Concerti Grossi & Violin Concertos by La Sfera Armoniosa / Mike Fentross / Lidewij van der Voort

La Sfera Armoniosa / Mike Fentross / Lidewij van der Voort

Concerti Grossi & Violin Concertos

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Challenge Classics
UPC: 0608917282924
Catnr: CC 72829
Release date: 08 January 2021
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Label
Challenge Classics

UPC
0608917282924

Catalogue number
CC 72829

Release date
08 January 2021

"the spirit, the alacrity, the variety of colors - in one word the happiness to play - spring from the lively direction by Mike Fentross."

Classica, 01-11-2021

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

Press

About the album

Willem De Fesch was born in Alkmaar in 1687. He deserves an honorable place alongside such greats as Vivaldi and Handel, as his works sound at least as colorful, playful, inventive and sparkling as those of his contemporaries.
Sometime after 1700 his parents returned with him to Amsterdam. By then, the city had become an epicentre of music publishers. Many Italian composers published their work in the city; Vivaldi made public appearances and in 1729, Pietro Locatelli even opted to move there.
In 1708, De Fesch was appointed violinist in the orchestra of the Amsterdam City Theatre. He composed a lot of music for stage performances himself, such as the concerts in C and A minor on this CD.
As far as we know, orchestral works only started to appear again in 1741: the audibly matured Opus 10, also on this CD.

Mike Fentross, zijn ensemble La Sfera Armoniosa en solovioliste Lidewij van der Voort brengen een bijzonder en interessant album uit. We maken kennis met de concerten van de Nederlandse componist Willem de Fesch. Hij verdient een eervolle plaats naast grootheden als Vivaldi en Händel, want zijn werken klinken minstens zo kleurrijk, speels, inventief en sprankelend als die van zijn tijdgenoten.

Willem De Fesch werd geboren in Alkmaar in 1687. Even na 1700 verhuisde het gezin naar Amsterdam, in die tijd een epicentrum van muziekuitgevers. Veel Italiaanse componisten publiceerden er hun werk. Vivaldi trad er regelmatig op en Pietro Locatelli koos er zelfs voor om in de stad te gaan wonen. In 1708 werd De Fesch benoemd tot violist in het orkest van de Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam. Hij componeerde zelf veel muziek voor optredens, zoals de concerten in C en A minor op deze cd. Voor zover bekend ontstonden de orkestwerken van De Fesch pas vanaf 1741, zoals de hoorbaar gerijpte Opus 10, ook op deze cd.

Mike Fentross vroeg zich af wat er zich afspeelde in het hoofd van Willem de Fesch uit Alkmaar. De plaats waar Fentross woont aan een zeventiende-eeuwse binnenplaats op een steenworp afstand van het geboortehuis van Willem de Fesch. Hoe dicht kun je bij de componist komen die meer dan driehonderd jaar geleden door die straten zwierf? Fentross probeerde zich de componist voor te stellen. Lopend over de kaasmarkt, te paard naar de Amsterdamse Stadsschouwburg. Naar Antwerpen waar De Fesch Kapelmeester werd in de Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal en vervolgens naar Londen waar hij het orkest van Georg Friedrich Händel ging leiden.

Wat er in het hoofd van de Alkmaarse componist omging weet Mike Fentross niet. Gelukkig is er, drie eeuwen later, nog steeds zijn muziek. Mike Fentross en zijn ensemble vonden het hoog tijd om Nederland via die muziek kennis te laten maken met deze fascinerende en gepassioneerde, maar ook gevoelige componist, die twee oratoria, kamermuziek en drie opussen bestaande uit concerti grossi en viool concerti schreef.

La Sfera Armoniosa is een ensemble zonder vaste bezetting. In de kern zitten oprichters Mike Fentross en Paulina van Laarhoven. Het ensemble is gespecialiseerd in het uitvoeren van 17e en 18e eeuwse muziek en stelt op maat gemaakte programma’s samen aan de hand van de gewenste bezettingen. Doordat La Sfera Armoniosa niet vast zit aan één vorm, hebben ze al verschillende bijzondere programma’s gemaakt in samenwerking met topmusici van over de hele wereld. La Sfera Armoniosa zoekt vaak juist naar het experiment door bijvoorbeeld samen te werken met musici uit andere vakgebieden.

