Concerto Grosso

This CD sketches a portrait of the musical reality of the British Isles during the first half of the 18th century. The eight concerti grossi in this programme have been chosen for the features they possessin common, a primordial position being accorded to the work of Francesco Scarlatti. These are pieces of Italian origin in sonata form; the concerto grosso being the émigré of this programme.

This CD sketches a portrait of the musical reality of the British Isles during the first half of the 18th century. The huge success of the Italian concerto grosso was a response to the necessity of freeing music from a secondary role to which it found itself confined, notably in France with ballet music. Unaffected by the rivalry between French and Italian music, the British seemed to be attracted by purely instrumental music; the concerto grosso consequently afforded them a freshness, a boldness, and a hint of unique maestria that held an immediate appeal.

One of the foremost musical artists performing today, William Bennett has raised the profile of the flute to that of an instrument capable of a wide range of tonal colours, dynamics, and expression, giving it the depth, dignity, and grandeur of the voice or a string instrument.

Alfred Schnittke - Kremer Plays Schnittke - Concerto grosso No. 1, Quasi una sonata (1990) {Deutsche Grammophon 445 520-2}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 339 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 176 Mb
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© 1990 Deutsche Grammophon | 445 520-2
Classical / Contemporary Classical / Concerto / Violin

No performer championed the work of the late Russian composer Alfred Schnittke more than violinist Gidon Kremer. Here Kremer and colleagues offer a diverse sampling of Schnittke's work that will interest both those familiar and unfamiliar with this fascinating and influential composer. In the opening Concerto Grosso No. 1 for instance three centuries of Classical and Popular musical styles collide to humorous and at times chilling effect. Schnittke's exhilarating early piece Quasi una sonata as well is equally experimental requiring the violin soloist Kremer to extract sounds from his instrument Stradivari never intended. Deutsche Grammophon's sound is remarkably good capturing all the fun beautifully.

Alfred Schnittke's Second Concerto Grosso is a different creature than his First. While the 1977 Concerto Grosso No. 1 for 2 Violins, Strings and Keyboards is a lithe, vicious, often comical work, the Second, finished five years later, is a weightier affair. The soloists are now violin and cello; the Baroque band is now a full orchestra with electric guitar, drum kit, and brake drum; there are four large movements rather than six smaller ones; the entire work is imbued with an air of sincere tragedy, albeit with mud on its shoes. Schnittke dedicated the work to its premiere soloists, husband-and-wife duo Oleg Kagan (violin) and Natalia Gutman (cello); famed for their flawless ensemble, the couple inspired in Schnittke a musical air of companionship – a single soul in two instruments.

Schnittke - Concerto Grosso No.3, Symphony No.5 - RCO, Chailly (1991) {Decca 430 698-2}
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© 1991 Decca | 430 698-2
Classical / Contemporary Classical / Concerto / Symphony

Decca have sportingly given the competition 18 months' free run with Schnittke's Concerto Grosso No. 4/Symphony No. 5. But fine though the Gothenburg/Jarvi performance is, the new recording surpasses it. In Schnittke's world expressive urge and structural constraint will never unite in total wedded bliss, but in the Fifth Symphony (for short) the thing they produce is certainly bigger than the both of them. I won't rehearse the description I gave in my review of the BIS issue, save to say that it progresses from Stravinskian concerto grosso, through Mantovani-with-a-nervous-breakdown pastiche (based on the teenage Mahler's unfinished Piano Quartet) to full-blown tragic symphony echoing archetypes from Mahler's Fifth and Sixth Symphonies.

This was the 1976 attempt by the New Trolls to repeat the success of their 1971 album "Concerto Grosso Per I New Trolls" (sometimes referred to as 'Concerto Grosso No. 1').
While the 'concerto grosso' on the 1971 album has four movements (well, three really: three rock-classical fusion pieces plus a coda that rehashes the second movement's theme in the style of Hendrix), the 'concerto grosso' on "Concerto Grosso No. 2" has three movements, the remaining five tracks on the album not being part of it.
The 1971 album's concerto has a Vivaldi feel to it, whereas this album's concerto has a hint of the Bach or Mozart about it, plus a slight classical Spanish feel in the third movement…