Vivaldi 12 Sonate Op. 3

The name of violinist and conductor Evaristo Felice Dall'Abaco does not necessarily spring to one's lips when significant figures of the late Baroque period are under consideration. To summarize, he was a contemporary of Antonio Vivaldi and the Veronese-born master of music attached to the court of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria. As such, Dall'Abaco spent the first 11 years of his tenure in exile with the Elector in the Netherlands, and later, in France.

Venice, Rome, Naples witnessed the birth of the compositions found on this CD, places with pasts of thriving musical communities. In addition, these contained some of the greatest artistic innovation of the time.The "stile moderno", which marks the beginning of a new period in music, has its origins in Italy in the late 16th century, when composers such as Claudio Monteverdi and Giulio Caccini created a new expressive style, soon to affect the development of the whole of occidental music.

These are fine performances of the foundational documents of the modern instrumental sonata, but listeners should sample them and be sure they're on board with all of the assumptions being made here. Corelli's 12 Violin Sonatas, Op. 5, are divided between the sonata da camera (chamber sonata) and sonata da chiesa (church sonata) types, between short suites of dance-based movements and abstract, mostly binary structures, respectively.

VA - Frans Brüggen Edition Vol. 1-12
Baroque | Easy CD-DA, APE, Cue | No Log | 12 CD, covers | 3.809 MB | RS
Teldec B000026LQB | 2002

This is a monumental collection of Frans Bruggen performing a variety of pre-baroque, baroque and rococco works for recorder(s). Frans Bruggen put the recorder on the map as a solo instrument, and no one before or since has made such a huge impact. Many recorder players have burst onto the scene since, but I dare to say no one has matched Bruggen's musicality and expressiveness. Unfortunately, this 12-CD set appears to be out-of-print and hard-to-find as used copies as well.

Belle collection les genies du Classique. Editions ATLAS et Guilde Internationale du Disque. Tous les chefs-d'oeuvre de la musique classique.