L’Arte di diminuire by L'Estro d'Orfeo

Various composers

L'Estro d'Orfeo

L’Arte di diminuire

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Challenge Classics
UPC: 0608917284324
Catnr: CC 72843
Release date: 06 March 2020
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Label
Challenge Classics

UPC
0608917284324

Catalogue number
CC 72843

Release date
06 March 2020

"Needless to say, the CD is listened to with pleasure from beginning to end: for the superb music, for the interpretation that creeps between sacred, profane and theatrical, between instrumental and vocal, demonstrating that one thing is to improvise at the "'ndo cojo cojo", and another is to do so referring to criteria in use at the time."

Amadeus, 01-2-2021

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

Press

About the album

Diminutions, the art of extemporary embellishment or melodic variation, were an essential part of performance practice of the Renaissance and early Baroque periods. The basis of diminutions is the fragmentation of a long note or series of long notes into many shorter and faster ones that move around the original melody. In the 16th and early 17th centuries, a composition as written by the composer was often regarded as raw material and it was normal and even required of musicians to embellish the works performed. The number of treatises that were devoted to the teaching of this subject is a clear indication of the importance of diminutions at that time. Most of these manuals included a collection of decorated melodies taken from renowned madrigals, motets and chansons by well-known composers of the time. These pieces give us clear examples of how music was performed during that time and what was considered the proper way to embellish a piece of music. Often technically demanding, these pieces gave scope for virtuoso display as they required great dexterity from the performer. In conclusion, diminutions were added to make a piece of music more ‘beautiful’.
This CD explores the widespread practice of diminutions by presenting published examples of diminutions on well-known motets, by master composers; diminutions on popular melodies or dance forms and finally, diminutions composed by the performer as artist. I hope this recording will bring the listeners closer to the subject of diminutions which is, in my opinion, an art in itself.

L’Arte di Diminuire is het tweede album van violiste Leonor de Lera en haar virtuoze ensemble L'Estro di Orfeo. Hierin staat het gebruik van 'dimunities', verkleiningen, centraal, de kunst van het improviseren en verfraaien. Een praktijk die wijdverbreid voorkwam in de barokmuziek. Dankzij de technische vaardigheden van de musici en het voortdurend wisselen van instrumenten en partituren is deze opname een fascinerende reis geworden.

Aan de hand van gepubliceerde voorbeelden van diminuties op bekende motetten van meestercomponisten, op populaire melodieën of op dansvormen, maar ook van dimunities die de uitvoerende musici zelf, als kunstenaar componeerden, is het gegeven diminuties op dit album onderzocht. Diminutie, de kunst van het voor de vuist weg verfraaien of melodisch variëren, was een essentieel onderdeel van de uitvoeringspraktijk van de Renaissance en de vroege barok. De basis van diminutie is het in kleine stukjes opdelen van een lange noot of een reeks lange noten in vele kortere en snellere noten die zich rond de originele melodie bewegen.

In de 16e en vroege 17e eeuw werd een compositie van de componist vaak beschouwd als basismateriaal. Het was normaal en zelfs een vereiste voor de musici om de uitgevoerde werken te verfraaien. Het aantal verhandelingen dat aan dit onderwerp wordt gewijd, is een duidelijke indicatie van het belang van verkleiningen op dat moment. De meeste handleidingen bevatten een verzameling sierlijke melodieën van beroemde madrigalen, motetten en chansons van beroemde componisten van die tijd. Deze stukken geven duidelijke voorbeelden van hoe muziek indertijd werd gespeeld. Leonor de Lera hoopt dat deze opname het publiek dichter bij het thema van de verkleining zal brengen, wat naar haar mening een kunst op zich is.

L'Estro d'Orfeo, opgericht door Leonor de Lera in 2015, wordt door de critici bestempeld als een "ensemble van uitzonderlijke kwaliteit". Ze zijn gespecialiseerd in instrumentale muziek van de 17e eeuw, waarbij ze gebruikmaken van historische instrumenten. Dat doen ze met een historisch doordachte aanpak, in lijn met de esthetiek van die tijd. Hun doel is om de instrumentale muziek die het begin van een nieuw tijdperk markeerde, en een nieuw concept in de muziek: instrumentale virtuositeit, onder de aandacht te brengen.

