Francois Couperin - Les Nations

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 Reinhard Goebel explains his concept thus: Couperin didn't publish these pieces until 1726, but by this time they would have been considered very old-fashioned as they reflect the way of composing and playing of some thirty years previously. Goebel surmises that Couperin, who probably used some older compositions and then added "L'Impériale", was obliquely criticising the modern practice of the "Concert spirituel" and at the same time attempting to conserve something of the style current at the end of the 17th century. In their decisions, which instruments to use for this recording, Musica Antiqua Köln assumed that the pieces had been written around 1695. - The instructions Couperin gives are here followed exactly, and the character of each of the dance movements and of the individual parts of the opening sonatas (that was something of a novum despite the old-fashioned character of the whole) are made very plain, whether it be "nobly" or "gayly" or a more serious tone that is to be found. The flutes and violins often engage in musical conversation, and the bass line of viola da gamba and harpsichord is clearly captured without ever being obtrusive.

contents:

Premier Ordre: La Francoise
Second Ordre: L'Espagnole
Troisieme Ordre: L'Imperiale
Quatrieme Ordre: La Piemontoise


Musica Antiqua Koln
dir. Reinhard Goebel

Reinhard Goebel, Hajo Bas (violin)
Wilbert Hazelzet, Philippe Suzanne (flute)
Jaap ter Linden (viola da gamba)
Henk Bouman (harpsichord)

Antonio Vivaldi - Gloria RV 589 & Magnificat RV 610b

28 tracks - MP3 192 Kbps - RAR 98 Mb

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Nothing on the exterior packaging of this disc of Vivaldi choral works gives the potential buyer a clue as to the unusual quality of the performances of the celebrated Gloria, RV 589, the Magnificat, RV 610b, and other choral works contained therein. Conductor Andrew Parrott and his Taverner Choir and players set themselves the task of answering a puzzling question: given that these works were likely written for Vivaldi's all-girl choir at the Ospedale della Pietà, the orphanage where he served as music director, how were the tenor and bass parts performed? The girls were segregated from males, except for Vivaldi himself. The disc represents an attempt at an "authentic" reproduction of how the Ospedale choir sounded to its celebrated visitors, including the oversexed Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who apparently talked his way past the iron grillwork that separated the singers from the audience and wrote that he "felt a shiver of love such as I had never felt before." Rousseau and numerous other observers wrote about Vivaldi's choir, and none ever mentioned hearing women sing in unusually low voices. Parrott reasons, therefore, that the tenor and bass parts were transposed up an octave, resulting in a texture with two soprano and two alto parts, and that the usual SATB version was intended for sales to performers at other venues.
It's definitely odd hearing the Gloria sung this way; the voice parts cross, and the work's big soprano lines seem crowded. Still, the performance, which is interspersed with pieces of Gregorian chant, represents an interesting historical exercise. And the Magnificat, with more passages of homophonic texture, and some of the disc's single-movement pieces work much better. (Of course it's possible that Vivaldi devised different transposition solutions for different works.) The Taverner Choir adopts an airy tone that can easily enough be imagined to be that of a group of teenage girls. The same can't be said of the four soloists, mature singers whose sound contrasts sharply with that of the choir. Youthful, light-voiced singers would have been a better fit for Parrott's concept. Let the buyer sample and beware, but this is one Vivaldi Gloria that certainly stands out from the huge crowd of recordings of the work.

Review by James Manheim

contents:

Kyrie 'Cum jubilo'
Gloria, RV 589
Sinfonia 'Al Santo Sepolcro', RV 169
Laetatus sum, RV 607 (Salmo 121)
Hymnus, Ave maris stella
Magnificat, RV 610b
Antiphona, Salve Regina
Laudate Dominum omnes gentes, RV 606 (Salmo 116)
Sonata 'al Santo Seprolcro', RV 130
In exitu Israel (Salmo 113)

