Ariosti - The Flowering and Fading of Love (Cantatas) - Musica Solare

 

Release Date: 08/16/2005 Label: Naxos Number of discs: 1 Composer: Attilio Ariosti Performer: Musica Solare cd info/ buy

Review:

Attilio Ariosti, an Italian composer of the generation of Alessandro Scarlatti, was born in Bologna, and ordained as a priest. His first compositions were oratorios, but after composing his first opera in 1697 he concentrated on writing music for the theatre. A year before he had entered the service of the Duke of Mantua, who sent him to Berlin to the court of Sophie Charlotte, Electress of Brandenburg. He was appointed 'maître de musique' and became Sophie Charlotte's favourite musician. Later on he worked at the imperial court in Vienna, where he was held in high esteem by Joseph I. He worked as one of Joseph I’s diplomats in Italy, and after Joseph's death entered the service of the Duke of Anjou, the future French king Louis XV. His output is rather limited in comparison to that of some of his more famous contemporaries. This is almost certainly down to his many activities as a diplomat, but also as a music teacher and an interpreter; he was a singer and played the keyboard, the cello and the viola d'amore. Darja Großheide writes: "The present cantatas form a sonnet sequence, ranging from 'La Rosa' (The Rose) to 'Il Naufragio' (The Shipwreck) and the final 'La Gelosia' (Jealousy). This has suggested the title 'The Flowering and Fading of Love'". She doesn't give any evidence that Ariosti himself presented these cantatas as a cycle. And at first sight it seems that some of the sonnets have nothing to do with love. But there are several reasons to support Ms Großheide's view. These are very nice cantatas, and the performers fully explore their expressive qualities. The soprano and contralto have beautiful voices, which are very pleasant to listen to, and vividly communicate the feelings of the protagonist. The recitatives are sung with some rhythmic freedom, but the singers could have taken more liberties in this respect. The instrumentalists give fine performances, showing great sensitivity for the way Ariosti has illustrated the text in his music.

 

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Ariosti - The Stockholm Sonatas Vol. 3 - Georgi, Harris, Brinkmann, Kirkby

 

Release Date: 11/24/2009 Label: BIS Number of discs: 1 Composer: Attilio Ariosti Performer: Thomas Georgi,  Harris, Brinkmann, Kirkby cd info/ buy

Review:

The viola d’amore is one of those colorful “accessory” instruments so popular with Baroque composers. Played under the chin like the violin, it has six or seven sympathetic strings running under the fingerboard that are responsible for the instrument’s characteristic silvery sound. Like the oboe d’amore and the voice flute, the viola d’amore was newly invented; it came into use during the second half of the 17th century, but never became a permanent member of the orchestra. Bach, Telemann, Vivaldi, and Quantz wrote sparingly for the viola d’amore, but it dropped out of sight during the Romantic era. Surprisingly, the instrument has persisted until the present day; composers as diverse as Strauss, Janácek, Hindemith, Martin, and Villa-Lobos have been attracted to its gentle, ethereal sound. Thomas Georgi is an American who performed with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra of Australia for many years, and since 1989 has been a member of the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra of Toronto. After joining that group he began to champion the viola d’amore, and has recorded two previous volumes of Ariosti for BIS. Georgi is joined by two excellent instrumentalists, lutenist Lucas Harris and gambist Mimi Yamahiro Brinkmann, and the renowned English soprano Dame Emma Kirkby. The performances are models of their kind, with colorful, expressive playing from Georgi, and first-rate contributions from the two continuo players. I applaud the decision to employ archlute (theorbo) and guitar as continuo instruments; a harpsichord would have overwhelmed the delicate sound of the viola d’amore. Of particular interest is the cantata—it demonstrates that Dame Emma’s voice is as beautiful and controlled as ever, even after nearly 40 years before the public.

 

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Ariosti - The Stockholm Sonatas Vol. 2 - Georgi, Harris, Brinkmann

 

Release Date: 07/24/2007 Label: BIS Number of discs: 1 Composer: Attilio Ariosti Performer: Thomas Georgi,  Lucas Harris,  Mime Yamahiro Brinkmann cd info/ buy

Review:

This CD is the continuation of viola d’amore specialist Thomas Georgi’s The Stockholm Sonatas I (BIS-CD-1535), resurrecting the neglected music of Attilio Ariosti. The first volume consisted of the music published by Ariosti in London as a set of ‘Lessons for the Viola d’Amour’. The works were preserved in Stockholm in a manuscript entitled ‘Receuil de Pièces’ and copied by the Swedish composer Johan Helmich Roman in the late 1710s during his studies in London. Based on the Stockholm manuscript, Georgi has made his own edition of the works. This recording comprises the first 7 of the 15 ‘sonatas’ contained in the Receuil, leaving the remainder for a final, third volume in the series. Thomas Georgi’s Viola d’amore has an ‘alto’ pitch range, but while the general tessitura is lower than a violin, the colour is in fact quite bright. The strings have a thicker, more throaty texture in tone, but the overall effect is highly attractive, and the balance between violoncello and lute, the glue which links the two, is nicely struck. I note that these have been recorded in a different acoustic to volume one, but Bis’s reliably wonderful recording techniques have created another winning balance between close detail and spaciousness.

 

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Ariosti - The Stockholm Sonatas Vol. 1 - Georgi, Harris, Morton

 

Release Date: 06/26/2007 Label: BIS Number of discs: 1 Composer: Attilio Ariosti Performer: Lucas Harris,  Joëlle Morton,  Thomas Georgi cd info/ buy

Review:

Ariosti's style is difficult to pin down. If you know Buxtehude’s chamber music then add a touch of Alessandro Scarlatti and some interesting harmonies and you have something like it. Considerable scholarship has been involved in putting these pieces together. The music is treated to beautiful, well-shaped and authentically-aware performances and these have been captured in an excellent recording which is warm yet with space around it. Despite these virtues one must say that this is, at the end of the day, second-rate music; at best suitable for a sleepy late evening with a bottle of Chianti to hand. Nothing wrong with that, I hear you shout, and quite right too. So if you enjoy the music of this period especially its somewhat queer corners then you should seek out this disc without further ado.

 

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