Trabaci

As you like - jocular, sensual, dramatic. opia delves into the musical depths of this game - merging literature from the Renaissance to the early Baroque.

Theatrical chamber music might appear to be a contradiction in terms, but the unlikely idea is fulfilled by these sparkling, highly wrought trio sonatas. For despite their title, that is what they are: most composers of the 18th century may have used the sonata designation for this form, but Alessandro Stradella employed at least several of these works as preludes or overtures to his dramatic and sacred works such as the oratorio Susanna (already recorded on Brilliant Classics, BC94345).

In her first solo album as a singer and harpist, Arianna Savall introduces us to a repertoire from the medieval and Baroque periods performed with seven different historical harps. The music comes from three countries where the harp has held a prominent position in cultural life: Italy, France, and Spain, in which the harp experienced a flowering of unique variety and beauty. Arianna Savall with her crystalline voice and her sweet playing, reaches the depths of these distant but at the same time so timeless music.

Jordi Savall - Lachrimae Caravaggio (2007) {Alia Vox AVSA9852}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 376 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 181 Mb | Front, Back | 5% repair rar
© 2007 Alia Vox | AVSA 9852
Classical / Renaissance / Contemporary Classical / Chamber Music / Viola da gamba

Jordi Savall has created another lavishly produced and sonically gorgeous album for Alia Vox. Here the theme is the art of Caravaggio, specifically, seven of his most wrenching paintings, all on Biblical or religious themes, six of them images of death, or near-death, and five of them are violent. The program booklet includes reproductions of the paintings and reflective essays by Dominique Fernandez. This collection of 30 pieces differs from many of Savall's releases in that it includes many of his original works, as well as many improvisations, in addition to only a few pieces by Renaissance composers.

Following the recent, essential compendium of great organ music on 50CD (95310), Brilliant Classics turn to a valuable but lesser-known light in the early history of the organ, Giovanni Salvatore. Active in the middle of the 17th century, this Neapolitan musician was greatly esteemed during his lifetime. One contemporary commentator even placed him above Frescobaldi on the grounds that he could compose fine vocal works without confusing their style with organ music.