Giovanni Soloinas

The harpsichord by Thomas Culliford (Longman & Broderip) from 1785 is one of the very few remaining English harpsichords in Italy. It is the only harpsichord by Culliford with a single manual, with its original registers and jacks and especially with its unchanged Machine stop. The restoration included a thorough cleaning and consolidation of unglued components, especially the cleaning of the soundboard and the consolidation of the inlay work on the front board. Some of the strings which were identified as being original were carefully documented and examined.

The fourteenth volume of the Haydn2032 edition is entitled L'Imperiale , after the nickname given to Symphony no.53 in the nineteenth century. This was perhaps Haydn's most famous symphony during his lifetime. Premiered in the theatre at Eszterháza Palace in 1778, it was published in London around 1781, and its melodious Andante was arranged more than thirty times for various instruments between 1783 and 1820. It made a decisive contribution to Haydn’s success, opening the way for him to perform in England. Symphony no.54 , whose entertaining, theatrical style is a perfectly match for the atmosphere of the legendary court festivities given at Eszterháza around 1775, completes this programme along with no.33, one of his first festive works with trumpets, composed c.1761. In his introductory text, Giovanni Antonini revels in the ‘capricious’, whimsical character of certain passages in the last movement of Symphony No. 53 ; he also offers an alternative finale of the work at the end of the album.

The eleventh volume of the complete HAYDN2032 symphony cycle moves its focus to Paris: ‘Every day one perceives more clearly, and consequently admires more, the productions of this great genius, who, in every one of his works, knows so well how to draw rich and varied developments from a single subject’, wrote the Mercure de France in April 1788, adding that Haydn was ‘quite different from those sterile composers who constantly move from one idea to another’. The symphonies presented here are no.2 (the first to be published in France), no.24 (the first to be performed there) and the so-called ‘Paris’ symphonies nos. 87 and 82 ‘L’Ours’, with its references to fairground atmosphere and its famous contredanse finale.

Giovanni Antonini and his ensemble Il Giardino Armonico celebrate the composer who made them famous: Antonio Vivaldi. Their recordings of The Four Seasons and Cecilia Bartoli's famous first Vivaldi recital left an indelible mark on the discography of the Red-haired Priest! Their musical fireworks display continues with a programme of concertos that is bound to provoke strong reactions, since it is the result of a meeting with a musician who is equally adept at shifting boundaries, the violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja. Together they have devised a programme entitled WHAT'S NEXT VIVALDI?, which interweaves ultra-virtuosic concertos by Vivaldi (Il Grosso Mogul RV 208, La Tempesta di Mare (for violin!) RV 253, and RV 157, 191, 550 among others) with, between each concerto, short pieces written by much more recent composers, Luca Francesconi, Simone Movio, Giacinto Scelsi, Aureliano Cattaneo and Giovanni Sollima, and mostly commissioned by Patricia Kopatchinskaja especially for this programme.

"Antonini succeeds in nothing less than building a bridge between the historical, musical performance practice and the intellectual-historical tradition of this work … Strong singers are at his side." (Stereo) "One of the most exciting Beethoven recordings of our days" (Rondo) "Fresh as the first day: Giovanni Antonini knows how to make Beethoven's dramaturgy vivid." (Concerti) These are only a few of the many great reviews for the recordings of Beethoven's symphonies by Kammerorchester Basel (Basel Chamber Orchestra) under Giovanni Antonini. For Beethovens 250. anniversary year 2020, a 6-CD-Set of these "sensational recordings" (NDR) of Kammerorchester Basel is being released.

To visit the great Venetian cathedrals in the 17th century was to bow deeply to the polychoral or “cori spezzati” style that reigned there, pioneered by Giovanni Gabrieli. The young Heinrich Schutz was no exception. Unable to resist the sparkling sounds arising from polychoral writing and antiphonal placement, Schutz carried the style back to his native Germany. Capella Murensis and Les Cornets Noirs here present with absolute fidelity works by Schutz and Gabrieli that epitomize the high Ventian style.

For her first collaboration with the period ensemble Il Giardino Armonico, violinist Isabelle Faust performs the five Violin Concertos of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, along with three shorter concertante works. This is an extraordinary set, for the historically informed performances, the polished sound of the group, the almost palpable presence of the players, which Harmonia Mundi has captured with superior engineering, and for the unrepressed joy in the music. Faust is the center of attention, naturally, and her refined and expressive playing immediately pulls the listener in. These are far from the most demanding concertos in the repertoire, so Faust is less concerned with technical execution than with conveying the pure feeling of the music, which is delightfully buoyant and uplifting. Under the direction of Giovanni Antonini, the group provides warm and sparkling accompaniment that gives Faust all the support she needs, but there's no doubt that she sets the emotional tone for these exquisite recordings. Highly recommended, especially for devotees of Classical style at its finest.

Giovanni Battista Bononcini (1670-1747) and his younger brother, Antonio Maria (1677-1726) were considered by their contemporaries to be among the most outstanding cello virtuosi of their time; today, however, they are best known not only as composers of vocal music but also as two of the greatest representatives of the galant style. It is to their music, often unpublished, that Marco Ceccato and his Accademia introduce us here.