Corradini: Canzonas & Sonatas

Corradini: Canzonas & Sonatas

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Titolo : Corradini: Canzonas & Sonatas
Release Date : 1 dicembre 2023
Label :
Catalog ref. : 96191
Format : CD


Works attributable with certainty to Nicolò Corradini (1585–1646) – likely from Cremona as opposed to Bergamo or Rome as erroneously suggested in the past – are limited to a few printed editions, among them the Primo libro de Canzoni francesi a 4 e alcune suonate (a copy of which has come down to us, printed by Gardano in Venice in 1624). It includes ten French canzonas and four sonatas, works most likely conceived to be performed by several instrumentalists, including one or more possible continuists (because of the speed of some passages and the separation between different parts of often more than an octave).
The canzonas are divided into several sections with structures ranging from simple A-B-A to more complex schemes (A-B-C-A-B-D in the Eighth Canzon); these short musical frameworks offer within them a great variety of themes, imitation between parts and repetitions of sections, ensuring cohesiveness of form.
The sonatas on the other hand – with the exception of the Suonata a tre (a simple A-B-C-D-A) – are presented in a more madrigalistic vein. The narrative pathway on which they are based passes through multiple melodic cues so completely different from one another as to suggest a rhetorical structure arching from an exordium to a final peroration. This leads to a proliferation of sections – A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I in the case of the Suonata a due cornetti in risposta. (The specification for two cornets “in call and response” contained in the title of this sonata corresponds to the numerous segments of this piece in which the same melody is first proposed by one performer and then repeated by the other.)

Ensemble Il Narvalo

Federico Del Sordo – harpsichord, organo & conductor
Romeo Ciuffa, Carolina Pace: recorders
Valerio Losito, Paolo Perrone: violins
Irene Caraba, Andrea Lattarulo: viole da gamba
David Brutti, Andrea Inghisciano: cornetti
Diego Leverić: archlute

Other information:
– Recorded September and November 2022 in Rome and Trevi, Italy
– Bilingual booklet in English and Italian contains liner notes by the Federico Del Sordo, and biographies of him and of the ensemble

– Nicolò Corradini was born in the late 16th century, and died in 1646. He spent most of his life in Cremona, the city where he was most likely born. Corradini received his early musical education from fellow Cremonese citizen Giovanni Battista Morsellino. In 1611 he was appointed organist of the Church of San Pietro in Cremona, and that same year he was also asked to accompany the Litanies of the Virgin, which were traditionally performed at Cremona Cathedral every Saturday and on all feast days dedicated to the Virgin Mary. In 1635 he took up the role of organist at the cathedral. Corradini’s works include a book of Madrigali a 5 et a 8 voci con Sinfonie di Viole (published in Venice in 1620).
– This new recording presents the Canzonas. In keeping with a custom that was widespread in the first half of the 16th century, most of the titles of these compositions refer to the surnames of families or illustrious personalities linked to Cremonese patronage. These rich instrumental works are played here using a lavish instrumental ensemble, including 2 violins, viola, recorder, cornet, gamba, theorbo, violone, organ, harpsichord and dulciana.
– Another enterprising recording by Federico Del Sordo, keyboard player and musicologist, never tired of discovering hidden gems from the Renaissance and Baroque of his native country Italy.

Track list:

Niccolò Corradini (1585 – 1646): Canzonas:

01 Corradini: Canzon prima – La Pallavicina
02 Corradini: Canzon seconda – La Sartirana
03 Corradini: Canzon terza – L’argenta
04 Corradini: Canzon quarta – La Sforza
05 Corradini: Canzon quinta – La Visconta
06 Corradini: Canzon sexta – La Sincopata
07 Corradini: Canzon settima – La Bizzarra
08 Corradini: Canzon ottava – La Treccha
09 Corradini: Canzon nona – La Pessa
10 Corradini: Canzon decima – La Taverna

Sonatas:
11 Corradini: Suonata a quattro, 2 bassi & 2 soprani – La Soragna
12 Corradini: Suonata a tre, basso; 2 soprani – La Marcha

Sonata:
13 Corradini: Suonata a due, basso; soprano – La Sfrondata

Sonata:
14 Corradini: Suonata a due cornetti in risposta – La Golferamma

Legrenzi Bass cantatas & Sonatas

Legrenzi Bass cantatas & Sonatas

Band : , ,
Titolo : Legrenzi Bass cantatas & Sonatas
Release Date : 1 agosto 2021
Label :
Format : CD

The Venetian composer Giovanni Legrenzi (1626-1690) wrote a total of eight cantatas and canzonettas for bass voice with a continuo accompaniment, all but one presented here in new, historically informed recordings by a distinguished Italian ensemble specialising in Italian chamber music of the Baroque. His cantatas are longer than those of other Venetian composers of the period, with richer counterpoint between the vocal part and the continuo and freer movement between recitative and aria. Just as the recitatives are often rich in pathos, so the arias reveal great variety of form in both the vocal and the continuo part. While the continuo part is sometimes spare and at other times more elaborated, it supports the vocal line with naturalistic illustration of the text.

Legrenzi often conjures up comicalsituations for the bass voice: for instance, in the canzonetta Son canuto e d’un bambin, where the words revolve around the idea that there are slaves of love even in old age; or in the cantata Dal calore agitato, where the subject is the erotic dreams of a poor Arcadian shepherd.
The three trio sonatas on this recording are among Legrenzi’s best instrumental compositions. They come from the six printed collections of instrumental sonatas, and are all à violino (played in this version on the cornett, which was common practice in the 17th century) and viola da brazzo). Within conventional formal structures, Legrenzi invests these works with a remarkably advanced sense of melody. The impression is Legrenzi was most at home working with a small ensemble, rather than with the larger groups of instrumentalists that had become common in 17th-century
Venice.

Praise for Mvsica Perdvta on Brilliant Classics:
‘The overall impact is simply stunning… the most exciting and original Handel cantata I’ve heard in many a year.’ (Fanfare on Handel cantatas, 94426)

‘Director Renato Criscuolo keeps his forces tightly under control, which adds stability to the music. As the cellist in the sinfonia, he gives a rather rousing performance, which brings the music alive.’ (Fanfare on Pergolesi, 94763)

‘The ensemble, like the cellist, plays with sensitivity and personality… This is a lot of fun.’ (Fanfare on Porpora, 95279)

· Giovanni Legrenzi was an Italian composer of opera, vocal and instrumental music. He held several important posts as court musician and Maestro di Cappella in Ferrara, Mantua, Bologna and finally Venice, where he was appointed at the prestigious San Marco.
· Legrenzi was active in most of the genres current in northern Italy in the late 17th century, including sacred vocal music, opera, oratorio, and varieties of instrumental music. Though best known as a composer of instrumental sonatas, he was predominantly a composer of liturgical music with a distinctly dramatic character.
· This new recording presents secular Cantatas for bass solo and basso continuo. The texts deal with the classic topic of unhappy love, causing insufferable but sometimes also exquisite pain in the injured lovers. Legrenzi is a master in musically expressing the extreme emotions of the text.
· Mauro Borgiono is one of the most prominent young baritones of the moment. As a specialist in Early Music he worked with Jordi Savall, Rinaldo Alessandrini and Diego Fasolis. Musica Perduta, directed by Renato Criscuolo, consists of cornet, bass violin, theorbo and harpsichord.
The booklet contains extensive liner notes and the original sung texts.