Geminiani

Student of Arcangelo Corelli, Francesco Geminiani was counted among a handful of Baroque-era violin virtuosos and was equally active as a composer and educator. As someone who out of necessity wrote a great deal of music for his own instrument Geminiani was also an innovator, his music beginning to bridge the gap from the late Baroque into the early Classical. Though he is known best for his violin works, Geminiani wrote for other instrumental combinations, as well. This Concerto album highlights the six sonatas of Op. 5, scored for cello and basso continuo.

It is now generally accepted that Vivaldi wrote ten cello sonatas – one of them now lost. Six (RV 47, 41, 43, 45, 40 and 46) of the surviving nine were published posthumously as a set, in Paris, by Charles-Nicolas Le Clerc around 1740. The other three survive in manuscript collections: RV 42 (along with RV 46) is preserved in the library at Wiesentheid Castle at Unterfranken in Germany; RV 39 and 44 (along with RV 47) are to be found in a manuscript in the Naples Conservatoire.
Geminiani’s opus 5 consists of six cello sonatas, and was first published in Paris in 1746. The twenty years either side of 1740 saw the cello rise to a very fashionable position in French musical society, largely at the expense of the bass-viol – a change of fashion which stirred such strong emotions that in 1740 Hubert Le Blanc published his fierce Defense de la basse de viole contre les entreprises du violon et les pretensions du violencel. Music such as that by Vivaldi and Geminiani which is played here by Roel Dieltiens and his colleagues must have made a powerful counter-case for the cello.

The first six sonatas, or the sonate da chiesa as they are commonly referred to, were published in Geminiani’s arrangements in 1726 and met with immediate success. Not only were the sonorities amplified by the instrumental expansion, but Corelli’s difficult-to-play sonatas were now within reach of violinists with more modest abilities. The skill with which Geminiani embellished Corelli’s music while remaining true to Corelli is immediately evident when Corelli and Geminiani are played back-to-back. It is roughly the aural equivalent of a black and white photo now viewed in color. Geminiani’s arrangements of the second set of six sonatas, the sonate da camera, were soon completed but did not meet with the same immediate popularity.

Francesco Geminiani claimed to be a pupil of Corelli but there seems to be no documentary evidence of that. There can be no doubt that he was strongly influenced by Corelli: as a token of his admiration he arranged Corelli's sonatas Op. 5 as concerti grossi. Some of these are quite well-known and so are his six sonatas Op. 5 for cello and bc. Otherwise little of his output is part of the standard repertoire of today's performers.

After Handel, Geminiani was among the most prominent foreign musicians to settle in England during the first half of the 18th century. His most celebrated collection of concertos was published in 1732 as his Op. 3. Charles Burney rated them highly and it is easy to see why: they are beautifully crafted pieces modelled, to some extent, on those of his teacher, Corelli. But, in addition to the two violins and cello which form the typical concertino/solo group of the Corellian concerto grosso, Geminiani added a viola to make up a quartet. He was not quite the first to do this, but he was the first to integrate the solo and grosso elements with such finesse.

Andrew Manze is not only a superb violinist – check out his Biber sonatas – but also a superb music director. Since taking over the calcified old Academy of Ancient Music and bringing the group with him to Harmonia Mundi, he has produced a stunning series of recordings: a couple of Vivaldi discs, a wonderful set of Handel's Opus 6 concertos, a sublime disc of the Bach concertos. Now they have released Geminiani's Concerto Grossi after Corelli's Op. 5, and it is their best yet.

Wer erkunden möchte, welche Brillanz und Farbenvielfalt das Spiel auf einer Blockflöte ermöglicht, sollte in dieses vielgestaltige Programm mit italienischen Sonaten hineinhören. Dorothee Oberlinger verfügt über eine phänomenale Technik, mit der sie jeden musikalischen Impuls umzusetzen und ihre Spielfreude ungebremst auszuleben vermag. Selbst in den rasantesten Läufen und vertracktesten Verzierungen bleibt die Artikulation glasklar, der Ton wunderbar präsent und konturiert.

The compositions recorded here are a significant example of musical taste as it spread to the other side of the English channel in the first decades of the 18th century. England welcomed the ‘Corellian’ style with such enthusiasm as to attract onto its banks a rich line-up of instrumentalists, singers, impresarios who with varying degrees of success contributed to the spread of the new Italian style based on the Sonata and the Concerto Grosso canonized in Corelli’s Op. V and VI. Francesco Geminiani arrived in London in 1714. As a direct disciple of Corelli, it was easy for him to become part of the musical life there in London, soon gaining great fame as a violinist.

With this recording, the Purcell Quartet reach the mid-point in their six-part series of chamber music based on La Jolla, and although this CD is devoted to Geminiani, the only work on that tune is, in fact, his concerto grosso arrangement of Corelli's variations for violin (Op. 5 No. 12). In addition, they have chosen the G minor Concerto grosso (distinguished by Geminiani's remarkable concertino viola part, played to good effect by Alan George), two of Geminiani's original solo sonatas (giving Catherine Mackintosh and Elizabeth Wallfisch moments in which to shine) and trio arrangements of two of his violin sonatas.

Though Geminiani expressed a great deal of pride and acoomplishment regarding his Six Cello Sonatas, Op. 5, his writing style proved to be passé for audiences of the time and they did not receive their due appreciation. Today, however, they are recognized for what they are: one of the finest sets of cello sonatas to emerge from the last half of the 18th century. Geminiani's writing demonstrates a thorough knowledge of the cello's technical abilities as well as its abilities to convey emotions and sentiments. His writing, scored for solo cello, harpsichord, and basso continuo, is highly elaborate, filled with sophisticated ornamentation and an active continuo part.