Willem De Fesch wurde 1687 in Alkmaar geboren und verdient einen Ehrenplatz neben Größen wie Vivaldi und Händel, denn seine Werke klingen mindestens genauso farbenreich, verspielt, einfallsreich und prickelnd wie die seiner Zeitgenossen. Nach 1700 kehrten De Feschs Eltern mit ihm nach Amsterdam zurück. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt hatte sich die Stadt bereits zum Epizentrum der Musikverleger entwickelt. Viele italienische Komponisten veröffentlichten ihre Werke hier; Vivaldi trat in der Stadt auf, und 1729 entschied sich Pietro Locatelli sogar zur Übersiedlung. 1708 wurde De Fesch als Violinist in das Orchester des Amsterdamer Stadttheaters aufgenommen. Er komponierte selbst viel Bühnenmusik, wie die Konzerte in C-Dur und A-Moll auf dieser CD. Soweit bekannt ist, entstanden die ersten Orchesterwerke erst ab 1741: das merklich gereifte Opus 10, das Sie ebenfalls auf dieser Aufnahme hören.

Artist(s)

Mike Fentross (conductor)

Conductor/lutenist Mike Fentross has largely earned his credits as an early music specialist. He is working all over Europe as a conductor, soloist and basso continuo player and he is professor of lute and basso continuo at the Royal Conservatory The Hague. In 2006 he founded the baroque orchestra La Sfera Armoniosa. Mike Fentross conducted in many festivals and concerthalls like the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. the Festival van Vlaanderen, Festival d’Ambronay, Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci, Paradiso Amsterdam, Monteverdi Festival Cremona, Festival de Musica Portico de Zamora, Festival Musica Antiqua Brugge, Vantaa Early Music Festival, Bayreuth Barock and Muziekcentrum Vredenburg in Utrecht. For two times he had the honour to conduct in the presence of Queen Beatrix of Holland. In...

Mike Fentross conducted in many festivals and concerthalls like the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. the Festival van Vlaanderen, Festival d’Ambronay, Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci, Paradiso Amsterdam, Monteverdi Festival Cremona, Festival de Musica Portico de Zamora, Festival Musica Antiqua Brugge, Vantaa Early Music Festival, Bayreuth Barock and Muziekcentrum Vredenburg in Utrecht. For two times

he had the honour to conduct in the presence of Queen Beatrix of Holland. In 1988 Mike Fentross graduated at the Royal Conservatory The Hague where he studied with lute pionier Toyohiko Satoh. In 1994 he won the Van Wassenaer Competition in Amsterdam with violinist Helene Schmitt. He played chamber music with musicians as Yo Yo Ma, Ton Koopman, Janine Jansen, Marion Verbruggen, Sonia Prina, Maria Bajo, Wilbert Hazelzet, Bruce Dickey, Lucy van Dael, Andrew Lawrence King, Philippe Jarousski, Eduardo Lopez Banzo, Skip Sempe and Gerard Lesne. Mike has recorded more than 75 cd’s.

He studied conducting with Stefan Pas. As conductor he debuted in 1999 with La Dafne from Marco da Gagliano in a production of the New Opera Academie in Amsterdam. In 2006 he conducted in the presence of Queen Beatrix the modern world premiere from the opera l’Ipermestra from Cavalli in a prestigeous jubilee production from the Utrecht Early Music Festival and in 2008 he conducted a second unearthed Cavalli opera La Rosinda in a production from the Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci Potsdam. In 2009 he conducted for the first time in the big hall from the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and in the same year he was musical director in the production Granida performed in the presence of Queen Beatrix. About his debut as conductor from the Dutch Chamber Choir in 2010 in the Concertgebouw the press wrote: Conductor Mike Fentross rivalled Caravaggio with the score of the Maria Vespers. His first time conducting the Nederlands Kamerkoor was a resounding success.

Mike doesn’t only conduct Early Music, in 2004 he conducted Pierrot Lunaire from Arnold Schoenberg. The press wrote: There was great enthusiasm for Mike Fentross as conductor of a double bill consisting of Monteverdi’s Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda and Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire. Mike Fentross gave a performance of Pierrot lunaire that ‘appeared to come from another planet’.

