Guido Ceroneti

What if Vivaldi’s famous Quattro Stagioni, performed in Paris in 1728, had been preceded by those of Guido, the star violinist of the Parisian orchestras of Louis XIV’s maturity ? Here, at last, are these two works reunited: to the well-known virtuosity of Vivaldi’s work, of extraordinary impact, Guido’s Seasons oppose a mixture of Italian features and a thousand facets worthy of the French Court, with an infectious ardour! A mysterious Neapolitan who arrived in Paris around 1702 as Music Master to Philippe d’Orléans, Guido was close to the financier Crozat, who in 1716 commissioned Watteau to produce four paintings on the theme of the Seasons: he set them to music around 1717 with his Scherzi armonici sopra le Quattro Stagioni dell’anno.

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.

Le sonate per violino e basso continuo di Giovanni Antonio Guido (1675-1728 ca.) costituiscono un’importante testimonianza della diffusione della sonata italiana in Francia nella prima metà del Settecento. Nato a Genova, Guido si trasferì a Napoli verso la fine del XVII secolo per entrare a studiare come violinista presso il Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini. Completato il suo apprendistato intorno al 1690, entrò a far parte della Cappella Reale di Napoli, ma intorno al 1702 fu tra i primi musicisti napoletani a trasferirsi a Parigi. Le sei sonate pubblicate a Parigi nel 1726 e dedicate al Duca d’Orléans, si caratterizzano per una felice sintesi del virtuosismo italiano e dell’eleganza francese, uno stile che avrà un’influenza decisiva sui musicisti della generazione successiva.

Bach wrote these sonatas at Cothen between 1717 and 1723, probably to be played by the court virtuoso Carl Friedrich Abel or by Prince Leopold in person. While works for cello were invading Europe, Germany continued to give an important role to the viol throughout the eighteenth century, as can be seen in the works of such composers as Bach, Telemann, Abel, and Schaffrath (honoured by Guido Balestracci's most recent recording).