Rinaldo Alessandrini Vivaldi Bach

By its title and its twelve violin concertos, Vivaldi’s L’estro armonico immediately captures the imagination. Rinaldo Alessandrini and his Concerto Italiano, with the addition of high-calibre keyboardists, present the full collection with the six additional adaptations for keyboard by Bach.

Rinaldo Alessandrini and Concerto Italiano dedicate their new album to the motets of Giovanni Legrenzi (1626-1690), a very influential composer of the seicento, and a reference even after his time in Italy. The name Giovanni Legrenzi, almost contemporary with Carissimi and Lully, is largely unknown today. And yet his reputation during and after his time, far exceeded the walls of Saint Mark’s in Venice, where he officiated from 1685 until his death: his numerous pupils included Lotti, Caldara and Vivaldi, his themes were borrowed by Bach and Handel, and he composed in all musical genres, instrumental and vocal, sacred and profane.

By its title and its twelve violin concertos, Vivaldi’s L’estro armonico immediately captures the imagination. Rinaldo Alessandrini and his Concerto Italiano, with the addition of high-calibre keyboardists, present the full collection with the six additional adaptations for keyboard by Bach.

Rinaldo Alessandrini (born 1960 in Rome) is an Italian harpsichordist, organist and conductor in the field of historical performance practice.

More than any question of instruments, strings, bows, tunings, or temperaments, the modern historical performance movement is about attitude—the desire to find in ancient music a living voice, filtered through vigorous scholarship, willing to experiment and push boundaries, and, most of all, capture the depths of emotion hidden in the score.

Rinaldo Alessandrini et son Concerto Italiano dédient leur nouvel album aux motets de Giovanni Legrenzi (1626-1690). Un compositeur très influent au seicento, figure de référence au lendemain de son siècle par-delà les Alpes, aujourd’hui à redécouvrir.Le nom de Giovanni Legrenzi, quasi contemporain de Carissimi et Lully, est aujourd’hui peu connu. Sa réputation dépassa pourtant largement, en son temps et après, les murs de Saint-Marc de Venise, où il officia de 1685 à sa mort : il compte parmi ses nombreux élèves Lotti, Caldara et Vivaldi, se voit emprunter des thèmes par Bach et Haendel, et s’exerce dans tous les genres musicaux, instrumentaux et vocaux, profanes et sacrés. C’est parmi les quatre publications consacrées de son vivant au motet que Rinaldo Alessandrini a puisé les pièces de ce nouveau programme.

Here is yet another high-standard new addition to Ligia’s roster. Martin Gester has a wealth of all kinds of experience in the field of music. He comes back to the keyboard in the same way one returns from numerous trips, with one’s outlook enriched by accumulated know-how, focusing here on a preferred domain: the harpsichord which, after the organ, has become his main instrument. As it did for Bach, it has become the place where he “speaks” music instead of “playing” it or conducting it.