Diminutionen, die Kunst der extemporären Verschönerung oder der melodischen Variation waren ein wesentlicher Bestandteil der Aufführungspraxis der Renaissance und des Frühbarock. Die Grundlage der Diminutionen ist die Zersplitterung einer langen Note oder einer Reihe von langen Noten in viele kürzere und schnellere, die sich um die ursprüngliche Melodie herum bewegen. Im 16. und frühen 17. Jahrhundert wurde eine Komposition, wie sie vom Komponisten geschrieben wurde, oft als Rohmaterial betrachtet und es war normal und sogar von den Musikern verlangt, die aufgeführten Werke zu verschönern. Die Anzahl der Abhandlungen, die dem Unterricht dieses Faches gewidmet waren, ist ein klarer Hinweis auf die Bedeutung der damaligen Verminderungen. Die meisten dieser Handbücher enthielten eine Sammlung von verzierten Melodien aus berühmten Madrigalen, Motetten und Chansons bekannter Komponisten der damaligen Zeit. Diese Stücke geben uns klare Beispiele dafür, wie Musik in dieser Zeit gespielt wurde und was als die richtige Art und Weise angesehen wurde, ein Musikstück zu verschönern. Oftmals technisch anspruchsvoll, boten diese Stücke Raum für eine virtuose Darstellung, da sie vom Interpreten große Geschicklichkeit verlangten. Abschließend wurden noch Abschwächungen hinzugefügt, um ein Musikstück "schöner" zu machen.
Diese CD untersucht die weit verbreitete Praxis der Diminutionen, indem sie veröffentlichte Beispiele von Diminutionen auf bekannten Motetten von Meisterkomponisten, Diminutionen auf populären Melodien oder Tanzformen und schließlich Diminutionen, die der Ausführende als Künstler komponiert hat, vorstellt. Ich hoffe, dass diese Aufnahme den Zuhörern das Thema der Diminutionen näher bringt, das meiner Meinung nach eine Kunst für sich ist.

Artist(s)

L'Estro d'Orfeo

Founded by Leonor de Lera in 2015, L’Estro d’Orfeo has been heralded by the critics as an “ensemble of exceptional quality”. Specialising in instrumental music of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, played on period instruments, with an historically informed approach in line with the aesthetics of the time. Their purpose is to champion instrumental music that marked the beginning of a new era and a new concept in music: instrumental virtuosity. L’Estro d’Orfeo takes its name and inspiration from the Greek legend of Orpheus. Son of the god Apollo, god of the music and the arts; and Calliope, the muse of poetry and eloquence; Orpheus inherited from them the gift of music and poetry. As Apollo was considered the best musician...

L’Estro d’Orfeo takes its name and inspiration from the Greek legend of Orpheus. Son of the god Apollo, god of the music and the arts; and Calliope, the muse of poetry and eloquence; Orpheus inherited from them the gift of music and poetry. As Apollo was considered the best musician amongst the gods, so Orpheus was considered the best musician amongst the mortals.

L’Estro d’Orfeo released their debut CD “Altri Canti d’Amor” in September 2017 under the Dutch label Challenge Classics, which received rave reviews in leading classical music magazines.

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Javier Núñez (harpsichord)

Ignacio Ramal (baroque violin)

Leonor de Lera (baroque violin)

Born in Madrid, of Spanish-French origin, Leonor was influenced by both cultures from the very beginning. She starts her violin studies at the age of 6 in the Conservatorio Profesional de Música Adolfo Salazar, after which she continues her learning with Ara Malikian.
She moves to London in the year 2000 to continue her studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with the late Mr. Yfrah Neaman. Shortly after and due to her increasing interest in early music, Leonor decides to specialize in baroque violin and goes on to study with Ms. Rachel Podger, completing her Bachelor of Music diploma in 2004. She was awarded a scholarship to study a Postgraduate course at the Royal Academy of Music, where she continued as a student of Ms. Podger’s, graduating in 2006. She then continued to develop her skills as a baroque player with the renowned violinist Enrico Onofri.
Leonor has taken part in many courses and masterclasses with important players such as Manfredo Kraemer, Olivia Centurioni and Pavlo Beznosiuk.
She was part of I Giovani della Montis Regalis in Italy in 2009, Le Parlement de Musique – Génération Baroque 2010, and the Orchestre Français des Jeunes Baroque 2011-2012, in France.
She has worked with orchestras and ensembles such as Accademia Bizantina, L’Arpeggiata, Cappella Mediterranea, Ensemble Elyma, Divino Sospiro, Capriccio Stravagante, Orquesta Barroca de Sevilla, Los Mvsicos de sv Alteza, Euskalbarrokensemble, Coral de Cámara de Pamplona, La Capilla Real de Madrid, Orquesta Barroca del Conde Duque, XVIII-21 Le Baroque Nomade; and under the direction of people such as Enrico Onofri, Leonardo García Alarcón, Christina Pluhar, Gabriel Garrido, Stefano Montanari, Alessandro di Marchi, Reinhard Goebel, Skip Sempé, Martin Gester, Vanni Moretto, and Laurence Cummings, to name but a few.
Leonor is also the founder, artistic director and violinist of L'Estro d'Orfeo, an early music ensemble that specialises in the instrumental music of the 17th century.
MEMBERS: Leonor de Lera, aritistic director & baroque violin Josué Meléndez, cornetto Rodney Prada, viola da gamba Josep Maria Martí, theorbo & baroque guitar Javier Núñez, harpsichord YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8cGIFFA000 FACEBOOK PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/lestrodorfeo/

