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.

In 1705, Giuseppe Sala published in Venice the Suonote do camera a tre, due violini o violone o cembalo op.1 of Antonio Vivaldi. This set of trio sonatas marked the official 'debut' of a composer who was already more than a mere youth (the 'Prete Rosso' was then 27-years old), and probably contains the earliest works of his that have come down to us. It is very likely, though, as Michael Talbot has pointed out, that the copy of 1705 is in fact a reprint of a now lost first edition published in 1703.

London Baroque offers another installment in its ongoing European Trio Sonata series, this time devoted to 18th-century Italy; as with the ensemble’s previous efforts the program features generally excellent performances of lesser-known repertoire. Ten years ago I reviewed a similar 18th-century Italian program by this same group titled “Stravaganze Napoletane”, also on BIS, and was generally impressed with the performances–except for one piece: Domenico Gallo’s Sonata No. 1 in G major.

Nel vastissimo catalogo delle opere di Antonio Vivaldi (circa 1.000 numeri considerando le appendici), la musica da camera rappresenta una parte non considerevole e, probabilmente, una delle meno note rispetto alla frequentatissima produzione concertistica e sacra, a cui si è agggiunta, negli ultimi anni, quella operistica. Per quest'ultima si pensi, ad esempio, alle recenti produzioni dell'etichetta "Naive" o alle arie d'opera riscoperte e magistralmente eseguite in forma di concerto da Cecilia Bartoli.

Classical Discovery offers an ideal package, providing an overview of classical music and its history in an entertaining and easy-to-understand form. In a lavishly presented cloth-bound book, accompanied by 12 CDs with over 900 minutes of playing time, Classical Discovery tells the story of the classics in word, music, and images from its earliest days until modern times. With Classical Discovery, anyone can gain entry to the world of classical music, whether for the first time or to gain new insights and perspectives.

Deutsche Grammophon presents a 22CD set spanning the greatest recordings of Pinchas Zukerman, featuring the original cover art of the albums, new liner notes by Norbert Hornig and many photos. Between 1974 and 1996 Pinchas Zukerman recorded 22 albums for DG and Philips (three for Decca), mainly as solo violinist but also as solo violist and as conductor, working closely with both the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.