William Gray Beyer

When he published his two Apothéoses in memory of two great masters of music in 1724-25, François Couperin was asserting his desire to promote a meeting of the French and Italian styles – from a very Gallic point of view, naturally. The idea was to convince the French Muses that henceforth one could say sonade and cantade in their language – a strategy already pursued in the much earlier La Sultane and La Superbe. But, far from blindly imitating his idols, Couperin takes inspiration from their styles and adapts them to his own brio. The result is a delight for all to share with the musicians of Gli Incogniti and Amandine Beyer, whose first harmonia mundi recording this is.

During his first years in the service of the Esterházy princes, Joseph Haydn had every opportunity to show what he was capable of accomplishing as both instrumental soloist (on violin or keyboard) and composer; in fact, all his concertos, most of which date from the 1760s, offer a glimpse of a brilliant artist who gradually moved away from the style galant by inventing a new musical dialogue soon to become the Classical style.

Antonio Vivaldi - Les Quatre Saisons & Autres Concertos
Ensemble Gli Incogniti / Amandine Beyer
EAC+LOG+CUE | WV: 386 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Zig-Zag # ZZT080803 | Country/Year: France 2008
Genre: Classical | Style: Baroque

…Gli incogniti and Amandine Beyer bring a fresh approach to Vivaldi's masterpiece. But what impressed me most were the two world-premiere recordings on the album, in particular the concerto for two violins which surprisingly has never been recorded before.

After a recording of The Four Seasons that was awarded several distinctions (ZZT080803), Amandine Beyer and her ensemble come back to Vivaldi with a selection of concerti.

This set brings together recordings of Italian music by Chiara Banchini and Amandine Beyer. It is symbolic of a filiation between the two artists, Amandine Beyer having succeeded Chiara Banchini as professor of Baroque violin at the Schola Cantorum in Basle, Switzerland. The release follows Amandine Beyer s recording of Bach s Sonatas for solo violin as well as Chiara Banchini s recording of his Sonatas for violin and keyboard, both of which received a Diapason d Or. The set includes the re-release of Vivaldi s Four Seasons by Amandine Beyer.

This VIVALDI/CORELLI/BEYER collection groups interpretations by Amandine Beyer and the ensemble Gli Incogniti of major works by two Italian composers: Vivaldi and Corelli. Here again, Amandine Beyer demonstrates her exceptional talent as both a violinist and ‘bandleader’, giving these works, which illustrate the art of the concerto at the beginning of the 18thcentury, a certain Italian vocal quality in a particularly felicitous and invigorating interpretation.