pallade Muisca). Atma CD ACD2 2697.

ATMA presents the first CD by Pallade Musica, the 2012 Grand Prize winners at the Early Music America Baroque Performance Competition in New York. Pallade Musica brings together four of Montreal’s most promising Early Music performers: Tanya LaPerrière, Baroque violin; Elinor Frey, Baroque cello; Esteban La Rotta, theorbo, and Mylène Bélanger, harpsichord. The ensemble focuses on repertoire for violin, cello and continuo.

Two genres are offered in this program: the canzona and the sonata from 17th century in Venice. Although they use the same instruments, belong to the same style, and sound quite similar, these two genres have very different origins and aesthetic purposes. Verso Venezia includes music written by Dario Castello, Giovanni Legrenzi and Tarquinio Merula — Venetian composers who were at the forefront of the transformation of the canzona into the sonata form.

TRACK LIST

Dario Castello (1590-1658)
Sonate concertate in stil moderno
1. Libro I (Venice, 1621) *Sonata Sesta per soprano, trombone ovvero violetta e b.c.
2. Libro II (Venice, 1629) *Sonata prima per soprano e b.c.
3. *Sonata secunda per soprano e b.c.
4. *Sonata settima a 2. Sopran e fagotto overo viola
5. *Sonata ottava a 2. Sopran e fagotto overo viola

Tarquinio Merula (1607-1665)
from Il quarto libro delle canzoni da suonare, a 2–3 (Venice, 1651)
6. Canzon decima quarta “La Cappellina”
7. Canzon decima quinta “La Tinta”
8. La Monteverde
9. Miradoro
10. Scarinza

Giovanni Legrenzi (1626-1690)
11. op. 2 (Venice, 1655), *Sonata no. 4 “La Foscari”
12. *Sonata no. 5 “La Donata”
13. op. 8, * Sonata no. 5 “La Galini”
14. op. 10 “La Cetra” (Venice, 1673), *Sonata no. 4
15. *Sonata no. 5

II. Giovanni Battista Fontana: Sonate a violino ad altri strumenti (Stradivaria/Daniel Cuiller). Mirare CD MIR 214.

Born in Brescia around 1571, Giovanni Battista Fontana lived in Venice, Rome and Padua, where he died during the plague of 1630. His music surprises by the mastery of counterpoint, the simplicity and the expression of its slow movements, the complexity of its ornamentation and the elegant vivacity of its short dance sections. Nicknamed 'dal Violino' and described as "one of the most singular virtuosos the age has seen". Fontana has left us an outstanding example of early Baroque instrumental music. On this release, Daniel Cuiller leads the ensemble Stradivaria in a selection of sonatas.

1. Sonata undecima a due violini col basso
2. Sonata 4 a violino solo e basso
3. Sonata 1 a flauto solo col basso
4. Sonata 5 a violin sol e basso
5. Sonata ottava a due violini col basso
6. Sonata 2 a violin solo e basso
7. Sonata 3 a flauto solo col basso
8. Sonata 6 a violin solo e basso
9. Sonata settima a due violini col basso

III. Ciaramella—Dances On Movable Ground (Ciaramella/Adam Knight Gilbert & Rotem Gilbert). Yarlung CD 96819.

Ciaramella Ensemble ventures "toward modern times" with intoxicating dance melodies from musicians who lived from the 1500s into the Baroque era, and includes new compositions by Adam Gilbert as well. Ground bass patterns underlie all of this music; sometimes one can hear it clearly and sometimes the ground bass line is veiled within the polyphony. Ciaramella artistic directors Adam and Rotem Gilbert lead the ensemble, which includes music on theorbo, Baroque guitar, viola da gamba, drums and percussion, harpsichord, wind instruments (including recorders, Renaissance brass, shawms), and hurdy gurdy.
"...Ciaramella plays this music with conviction and expressiveness and makes it accessible for contemporary audiences. One certainly can’t ask for more.

"...Ciaramella makes it fun. They bring a sense of history to the works they play, but their concerts aren’t dry academic exercises. They bring the music of the renaissance to life. A concert by Ciaramella is a delightful and entertaining excursion to a bygone era.

"And the... members of the group obviously enjoy what they’re doing. For them this music is as much alive today as it was in Richard III’s time – and that attitude and approach are what set them apart from many other early music ensembles."
Edward Reichel

“From the nobility of Europe, to the petit bourgeoisie reading Thonoit’s Arbeau’s Orchesographie, to the already pregnant bride in Brueghel’s The Peasant Wedding, everybody danced their way through the rituals of life…. Their music, like their dance, reflected a delicate balance between the restraints of culture and convention, and ingenious flourishes of improvisation….”
Adam Gilbert

1 Jácaras - Gaspar Sanz (2:40)
2 L'eroica a tre y ciacona for 2 violins, bass & continuo - Andrea Falconieri t (3:59)
3 Battaglia de Barabosa yerno de Satanas - Andrea Falconieri (3:46)
4 Canario (Montecatini Terme, Fondo Venturi B8, p.44) - Anonymous, Italian(2:46)
5 Passacalle (from Il primo libro de canzoni) - Andrea Falconieri (5:25)
6 Aria Decima Quarta (14) sopra La mia Pedrina, for 2 violins & continuo (from Op. 4) - Marco Uccellini (3:59)
7 Recercada No 8 - Diego Ortiz (2:25)
8 Greensleeves to a Ground - Anonymous, English (3:11)
9 Jácaras - Gaspar Sanz (3:10)

Composer Info

Gaspar Sanz, Diego Ortiz, Marco Uccellini, Andrea Falconieri, Gaspar Sanz, Adam Gilbert, Giovanni Battista Fontana (1571-1630), Dario Castello (1590-1658), Giovanni Legrenzi (1626-1690), Tarquinio Merula (1607-1665),

CD Info

Atma CD A,CD2 2697, Yarlung CD 96819, Mirare CD MIR 214,