Emilio Bartezzaghi, L’organizzazione Dell’impresa. Processi, Progetti, Conoscenza, Persone.

If we think of Albinoni beyond the ubiquitous and apocryphal Adagio (not so much arranged as concocted by a 20thcentury musicologist, Giazotto), we may remember collections of lively oboe and violin concertos, maybe also some trio sonatas and works featuring solo flute and trumpet. But Albinoni, the composer of cantatas and operas?
This quartet of Italian musicians puts the record straight with a new recording of secular cantatas. In fact Albinoni married a soprano, Margherita Raimondi, and apparently had a fine singing voice himself.

Federico Guglielmo and his historical instruments ensemble Larte dellarco turn to sinfonias and sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti and to the same composers short intermezzo farce La Dirindina. The intermezzo was a type of entracte music inserted as comic relief between the acts of court dramas and operas during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This particular farsetta involves the personal relations between a budding opera diva and her teacher; she is vain and reluctant to practice, and he is extremely jealous of her lover.

Antonio Vandini was born around 1690 in Bologna, the city where the cello knew its first glories as a solo instrument. He held several assignments in Bergamo, Venice and later Padua, where he developed a friendship with Giovanni Tartini. His virtuosity was brought to fame by Charles Burney who defined him the famous old Antonio Vandini on the violoncello who, the Italians say, plays and expresses a parlare, that is in such a manner as to make his instrument speak. Vandinis cello works are the apex of the instruments output of his time, for the persistent exploration of the high register, the frequent use of double stopping, arpeggios and chords even in unusual combinations, a variety of bowing techniques, and rapid passages.

Federico Guglielmo whittles down his ensemble L’Arte dell’Arco to just three or four players for his latest release of Vivaldi’s music. Unlike other Vivaldi performers, Guglielmo is keen to return to the transparency of the Prete Rosso’s music, stripping away the ornate embellishments that have encumbered recent recordings, allowing the fluid lines to speak for themselves. In these Violin and Trio Sonatas, Guglielmo and his fellow musicians once again establish themselves as some of the foremost interpreters of the Italian’s music. For the most part bright and jolly, these sonatas demand to be played with charm and joie de vivre, which L’Arte dell’Arco certainly supply in abundance.

There is a story about Arnold Schoenberg that bears retelling now. He was in the midst of teaching a class at UCLA when a colleague burst in excitedly proclaiming "Arnold! I am just hearing Verklärte Nacht mit HORNS!" Amid much startled posturing the two rushed out to destinations unknown, leaving the class unacknowledged. But all the various arrangements of Schoenberg’s work (I’ve never heard it with horns, but the string orchestra version with timpani is quite a good one) don’t begin to compare with the numerous outrages wreaked upon this helpless Vivaldi composition.

I have several problems with this Gaudeamus release. Firstly, I selected this recording for review on the basis that it was a disc of Domenico Scarlatti’s Sinfonie and concerti and the front cover of the booklet bears that out. This release in fact has three short Domenico Scarlatti scores with two Francesco Durante compositions and a work each from Pergolesi, Barbella and Leo. The music of both Durante and Pergolesi total more than that of Scarlatti’s, so how can the disc be marketed as a Scarlatti release?

Vivaldi’s op.6 concertos first appeared in print in Amsterdam in 1719. However, this edition was unreliable in the extreme. Scoring was incorrect, the number of works indistinct, random movements separated from their correct work, and a host of other errors. What is clear though is that these concertos are a decisive step forward from the works found in opp. 3 and 4. For example, all follow the fast-slow-fast pattern of the three movement concerto. The solo violin has prominence, so we are moving away from the concerto-grosso style. These recordings are the world premiere of the new critical edition by Alessandro Borin, Istituto Italiano Antonio Vivaldi, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice.