Boccherini Digital

Cellist Ophélie Gaillard and Pulcinella Orchestra focus on Luigi Boccherini, Italian composer and first virtuoso cellist in history. Born in the Tuscany, Boccherini then went to the Court of Prussa and Spain. His musical education looks like a journey around Europe, as it used to be.

With its first of two Genuin Aufnahmen, the Trio Boccherini proves that Beethoven's String Trios are more than technical exercises by the composer along the way to writing quartets. Opus 9 is a rarely recorded and performed early work by the master, and yet they already reveal Beethoven in his entirety, as it were, in a tonally condensed form. The ensemble, comprising of members from three different continents, bring together diverse aspects of their musical experiences, culminating in this colorful yet unified interpretation.

When Boccherini's six quintets for flute and string quartet were published in 1776, the composer described them as "opera piccolo" (little works) because of their generally brief character. But in these splendid performances by Italian Auser Musici, the flute quintets need no disclaimers, and they sound fully equal to the composer's string quintets. Flutist Carlo Ipata takes the lead, and his playing perfectly matches Boccherini's sweet-toned but technically challenging music.

Ludwig van Beethoven left only a few works for the string trio, and, unlike his quartets, they are played far too seldomly. The Trio Boccherini now presents a complete recording of these trios on the GENUIN label to draw attention to this. The program includes Beethoven's first two works in this genre, the Trio op. 3 and the Serenade op. 8. Ranging between evening entertainment and the concert hall, between music from his youth and maturity, the works are in any case true Beethoven: full of spirit, profound and with great élan! The Trio Boccherini plays historically informed without being dogmatic, technically sophisticated without being hard-nosed - in other words, with passion and verve!