Geminiani: Concerti Grossi (After Corelli, Op. 5) Academy of Ancient Music

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  • Release Date: 09/12/2000
  • Label: HARMONIA MUNDI FR.
  • UPC: 093046726126

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Geminiani: Concerti Grossi (After Corelli, Op. 5)

Disc 1
1LISTENConcerti Grossi (12), for
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Disc 2
1LISTENConcerti Grossi (12), for
2LISTENConcerti Grossi (12), for
3LISTENConcerti Grossi (12), for
4LISTENConcerti Grossi (12), for
5LISTENConcerti Grossi (12), for
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7LISTENConcerti Grossi (12), for
8LISTENConcerti Grossi (12), for
9LISTENConcerti Grossi (12), for
10LISTENConcerti Grossi (12), for
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About this Artist

Editorial Reviews

Musicians in England had already gone wild when Corelli's music arrived there, so when one of his star pupils, Francesco Geminiani (1687-1762), traveled to London in 1714, he was assured of a warm welcome. The success of Geminiani's first set of violin sonatas (1716) prompted a command performance for King George I, where he was accompanied on the harpsichord by another recent immigrant, George Frideric Handel. For his next work -- dedicated to the king -- Geminiani cleverly turned to the music of his revered teacher, transforming the 12 violin sonatas of Corelli's Op. 5 into orchestral concertos. As Andrew Manze writes in his illuminating notes to this recording, Geminiani's concertos "are more than arrangements or orchestrations. They are explorations, expansions, the end product of a process of musical evolution." Baroque aficionados familiar with Corelli's Op. 5 will be able to appreciate Geminiani's resourcefulness in teasing out elaborate contrapuntal strands from a solo violin line and the ingenious yet respectful way he elaborates Corelli's harmonic underpinning into full orchestral textures. But such knowledge is certainly not a prerequisite to enjoyment; with their melodic richness and colorful presentation, these concertos are quite easily savored. The tender opening movement of the Second Concerto glistens like a dewy sunrise; the finale of the Fifth dances lithely on delicate pizzicato tiptoes; and the Twelfth (a set of 25 variations on "La Follia") is a dazzling virtuoso showpiece. Manze and the musicians of the Academy of Ancient Music play with the kind of elegant abandon Geminiani himself was famous for. Two sonatas from Corelli's original opus fill out the program -- one with ornaments written out by Geminiani. Featuring Harmonia Mundi's typically ravishing recorded sound, this two-disc set is a sumptuous, satisfying feast for the senses. Andrew Farach-Colton, Barnes & Noble



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