In 2012 Mike made his Austrian debut in the Haydn Festival Eisenstadt with great success in a program with coloratura soprano Simone Kermes and in the same year he conducted the pre jubilee concert for the Concertgebouw in a program with solo violinist Lucy van Dael and singers Henk Neven and Andreas Scholl. In 2013 he conducted the Fairy Queen with his orchestra and the Netherlands Chamberchoir.

Since 2013 he is regularly conducting the baroque orchestra and choir of the Royal Conservatory. In 2014 he was invited by Paradiso Orchestra to conduct Beethovens Eroica. In 2016 he conducted the Netherlands Chamber Choir in a Bach, Faure program live broadcast on national radio.

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La Sfera Armoniosa

La Sfera Armoniosa, founded in 1992, is a Dutch Baroque ensemble and orchestra specialized in the performance of music from the seventeenth and eighteenth century. Artistic director and conductor is Mike Fentross. In addition to the music of famous composers such as Monteverdi, Haendel and Vivaldi, the ensemble undertakes research into the manuscripts and printed works of the European libraries in order to provide a rich spectrum of music from lesser known composers. The English music magazine Gramophone wrote about their first cd: “How soon will we hear the enchanting La Sfera Armoniosa again, and what fresh buried treasure will they unearth?” La Sfera Armoniosa is known and praised for it’s lively and colourful sound and for its groundbreaking programmes. They created in 2004 a Schoenberg/ Monteverdi programme that they performed with great success in the Utrecht Early Music Festival and they performed modern world premiers from three almost forgotten opera’s: La Rosinda, l’Ipermestra and Granida. In 2012 the Concertgebouw asked La Sfera to design and perform a special program, the Amsterdam musical life before the concerthall was build, for their 125th anniversary.
La Sfera Armoniosa performed in main festivals and concert halls such as: Festival van Vlaanderen, Festival d’Ambronay, Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, Music Center Vredenburg, Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci, Monteverdi festival Cremona, Festival de Musica Portico de Zamora, Festival Musica Antiqua Bruges, and the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam.
About their performance of the opera La Rosinda by Francesco Cavalli in Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci the press wrote: "This evening, the orchestra has proven that it is amongst the leading baroque orchestras. I will not soon forget the nuances that came from the orchestra pit. That was great art. Nothing more and nothing less."

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Siebe Henstra (harpsichord)

Edouard Catalan (cello)

Lidewij van der Voort (violin)

Elise van der Wel (violin)

Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde (cello)

Femke Huizinga (violin)

Joseph Tan (violin)

Ewa Żołyniak-Adamska (violin)

Zdenka Prochaskova (viola)

Severiano Paoli (double bass)

Esther van Eijck (viola)

Composer(s)

Willem de Fesch

Press

the spirit, the alacrity, the variety of colors - in one word the happiness to play - spring from the lively direction by Mike Fentross.
Classica, 01-11-2021

Van der Voort's playing shines through. I love the way she leans into the dissonances, and her dexterity in fast movements is quite remarkable.
American Record Guide, 01-9-2021

La Sfera Armoniosa is a high-quality ensemble that deploys its quality especially in little known repertoire and that – in this recording – delivers some accounts of great value.
Ritmo, 01-4-2021

With no church acoustic to smooth things over there are one or two mildly scratchy moments in these performances, but if you are a fan of this period and are looking for something other than Vivaldi then this will be of interest.
Musicweb International, 01-3-2021

Today it is Mike Fentross who, with his group La Sfera Armoniosa and a stunning Lidewij van der Voort as first violin, offers a beautiful selection of his [De Fesch] concertos, drawn from different stages of his output: this way it is possible to follow his stylistic development and, most of all, to fully taste a music that is firmly constructed and is equipped with a subtle and poetic melodic gift in the slow movements [...] With this more than compelling account, Fentross thoroughly confirms that Willem de Fesch is not a mere anecdote in the 18th Century musical landscape. There is much to enjoy in this excellent disc.
Scherzo, 01-3-2021

This recording is a discographic asset that will hopefully be continued.
Het Parool, 15-1-2021