Gambist

The Sablé festival, held annually in Sablé-sur-Sarthe in France, has its own recording concern that it uses primarily to expose young early music artists and to support the most interesting of their projects; the Zig-Zag Territoires label provides an outlet for this endeavor. Here is a wholly worthy enterprise: the group Gli Incogniti – led by the fabulous young violinist Amandine Beyer – in a program drawn from various works of mysterious late seventeenth-century violinist Nicola Matteis, its title, False Consonances of Melancholy, fashioned after one of his publications, but not limited to its contents. As Matteis is not a household name, some summary of his place in the scheme of things is not out of order here: born in Naples, possibly contemporary to Heinrich von Biber, Matteis was an itinerant musician in Germany before making his way to London about 1670.

“The flute speaks, it touches, it dazzles as if it had been revealed to mankind on a glorious day of creation.” – Raymond Meylan, La flûte. Inspired by the French repertoire of the 17th and 18th centuries, flutist Anne Thivierge has chosen to highlight works for flute and continuo by François Couperin, Michel Blavet, Marin Marais, and Jean-Marie Leclair. Gambist Mélisande Corriveau and harpsichordist Eric Milnes accompany her on this French Baroque journey.

Movements; three suites each with seven movements. In her intriguing new album, viola da gambist Johanna Rose places a prelude by Sainte-Colombe (father) in front of the six movement Bach suite in D minor and finished the D major Bach suite with a chaconne by Sainte- Colombe. The third ‘suite’ is an all family affair with music by both father and son, fashioned into a suite by Rose.

Bach’s St. John Passion with a star-studded lineup of soprano Johennette Zomer, countertenor Andreas Scholl, tenor Mark Padmore, and bass Klaus Mertens, conducted by Ton Koopman, was bound to be—and indeed was—an enjoyable affair. A little over two years ago the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra performed the B-minor Mass with him, now they tackled the ‘smaller’ Passion…