Taverner Choir
Taverner Consort and Players
dir. Andrew Parrott

Giuseppe Torelli - 12 Concerti Grossi, Op. 8

2 CD - MP3 192 Kbps - RAR 124MB

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12 Concerti Grossi, Op. 8
con una Pastorale per
il Santissimo Natale


Concerto for two violins in C major, Op. 8 n. 1
Concerto for two violins in a minor, Op. 8 n. 2
Concerto for two violins in E major, Op. 8 n. 3
Concerto for two violins in B flat major, Op. 8 n. 4
Concerto for two violins in G major, Op. 8 n. 5
Concerto a quattro in forma di Pastorale
per il Santissimo Natale in G minor, Op. 8 n. 6

Concerto for violin in d minor, Op. 8 n. 7
Concerto for violin in c minor, Op. 8 n. 8
Concerto for violin in e minor, Op. 8 n. 9
Concerto for violin in A major, Op. 8 n. 10
Concerto for violin in F major, Op. 8 n. 11
Concerto for violin in D major, Op. 8 n. 12


 Louis Kaufman and George Ales, Violins
Roger Albin, Cello
Ruggero Gerlin, Harpsichord

L'Ensemble Orchestral de L'Oiseau-Lyre
dir. Louis Kaufman

Forqueray & Dollé - Late French Viol Music

15 tracks - MP3 192 Kbps - RAR 84 Mb

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contents:

Charles Dollé - Deuxième Suite in C minor
Antoine Forqueray - Troisième Suite in D major

Wieland Kuijken, Viola da gamba
Sigiswald Kuijken, Viola da gamba
Robert Kohnen, Harpsichord

Neapolitan Flute Concertos

15 tracks - MP3 192 Kbps - RAR 117Mb


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Auser Musici’s recordings for Hyperion have been praised for their stylish period-instrument charm and lithe, flexible, elegant sound. They have rediscovered many hidden gems of the Italian baroque repertoire. Works featuring the flute are something of a speciality of the ensemble and their disc of Boccherini Flute Quintets was highly acclaimed. The baroque flute virtuoso Carlo Ipata returns for this latest release.
Previously concentrating on music of Tuscan origin, Auser Musici now turns to 18th century Naples. The city at this period was an extraordinarily fecund artistic crucible, with many commissioning opportunities for young composers.
The composers recorded here are contemporaries of the great composers such as Porpora who were at the forefront of the achievements of Neapolitan music in the first half of the eighteenth century; and the startling quality of the music demonstrates the richness of the artistic life of the age.

MORE INFOS

contents:


Giuseppe De Majo - Flute Concerto in G major
Gennaro Rava - Flute Concerto in b minor
Tommaso Prota - Flute Concerto in C major
Niccolò Jommelli - Flute Concerto in D major
Antonio Palella - Flute Concerto n°2 in G major

Carlo Ipata, baroque flute
Auser Musici

Spicy - Exotic Music for Violin

36 tracks - MP3 192 Kbps - 106 RAR Mb

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Austrian baroque music, spiced with oriental exoticness, virtuosity, scordatura, programmatic approaches, dulcimer & percussion, played on violins by Jacobus Stainer.

 

contents:

JOHANN HEINRICH SCHMELZER (um 1623--1680)
"Die Fechtschule" · Balletto a quattro in G major
HEINRICH IGNAZ FRANZ BIBER (1644--1704)
Partia VI from Harmonia Artificiosa-Ariosa for two violins and continuo, in D major
HEINRICH IGNAZ FRANZ BIBER
Sonata violino solo representativa for violin and continuo, in A major
JOHANN JOSEPH FUX (1660--1741)
"Turcaria", Partita a tre, K 331 for two violins and continuo, in C major
ANDREAS ANTON SCHMELZER (1653--1701)
Sonata "Die Türkenschlacht bei Wien 1683" for violin and continuo, in A minor
HEINRICH IGNAZ FRANZ BIBER
Partia III from Harmonia Artificiosa-Ariosa for two violins and continuo, in A major

 

MERET LÜTHI violin & direction
LES PASSIONS DE L'AME