Geminiani - Concertos grossos op3 - Orchestre Baroque de Montreal

Geminiani - Concertos grossos op3 - Orchestre Baroque de Montreal
Concerto | Eac, flac, cue | log, cover | 1 CD, 401 MB
September 8, 1998 | ATMA | RapidShare

Francesco Geminiani (1687-1762) was an Italian composer, violinist and music theorist. His contemporaries in England, where he spent lengthy spells of his life, considered him the equal of Handel and Corelli (New Grove Dictionary of Music). However, although he was a highly original composer he was not prolific and little of his work survives today. His major musical influence was his teacher, a fellow Italian from a generation earlier, Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713), whose works he often transcribed and arranged (with due acknowledgment to Corelli) for different instrumental combination's. Two of the concerti grossi on this CD, No 6 in G major and No 5 in A minor are arrangements, respectively, of Corelli's Trio Sonatas Op 1 No 9 and Op 3 No 10. The six Op 3 concerti grossi, although original works, closely follow the Corellian model of the concerto grosso.

Geminiani's concerti are in some ways strikingly different to Corelli and represent not simply arrangements or orchestrations, but adventurous explorations and developments of Corelli's original ideas. They are superb works that deserve to be much more widely performed and listened to. The Orchestre Baroque de Montréal was formed only in 1989 and as well as performing it instigates musicological research into the Baroque period. Their performance on these recordings, directed from the keyboard by Jöel Thiffault, is superb and the recording and sound quality is very good throughout.


CD Content

Concerti Grossi (6), for 2 violins, viola, cello, strings & continuo, Op. 3
Concerto Grosso, for 2 violins, viola, cello, strings & continuo No. 6 in G major (after Corelli Op. 1/9)
Concerto Grosso, for 2 violins, viola, cello, strings & continuo No. 5 in A minor (after Corelli 3/10)