First of all, we can see that the form of the “Concerto Grosso” is almost absent in this collection, with a succession of movements more often reminiscent of the Dance Suite, the Overture or even the Concerto for several instruments. The featured soloists range from Violins, Cellos, Oboes, Bassoons, Flutes and even the Organ. But what most disconcerts and bewilders the scholar is the compositional technique.
At a time when Le Orme and Banco were just hitting their stride, "Reale Accademia di Musica" produced a self titled album that openly competed with the more household names of the Italian scene, but it was sadly ignored at the time. Today's fans have discovered this fine work that blends the raucous and the romantic as only this genre can. Especially recommended to enthusiasts of Rock Progressivo Italiano, this should nonetheless appeal to most who enjoy good symphonic prog of any stripe. After a few listens you will be thanking the academy.
Manuel Granatiero presents his first solo album, following several successful concerto recordings with Amandine Beyer's Gli Incogniti and Accademia Ottoboni, of which he is a founding member. Here, Manuel is joined by Yu Yashima and Marco Ceccato, as he turns his attention to the flute music of C.P.E. Bach. The outcome of this project is 'Light and Darkness', five sonatas chosen from the substantial oeuvre that the composer dedicated to this instrument.
For the festivities marking the Pergolesi’s tercentenary in his native Jesi, Ignacio García created a new staging of the imperial drama Adriano in Siria. His staging in Jesi’s exquisite 18th-century Teatro Comunale Pergolesi includes the delightful comic intermezzo Livietta e Tracollo, thus following the precedent set at the premiere in 1734. A fine Italian cast and the distinguished Accademia Bizantina are led by the Accademia’s director, Ottavio Dantone.
Les deux chasseurs et la laitière, a oneact opera by Egidio Romualdo Dun, was premiered in Paris by the company of Théâtre de Comédiens Italiens, in July 1763. This work, staged then many times at the Opéra Comique, was soon published and its popularity among European theatres reached its peak between the 1780s and the beginning of 19th century.
The CD, unreleased as always, is dedicated to three rare masterpieces by the Taranto composer, of the "Neapolitan school", Giovanni Paisiello and his Concerti n. 6, 7 and 8 for piano and orchestra. They are interpreted by the great Catania pianist Francesco Nicolosi (2nd prize in Geneva, 1980, first not awarded) and the refined Orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Sofia.
Giovanni Battista Bononcini (1670-1747) and his younger brother, Antonio Maria (1677-1726) were considered by their contemporaries to be among the most outstanding cello virtuosi of their time; today, however, they are best known not only as composers of vocal music but also as two of the greatest representatives of the galant style. It is to their music, often unpublished, that Marco Ceccato and his Accademia introduce us here.
Accademia Bizantina under Ottavio Dantone are releasing a new album of Haydn Symphonies, Nos. 78-81. It is the first time Symphonies No.79 and 81 have been recorded on period instruments. This little-known quartet of Haydn symphonies 78-81 date from the years 1782-1784 when Haydn still served as kapellmeister to the Esterhazy family in their spectacular summer and winter palaces in Esterháza (present day Hungary) and Eisenstadt (Austria) where the music was first performed. These four symphonies have been specially recorded for the upcoming 36-CD set of Complete Haydn Symphonies, to be released later this year. It will be the first Haydn symphony cycle on period instruments.
Alessandro Grandi - born in Venice in 1590 - was an extremely precocious talent. Appointed deputy of Monteverdi in 1627 in Saint Mark’s Basilica, he is regarded by scholars as “the greatest motet composer of his time”. After the highly praised Grandi’s motets album “Celesti fiori” (A464), Accademia d’Arcadia now presents Lætatus sum: a selection from the three extant Psalms collections. Grandi ventured in the field of Psalms with large-scale writing only at the end of his life, his collections of Psalms were undoubtedly intended for grand occasions: the relationship between soloists, tutti, and instruments is very modern, as successive portions of the text are set in sharply contrasting textures and styles. Recorded in the sumptuous Palladian church of San Francesco della Vigna in Venice, this recording features magnificent and compelling masterpieces by an author considered by his contemporaries as equal to Monteverdi in the field of sacred music.
Here one finds an historically informed and wholly satisfying approach that has spring in its step in the exuberant allegros and beguiling grace and tenderness in the slow movements. Again, Naxos has mounted a formidable challenge to the full-price competition with a well-recorded release that is a steal at the price.