Bach - Trio Sonatas - Musica Pacifica

Bach - Trio Sonatas - Musica Pacifica
Chamber | Eac, flac, cue | log, cover | 1 CD, 378 MB
May 1, 2001 | Virgin Veritas | RapidShare

Even today, after so many years of "historically informed performance practice", one occasionally still hears the complaint that musicians who have devoted themselves to playing early music on period instruments produce "museum sound"; others accuse them of being "slavishly bound" to the original. There could scarcely be better proof of what utter nonsense some people write than the CD of Bach's Trio Sonatas by Musica Pacifica. Bach conceived this music for a solo organist playing the two melody parts on two manuals and the basso continuo with his feet on the pedals. Realizing that Bach himself, however, was fond of rewriting his own music for various other combinations of instruments (and that he had, in fact, done so with one of the movements from this set of six sonatas), Judith Linsenberg set herself the task of converting them into sonatas for recorder (her own instrument), violin and continuo. Then, having done that, Musica Pacifica went about playing them with an ease and gaiety that caused the editor of a German-language Early Music magazine to speak of "roguish playfulness" and the "lightness of [Californian] being" and to award the recording his "Disc of the Month" status ("Alte Musik aktuell", September 1996).

Assuming that transcription is a legitimate means of transporting musical thought across the centuries, then this must be categorized as a highly successful and entertaining disc, and one that surely makes the structures of Bach's music much more transparent than they would be if the music were played on an organ. This is really "pretty" baroque music, comparable only with the very best of Telemann. If there is to be any criticism, it would perhaps be that during the recording sessions Judith Linsenberg appears to have been standing some way in front of the other players, thus slightly disadvantaging Elizabeth Blumenstock with her lovely violin tone.--Amazon

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750): Trio Sonatas for Recorder, Violin and Basso Continuo. Arranged by Judith Linsenberg from the Trio Sonatas for Organ BWV 525 - 530. Performed by Musica Pacifica: Judith Linsenberg, alto recorder and voice flute; Elizabeth Blumenstock, violin; Elisabeth Le Guin, violoncello; Edward Parmentier, harpsichord. Recorded at Pony Tracks Ranch, Portola Valley, California from 11th to 14th May, 1992. Sponsored by the American Recorder Society and a number of private donors. Released in 1996 on Virgin Classics 7243 5 45192 2 2.

CD Content

# Trio Sonata for organ No. 5 in C major, BWV 529 (BC J5)
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
with Judith Linsenberg, Musica Pacifica, Edward Parmentier, Elisabeth Guin, Elizabeth Blumenstock

# Trio Sonata for organ No. 4 in E minor, BWV 528 (BC J4)
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
with Judith Linsenberg, Musica Pacifica, Edward Parmentier, Elisabeth Guin, Elizabeth Blumenstock

# Trio Sonata for organ No. 6 in G major, BWV 530 (BC J6)
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
with Judith Linsenberg, Musica Pacifica, Edward Parmentier, Elisabeth Guin, Elizabeth Blumenstock

# Trio Sonata for organ No. 3 in D minor, BWV 527 (BC J3)
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
with Judith Linsenberg, Musica Pacifica, Edward Parmentier, Elisabeth Guin, Elizabeth Blumenstock

# Trio Sonata for organ No. 2 in C minor, BWV 526 (BC J2)
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
with Judith Linsenberg, Musica Pacifica, Edward Parmentier, Elisabeth Guin, Elizabeth Blumenstock

Musica Pacifica - Fire Beneath My Fingers (Vivaldi-Tartini-Sammartini) (flac)

Musica Pacifica - Fire Beneath My Fingers (Vivaldi-Tartini-Sammartini)
Concerto | Eac, flac, cue | log, cover | 1 CD, 329 MB
May 13, 2008 | Dorian Recordings | RapidShare

Musica Pacifica takes its name from the Ocean by which the members live, but there's nothing pacific about their performance of these six Italian concerti. Instead, by their choice of repertoire and by their stylistic decisions, these musicians seem determined to put the swagger back in Baroque. Remember, Italy around 1700 was still a culture of arrogance, where grandees in black velvet carried swords. Musica Pacifica's fiery performances would have served the young blades of Venice and Naples for a ball or for a brawl.

Much of the 'Fire Beneath the Fingers' comes from the red-hot recorder chops of Judith Linsenberg. A Fulbright Scholar to Austria, Linsenberg earned a Soloist Diploma with Highest Honors from the Vienna Academy of Music. She performs regularly with Philharmonia Baroque and the American Bach Soloists, and teaches at Stanford and the San Francisco Conservatory. Her agility on the soprano recorder, on Giuseppe Sammartini's Concerto in F Major, is phenomenal; she's truly a flame-thrower of passionate passage work.