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Rodney Prada (viola)

Josep Maria Martí (theorbo)

Composer(s)

Biagio Marini

Biagio Marini (1594-1663) has possibly studied with his uncle, the Domincan Giacinto Bondioli. Marini's works were printed and were influential in European musical life. He travelled his entire life, worked in Brussels and over thirty years in Neuburg an der Donau and in Düsseldorf, with Monteverdi in Venice at St Mark's Basilica, and in cities like Padua, Parma, Ferrara, Milan, Bergamo, and Brescia.There is evidence that he married three times and fathered five children. He died in Venice.
Although he wrote both instrumental and vocal music, he is better known for his innovative instrumental compositions. He contributed to the early development of the string idiom by expanding the performance range of the solo and accompanied violin and incorporating slur, double and even triple stopping, and the first explicitly notated tremolo effects into his music. He made contributions to most of the contemporary genres and investigated unusual compositional procedures, like constructing an entire sonata without a cadence (as in his Sonata senza cadenza). Many of his works have been lost, but those that have survived time demonstrate inventiveness, lyrical skill and harmonic boldness. In addition to his violin works, he wrote music for the cornett, dulcian, and sackbut.

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Marco Uccellini

Javier Núñez (harpsichord)

Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger

Francesco Rognoni

Leonor de Lera (baroque violin)

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Rodney Prada (viola)

Girolamo Dalla Casa

Salomone Rossi

Press

Needless to say, the CD is listened to with pleasure from beginning to end: for the superb music, for the interpretation that creeps between sacred, profane and theatrical, between instrumental and vocal, demonstrating that one thing is to improvise at the "'ndo cojo cojo", and another is to do so referring to criteria in use at the time.
Amadeus, 01-2-2021

Estro di Orfeo show they can master such difficult art [diminuzione] in both the ancient samples and in new elaborations: these ones are especially interesting as they stay back from the today trendy kitch.
Classic Voice, 01-12-2020

This disc deserves the attention of all lovers of early music, not only because of the fine performances of the written-out pieces, but also - and even more so - because the performers have applied the instructions of the various treatises on ornamentation and diminution in music of their own choice. They have transported themselves to the glorious days of diminutions, and invite the listener to join them.
musica Dei donum, 02-11-2020

The performance by L’Estro di Orfeo is good...
Fanfare, 24-9-2020

Here again, a Splendid recital, which must be added to that of Onofri.
clicmusique.com, 01-9-2020

The performance is crystal clear and virtuoso.
Luister, 17-7-2020

There is a risk that the conventions that the disc honours might throw a blanket of ‘sameness’ across the constituent parts, though this is perhaps only a danger in hands of the less-than-masterly performer and interpreter. That’s certainly not the case here, where, if there is a cohering affinity between the assembled compositions and the manner of performance, it only serves to attest to the veracity and authority of the ensemble’s style and execution. Indeed, it is the contrasts that make the most striking impression. In addition to the opposing ambience of diminutions written on well-known motets and madrigals respectively, there are diverse textures and instrumental sonorities, and countless types of diminution, all of which strive for a different expressive effect: delicacy or majesty, gravity or nonchalance.
Musicweb International, 01-7-2020

CD full of delicious, longing melodies for violin, viola da gamba, baroque guitar, harpsichord and organ, among others, an excellent guide to get to know lesser-known baroque composers from Spain and Italy.
Luister, 15-5-2020

It is the work of a goldsmith, both in the preparation and the interpretation, what they have accomplished, which confirms - and this is the best part - the excellent impression they made with their debut CD (Altri canti d'amor) two years ago with the same record label.
Scherzo, 01-5-2020

I'll just say that this is a record with plenty of virtuosity and excellence, with a speech of early Baroque style that, in our ears, would pass for native or of having lived a good while in that period.
Melomano, 30-4-2020

This colorful disc is a perfect illustration of baroque instrumental rhetoric.
ResMusica, 26-4-2020

This one protrudes above ground level thanks to the compositions of three of the ensemble members. Throughout the virtuoso and stylish spielereien a different, recognizable face awaits. Posh, Scary and Sporty Spice on baroque instruments: it swings from alpha to omega.
De Standaard, 15-4-2020