Matteo Manfredini

Francesco Manfredini was born in the austerely beautiful Tuscan town of Pistoia in 1684, a year before Bach, Handel and Scarlatti; he died as maestro di capella there in 1762. In the interim, he studied at Bologna with Torelli and later worked in Ferrara. He published relatively few sets of sonatas and concertos, and six oratorios, composed between 1719 and 1728, remain in manuscript. His 12 Concertos, Op. 3, were published in Bologna, a great musical centre in those days, in 1718, and were preceded by 12 Concertini, Op. 1, and 12 Sinfonie da chiesa, Op. 2. The Op. 3 Concertos are lively works, though less brilliant than Vivaldi’s similar pieces and lacking the nobility of Corelli’s sonatas and concertos. The final concerto of Op. 3 contains a ‘Pastorale per il Santissimo Natale’ which is Manfredini’s best-known work.

The sentimental and idyllic picture generally summoned up by Christmas concerti, especially those of the Baroque period, does not altogether reflect musical reality in Italy. Whereas today’s listener imagines joyful music composed in a pious time, the musical landscape portrayed in the concerti of the Italian Baroque composers was altogether richer and more colourful. This can be seen from the selection of Baroque concerti on this disc, which were either written directly for Christmas celebrations, or — as in the case of the concerto by Pez — could be used as Christmas music.

The chamber orchestra Cappella Istropolitana was founded in 1983, taking its name from the Roman Istropolis, the city on the Danube that is the modern Bratislava, a name that had been perpetuated in the renowned Renaissance Universitas Istropolitana. The orchestra has appeared throughout the world and has won distinction in the recording, broadcasting and television studios, working often under distinguished conductors in a comprehensive repertoire; it has more than ninety CDs to its credit. In 1991 the City Council appointed the orchestra Chamber Orchestra of the City of Bratislava.

The cello was a beneficiary of the remarkable flowering of high culture sponsored by both ecclesiastical and aristocratic patrons in early 18th-century Naples. In 1717, Rocco Greco (1650-1718) became the last appointed player of the viola da gamba in the Royal Chapel dedicated to the treasure of St Januarius, the patron saint of Naples. Both Greco and his colleague Gaetano Francone (c.1650-1717) produced new music for the cello which was suitable for performance within the liturgy of the chapel.

Scarlatti’s sonatas are among the most original compositions of the Baroque period, bursting with rhythmic and harmonic invention, contrast and colour. Matteo Mela and Lorenzo Micheli take up this exceptional production and record, on two guitars, twelve of his 555 sonatas. Scarlatti was well acquainted with the instrument, which he heard in Spain and Italy, where it permeated his keyboard compositions. By going back to one of Scarlatti’s most obvious and greater musical sources of inspiration, the two performers underline the eloquence and inexhaustible invention of these rhapsodic miniatures, masterpieces of their composer’s art as a colourist.

Rare manuscripts from the library of an Italian abbey, rediscovered and recorded for the first time.

This exceptional recording was made using three original instruments that belonged to Paganini himself: the powerful 1743 Guarneri del Gesù violin; a six-string guitar by Ory, Paris, dated 1797; and a magnificent 1736 Stradivari cello, property of the Nippon Music Foundation and entrusted to Clemens Hagen, cellist of the Hagen Quartet. The three instruments are played together for the first time on this release. It was Giulio Plotino who conceived this project and took upon himself the difficult task of reuniting the three instruments. Indeed, this unique recording would not have been possible without him.