Elizabeth Blumenstock is a soloist and concert-mistress with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. She's adept at a dark, masculine style of fiddling, exactly suited to the music of Giuseppe Tartini, whose Concerto in A Major she performs dramatically on this CD. She's also a wonderfully supportive ensemble player; it's her ability to complement the phrasing of Linsenberg's recorder that makes Musica Pacifica so tight in ensemble.

Michael McCraw is a guest artist with Musica Pacifica, but his robust bassoon playing throws wood on their fire. McCraw is the former principal basson with Tafelmusik Orchestra of Toronto, and currently director of the Early Music Institute at Indiana University. The keyless Baroque bassoon he plays on these concerti is quite a different horn from the modern bassoon, not as mechanically crisp but warmer and more voice-like in timbre. McCraw matches Linsemberg's alto recorder lick for lick on the Vivaldi sonata and concerto for bassoon and recorder. Then McCraw exploits the reedy eloquence of his instrument, which has the raw verve of a bass saxophone at times, on Vivaldi's Concerto in B-flat Major.

MP is an ensemble not afraid to make a statement. Listen to what they do with Vivaldi's familiar "La Tempesta di Mare". It doesn't sound like any other performance you're likely to hear, partly because MP has combined versions of the concerto from different manuscript sources and partly because they've taken Baroque liberty to choose their instrumentation. Their Tempesta is truly stormy - big and bold, with the bassoon pounding the sea wall of continuo and the recorder, replacing the usual breathy flute, flashing lightning bolts of ornamentation through the churning strings.

This is a recording that will force some listeners to re-evaluate the music of the Red Priest and his contemporaries. Certainly there was elegance and symmetry in the Baroque, but there was also flamboyance and flair. Musica Pacifica blends both temperaments in a stunning performance.--Amazon


Tracks:
01 - Musica Pacifica - Vivaldi: Concerto In F For Recorder, 2 Violins & Continuo, RV 98/570, "La Tempesta Di Mare" - Allegro (02:23)
02 - Musica Pacifica - Vivaldi: Concerto In F For Recorder, 2 Violins & Continuo, RV 98/570, "La Tempesta Di Mare" - Largo (01:38)
03 - Musica Pacifica - Vivaldi: Concerto In F For Recorder, 2 Violins & Continuo, RV 98/570, "La Tempesta Di Mare" - Presto (02:18)
04 - Musica Pacifica - Tartini: Concerto In A For Violin, Strings & Continuo, D 91 - Allegro (07:27)
05 - Musica Pacifica - Tartini: Concerto In A For Violin, Strings & Continuo, D 91 - Adagio (05:18)
06 - Musica Pacifica - Tartini: Concerto In A For Violin, Strings & Continuo, D 91 - Presto (04:27)
07 - Musica Pacifica - Vivaldi: Sonata In A Minor, Recorder, Bassoon & Continuo, RV 86 - Largo (02:41)
08 - Musica Pacifica - Vivaldi: Sonata In A Minor, Recorder, Bassoon & Continuo, RV 86 - Allegro (02:31)
09 - Musica Pacifica - Vivaldi: Sonata In A Minor, Recorder, Bassoon & Continuo, RV 86 - Largo Cantabile (01:57)
10 - Musica Pacifica - Vivaldi: Sonata In A Minor, Recorder, Bassoon & Continuo, RV 86 - Allegro Molto (02:14)
11 - Musica Pacifica - Sammartini (G): Concerto In F For Soprano Recorder, Strings & Continuo - Allegro (03:55)
12 - Musica Pacifica - Sammartini (G): Concerto In F For Soprano Recorder, Strings & Continuo - Siciliano (05:17)
13 - Musica Pacifica - Sammartini (G): Concerto In F For Soprano Recorder, Strings & Continuo - Allegro Assai (03:59)
14 - Musica Pacifica - Vivaldi: Concerto In G Minor For Rcorder, Violin, Bassoon & Continuo, RV 106 - Allegro (02:51)
15 - Musica Pacifica - Vivaldi: Concerto In G Minor For Rcorder, Violin, Bassoon & Continuo, RV 106 - Largo (02:39)
16 - Musica Pacifica - Vivaldi: Concerto In G Minor For Rcorder, Violin, Bassoon & Continuo, RV 106 - Allegro (02:30)
17 - Musica Pacifica - Vivaldi: Concerto In B Flat For Bassoon, Strings & Continuo, RV 503 - Allegro Non Molto (04:44)
18 - Musica Pacifica - Vivaldi: Concerto In B Flat For Bassoon, Strings & Continuo, RV 503 - Largo (03:36)
19 - Musica Pacifica - Vivaldi: Concerto In B Flat For Bassoon, Strings & Continuo, RV 503 - Allegro (03:36)

Credits:

Daniel Swenberg ..... Acoustic Guitar Charles Sherman ..... Harpsichord Don Shores ..... Coproducer Brandie Lane ..... Mastering Location Ronn McFarlane ..... Mixing Location Ayreshire Ball Room ..... Programming Wiliam Skeen ..... Tenor Saxophone Josh Lee ..... Strings Peter Bucknell ..... Harp Claire Jolivet ..... Viol (Viola da Gamba) Elizabeth Blumenstock ..... Viol (Viola da Gamba) Robert Mealy ..... Viol (Viola da Gamba) Michael McCraw ..... Wind/Woodwind Judith Linsenberg ..... Panpipes Musica Pacifica ..... Band

Vivaldi - La Notte - Concerti per strumenti diversi - Musica Pacifica

Vivaldi - La Notte - Concerti per strumenti diversi - Musica Pacifica
Concerto | Eac, flac, cue | log, cover | 1 CD, 349 MB
May 13, 2003 | Dorian Recordings | RapidShare

Another barn-burner performance from Musica Pacifica! I've given five-star reviews to three CDs from this California-based ensemble now, so I decided to listen to La Notte head-to-head with other recordings of the same concerti, particularly the fine CD by recorderist Dan Laurin with the Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble. Musica Pacifica comes out ahead in several ways. The balance of the upper voices with the continuo forces is better. The continuo is more shapely in phrasing and more transparent. The recorder playing of Judith Linsenberg is more expressive in phrasing and more incendiary in the fastest passages. To be fair, Laurin is perfection itself in tuning, while Linsenberg occasionally 'colors' sustained notes a bit more than I prefer. The bottom line is that this is one of the most satisfying performances of Vivaldi's chamber concerti available.

"Continuo" refers to the continuous series of chordal notes in the bass parts of Baroque and Rococo music, upon which the melodic upper voices are composed. "Continuo" is also used to mean the instruments that play those fundamental notes. Musica Pacifica uses cello, archlute, and harpsichord, often all three together, for its tasty continuo. Sometimes Vivaldi builds his variations on an ostinato basso - ostinato being the Italian for "obstinate" - a continuously repeating musical phrase which may be as simple as six long notes in a zig-zag phrase. Another sort of continuo is a steady progression of notes to be "figured" or elaborated by the chordal instruments, rather like the 'walking bass' of traditional jazz. Vivaldi is very good at enlivening both sorts of continuo with surprises, as you'll hear on this CD.

Bassoonist Marilyn Boenau joins Musica Pacifica on five of the concerti recorded here, as does oboist Gonzalo Ruiz. The oboe's role in this performance is literally to play "second fiddle" to the recorder, which Ruiz does with aplomb. The bassoon, on the other hand, ranges through the music from sharing continuo chores with the cello to taking the melodic lead in tandem with the recorder or elaborating angular countermelodies to the suave cantabile passages of the recorder. Boenau handles her historical bassoon deftly and expressively.

It's amazing, for anyone who has ever played the little wooden flute called the recorder, to hear what character a virtuosic player can coax out of one. The recorder has a narrow range, limited dynamics, and very slight variation of tonal color; its virtues are its responsiveness to fast-flying fingers and its capacity for liquid phrasing. Linsenberg's phrasing, on the legato and largo movements of these pieces, are like wind-carved sculptures in a Baroque fountain, and her fast passages approach "warp speed" on the Starship Pacifica.

Violinist Elizabeth Blumenstock gets her chance to take front-stage on the gracious early Vivaldi Sonata in C Major, which she plays pensively and with charming restraint. Otherwise this CD belongs to the recorder and the bassoon, and since I'm a recorderist/bassoonist myself, I can't imagine a more proper state of affairs.--Amazon



CD Content

# Chamber Concerto ("La notte"), for flute or violin, 2 violins, bassoon & continuo in G minor, RV 104
Composed by Antonio Vivaldi
with Judith Linsenberg, Musica Pacifica

# Chamber Concerto, for flute, violin, bassoon & continuo in F major, RV 100
Composed by Antonio Vivaldi
with Judith Linsenberg, Musica Pacifica

# Chamber Concerto, for recorder, oboe, violin, bassoon & continuo in D major, RV 94
Composed by Antonio Vivaldi
with Judith Linsenberg, Musica Pacifica

# Sonata for violin & continuo in E minor, Op. 2/9, RV 16
Composed by Antonio Vivaldi
with Judith Linsenberg, Musica Pacifica

# Chamber Concerto, for recorder, oboe, violin, bassoon & continuo in G major, RV 101
Composed by Antonio Vivaldi
with Judith Linsenberg, Musica Pacifica

# Sonata for violin & continuo in C major ("Manchester Sonata" No. 1), RV 3
Composed by Antonio Vivaldi
with Judith Linsenberg, Musica Pacifica

# Chamber Concerto, for flute, oboe, violin, bassoon & continuo in G minor, RV 107
Composed by Antonio Vivaldi
with Judith Linsenberg, Musica Pacifica