Christopher Palameta, Notturna

This is a highly interesting and entertaining disc, which considerably enhances our knowledge of musical life in Berlin at the time of Frederick the Great. As previous discs show, the increasing interest in the oeuvre of Johann Gottlieb Janitsch is well deserved. His chamber music is a rich source, which performers of our time should explore rather than perform and record the same repertoire over and over again. This disc is a model of creative programming. The inclusion of the pieces by Graun and Krause makes it an even more important addition to the discography.

Almost unknown until a few years ago, Berlin composer Johann Gottlieb Janitsch has become more familiar since Notturna began recording a series of his Sonata da quadro on the ATMA label. Janitsch was very active as a composer and contraviolonist at the court of Prussia since 1736, and left over 40 quadro sonatas which display the composer’s complete mastery of counterpoint.

Canadian ensemble Notturna offers a charming instrumental version of the opera L'Amant jaloux (the jealous lover) by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (1741-1813). This anonymous arrangement for flute, oboe, violin, viola, and bass was found in the Biblioteca Estense di Modena. Though undated, it was likely transcribed in 1778, the year Grétry composed the opera. Founded in 2006 and directed by oboist Christopher Palameta, Notturna is a chamber collective whose spirited and sensitive playing (Early Music America) draws on the transparency and expressiveness of early wind instruments to paint fresh pictures of an unexplored historical repertoire.

ohann Gottlieb Janitsch (1708-1763), was born in Silesia (then under Austria, but Prussia from 1742 and now part of Poland) and followed a normal career path for a musician in Mitteleuropa, culminating as contraviolonist in the Royal Orchestra of the Court of Prussia from 1736 until his death in 1763. Janitsch also composed ballet music for the Royal Court Opera), rehearsed the opera chorus, and composed music for the balls held at the opera house during carnival-time. Janitsch was also called on to participate in the intimate concerts that took place in the king’s private apartments at Sanssouci, alongside a number of instrumentalist-composers including C.Ph.E. Bach and Johann Joachim Quantz.

This ensemble draws on the transparency and expressiveness of early wind instruments to paint fresh pictures of unexplored repertoire. The musicians have a unique rapport with the music of Janitsch and their aim is to bring his neglected masterworks to light.