Luigi Boccherini

Boccherini never scaled the heights of his contemporaries Haydn and Mozart, but he was a fluent composer, tuneful, and imaginative in his orchestral scoring. Doubled lower strings in Symphony No. 3 create a deep-pile texture; mandolin/guitar-like pizzicato in the second movement may reflect his employment in Madrid by the Spanish Infante; colourful flutes replace oboes in the minuet (though piercing piccolo solo on this recording is perhaps a quirk too far).

Quintets with double bass? The combination is rather rare, but to Boccherini, court composer to the Infante Don Luis and then to Charles II in Madrid, it must have had a special significance, because these three works are unique among his 125 string quintets.

The ensemble L`Archibudelli and the cellist Anner Bylsma, together with the wonderful soprano Roberta Invernizzi, have once again recorded the exceptionally well-rehearsed Mass by Luigi Boccherini in a fantastic recording. Despite minimal use without choir and winds, the listener is captivated by the drama of each movement. Rberta Invernizzi brings out in a clear and fine voice every single twist of this interesting work and the string ensemble shines with powerful, gripping sound and wonderful slow movements. The Stabat Mater is supplemented by the String Quintet op. 42.

Il s'agit d'œuvres relativement précoces, composées avant son installation à Madrid alors qu'il était encore un musicien itinérant. Le jeune Boccherini a probablement joué ces concertos à Vienne et durant ses tournées de concerts à travers l'Europe jusqu'à son séjour à Paris en 1767–68. La critique parisienne fut peu favorable — un journaliste a rapporté son jeu comme « Aigre» et qu'il était peu applaudi — mais cela était probablement plus dû au fait que son public était peu habitué à entendre le violoncelle comme instrument soliste qu'à une quelconque lacune technique de sa part. Boccherini a été un pionnier dans l'émancipation du violoncelle du carcan de la basse continue.

Though Luigi Boccherini composed some 30 sonatas that we know of for his primary instrument, the cello, only six were actually published during his lifetime; still fewer are performed now with any great frequency. As a performing virtuoso, many of Boccherini's compositions for cello would certainly have been for his own use and as such place high demands on the performer; the mass appeal of chamber music for people to play at home, however, ensured that not all of his sonatas (or concertos, for that matter) are primarily technical in nature. This Alba disc features five sonatas including the very popular Sonata in A major, G4, and the B flat major Sonata, which listeners will in part recognize as the doppelgänger of the famous concerto in the same key.

Some Symphonies for the Prussian Court. What better proof than these Symphonies commissioned by the Crown Prince of Prussia to show how the Italian 'Boquerini' never lost contact with Europe, even when retired to the depths of the Spanish countryside. With their colourful instrumentation and some truly inspirational touches in the melody, these are some of the finest works in classical style.

“Brilliant singer … a lean, straightforward voice animated by a subtle flatée … real ‘vocal artistry’,” raved German early music expert Bernhard Morbach of Kulturradio Berlin Brandenburg about Amaryllis Dieltiens’ debut on AEOLUS in 2011. With her own ensemble Capriola Di Gioia, Dieltiens now presents a deeply touching Stabat mater in Boccherini’s original version from 1781.

This recording follows a first collaboration between Zig-Zag Territoires and Marco Ceccato (Vivaldi sonatas), widely hailed by the press. It is devoted to two important aspects of Luigi Bocherini’s work: chamber music and the cello, of which he was a great virtuoso. The two quintets and the divertimento feature the combination of the string quartet – of which Boccherini was, in a way, the co-founder with Haydn – sometimes with the guitar, sometimes with the flute having place of honour, and always with a delightful use of those instruments’ sound capabilities. And, of course, the cello is then to the fore in the Concerto in G major, a summary of virtuosity and lyricism.

For the setting of the contemplative but highly emotional text of the medieval sequence Stabat mater Boccherini chose an intimate chamber music instrumentation of soprano and string quintet (in his preferred instrumentation with two violins, viola and two cellos). The five string instruments are not only accompaniment, but together with the singing voice they transform into one instrument section, so that one can speak of a sextet for singing voice and string quintet. With the angelic singing of Núria Rial, the work becomes a real treat for lovers of beautiful voices and chamber music lovers alike.

Boccherini wrote very little vocal music; however he left two settings of the Stabat mater. It was first set in 1781 for solo soprano and strings and then in 1800 for two sopranos and tenor, obviously influenced by the hugely-popular Pergolesi Stabat mater of 1736. There are many similarities in the notation and harmony—even the same key of F minor is used. The writing is of extraordinary individuality and seems to come straight from the heart. This unjustly neglected piece is surely one of the most remarkable sacred compostions of the era.