Boccherini Banchini

Supremely lovely and deeply beautiful, the performances on this two-disc set devoted to the music of Luigi Boccherini are compelling proof that the Italian-Spanish composer was more than a Rococo bantam weight. Beyond his well-known Minuet, Fandango, and "La Ritirada di Madrid" and his enormous number of cheerful cello concertos and sonatas written for the cello-playing Spanish king, Boccherini was also a composer of quartets, quintets, symphonies, and sacred works that rival those of his contemporary Haydn.

Boccherini wrote two versions of his much admired Stabat mater. The original dates from 1781 and is for solo voice; then, 20 years later, he revised it, on a larger scale, using three voices, in order (he said) to avoid the monotony of the single voice and the fatigue to the singer, and also adding a symphony movement to it. This 1801 version was published during his lifetime and in several later editions and seems to have eclipsed the earlier one altogether (which survives only in the autograph manuscript). Yet on hearing this new recording of the original I feel that it conveys the message of the work much more potently than does the more elaborate later version.

This disc is full of beautiful, fine-drawn, sensitive playing, very much alert to the mercurial moods of Boccherini’s music, and with Chiara Banchini as delicate as can be imagined with his filigree lines – but also full-blooded when the music so demands. Period instruments and restrained use of vibrato give a welcome airiness to the textures. I can’t imagine performances that catch more truly the special nature of Boccherini’s muse.

Luigi Boccherini - String Quintets With Two Violas
Ensemble 415 / Chiara Banchini
EAC+LOG+CUE | WV: 280 MB | Full Artwork: 126 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Harmonia Mundi # HMA 1951402 | Country/Year: France 2008, 1993
Genre: Classical | Style: Viennese School

"Ensemble 415 is a chamber ensemble devoted largely to the performance of Baroque music on period instruments. The numerical reference in the group's name derives from the pitch used for tuning instruments in the Baroque era. In performing chamber music, Ensemble 415 consists of just a few players, but for larger compositions, the number expands to a minimum of 13 and can reach up to as high as 40 performers. The ensemble's repertory has been broad over the years, taking in many Baroque standards by J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel, as well as lesser known fare by Muffat and others…"

Luigi Boccherini - Symphonies
Ensemble 415 / Chiara Banchini
EAC+LOG+CUE | WV: 354 MB | Full Artwork: 40 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Harmonia Mundi # HMA 1901291 | Country/Year: France 1997, 1988
Genre: Classical | Style: Viennese School

"Ensemble 415 is a chamber ensemble devoted largely to the performance of Baroque music on period instruments. The numerical reference in the group's name derives from the pitch used for tuning instruments in the Baroque era. In performing chamber music, Ensemble 415 consists of just a few players, but for larger compositions, the number expands to a minimum of 13 and can reach up to as high as 40 performers. The ensemble's repertory has been broad over the years, taking in many Baroque standards by J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel, as well as lesser known fare by Muffat and others…"

Luigi Boccherini - Quintettes avec contrebasse Op. 39
Ensemble 415 / Chiara Banchini / Enrico Gatti
EAC+LOG+CUE | WV: 280 MB | Full Artwork: 106 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Harmonia Mundi # HMA 1951334 | Country/Year: France 2000, 1990
Genre: Classical | Style: Viennese School

"Ensemble 415 is a chamber ensemble devoted largely to the performance of Baroque music on period instruments. The numerical reference in the group's name derives from the pitch used for tuning instruments in the Baroque era. In performing chamber music, Ensemble 415 consists of just a few players, but for larger compositions, the number expands to a minimum of 13 and can reach up to as high as 40 performers. The ensemble's repertory has been broad over the years, taking in many Baroque standards by J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel, as well as lesser known fare by Muffat and others…"

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - String Quintets K.515 & K.516
Ensemble 415 / Chiara Banchini
EAC+LOG+CUE | WV: 298 MB | Full Artwork: 145 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Harmonia Mundi # HMA 1951512 | Country/Year: France 1994, 2009
Genre: Classical | Style: Viennese School

"Ensemble 415 is a chamber ensemble devoted largely to the performance of Baroque music on period instruments. The numerical reference in the group's name derives from the pitch used for tuning instruments in the Baroque era. In performing chamber music, Ensemble 415 consists of just a few players, but for larger compositions, the number expands to a minimum of 13 and can reach up to as high as 40 performers. The ensemble's repertory has been broad over the years, taking in many Baroque standards by J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel, as well as lesser known fare by Muffat and others…"

Giuseppe Valentini - Concerti Grossi e a Quattro Violini, Op. 7
Ensemble 415 / Chiara Banchini
EAC+LOG+CUE | WV: 396 MB | Full Artwork: 110 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Zig Zag # ZZT2020801 | Country/Year: France 2007
Genre: Classical | Style: Baroque

"Ensemble 415 is a chamber ensemble devoted largely to the performance of Baroque music on period instruments. The numerical reference in the group's name derives from the pitch used for tuning instruments in the Baroque era. In performing chamber music, Ensemble 415 consists of just a few players, but for larger compositions, the number expands to a minimum of 13 and can reach up to as high as 40 performers. The ensemble's repertory has been broad over the years, taking in many Baroque standards by J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel, as well as lesser known fare by Muffat and others…"

Antonio Vivaldi - Concerto a Quattro Violini, L'Estro Armonico
Ensemble 415 / Chiara Banchini
EAC+LOG+CUE | WV: 269 MB | Full Artwork: 189 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Zig Zag # ZZT070902 | Country/Year: France 2006
Genre: Classical | Style: Baroque

"Ensemble 415 is a chamber ensemble devoted largely to the performance of Baroque music on period instruments. The numerical reference in the group's name derives from the pitch used for tuning instruments in the Baroque era. In performing chamber music, Ensemble 415 consists of just a few players, but for larger compositions, the number expands to a minimum of 13 and can reach up to as high as 40 performers. The ensemble's repertory has been broad over the years, taking in many Baroque standards by J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel, as well as lesser known fare by Muffat and others…"

Johann Sebastian Bach - Cantates Pour Alto BWV 35, 53 & 82
Ensemble 415 / Rene Jacobs / Chiara Banchini
EAC+LOG+CUE | WV: 257 MB | Full Artwork: 108 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Harmonia Mundi # HMA 1951273 | Country/Year: France 1987, 2003
Genre: Classical | Style: Baroque, Vocal

"Ensemble 415 is a chamber ensemble devoted largely to the performance of Baroque music on period instruments. The numerical reference in the group's name derives from the pitch used for tuning instruments in the Baroque era. In performing chamber music, Ensemble 415 consists of just a few players, but for larger compositions, the number expands to a minimum of 13 and can reach up to as high as 40 performers. The ensemble's repertory has been broad over the years, taking in many Baroque standards by J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel, as well as lesser known fare by Muffat and others…"