Six Sonatas for Violin, Cello and Violone by Musica Elegentia

Georg Christoph Wagenseil

Musica Elegentia | Matteo Cicchitti

Six Sonatas for Violin, Cello and Violone

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Challenge Classics
UPC: 0608917289626
Catnr: CC 72896
Release date: 14 January 2022
Buy

1 CD ✓ in stock	€ 19.95	Buy

Label
Challenge Classics

UPC
0608917289626

Catalogue number
CC 72896

Release date
14 January 2022

"They [the Sonatas] benefit from a high-flying realization... This publication is of great musical and historical interest: we have there, in formation, the "modern" chamber repertoire"

Classica, 01-6-2022

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

Press

About the album

The path traced on this CD, with music by Georg Christoph Wagenseil (1715-1777), and on following ones has the undoubted merit of introducing us to some composers considered “minor” compared to Haydn and Mozart. They were not only very active and influential on the musical life of that time; they also created a considerable amount of quality music, which deserves to be rediscovered and appreciated. In a historical-musical perspective, the music of these less famous authors helps to reconstruct the passage between the decline of the Baroque, towards the middle of the eighteenth century, and the noon of the classical style. A period that we often classify as ‘pre-classical’ or ‘galant’ or ‘early Viennese school’. This praiseworthy cultural operation, aimed at rediscovering not only “minor” composers but also certain genres considered “domestic” music allows us to better understand how the “musical landscape” looked like, especially in Vienna. Domestic music responded to the desire for cultured entertainment not only for the aristocracy but also for the rising bourgeois class; and as such, it constituted an indubitable status symbol.

The six sonatas in trio on this CD, dating from around the 1750s can be ascribed to the genre of ‘divertimento’: before 1780 the term was all-encompassing, and included all non-orchestral instrumental music, including sonatas and quartets. Above all, the idea of “musical conversation”, or dialogue or discourse between the different instruments, is very present in this type of composition, in which a pleasant and well-regulated lounge conversation is simulated and sublimated with just the notes.
The collection of Six Sonatas, presented on this CD, from the early fifties of the eighteenth century should be placed among the first chamber documents for three independent strings, without the support of a keyboard instrument for the realization of the continuo. The instrumental ensemble in these Sonatas almost reflects the vocal pattern of a trio between soprano, tenor, and bass, where the two upper voices interweave a duet, and the low one sustains, controls, points out, intervening here and there with short cues.
In general, in these “divertimenti-sonatas” there is a sure hand in managing the polyphonic dialogic interweaving as well as the shape of the form, mixed with a pretty good standard of melodic invention, always inserted in a rigorous and at the same time smooth structure.

And this happens all the more in the performance of Musica Elegentia, which aims at enhancing the idea of inter-instrumental dialogue and the individuality of the three instruments, as if they were interlocutors in conversation. These Sonatas are exquisite testimonies of the middle age between Handel and Bach on the one hand, Haydn and Mozart on the other.
Studies on performance practice have shown that in Viennese and Austrian circles the use of the violone as “bass” was very frequent, at least up to a certain date. Joseph Haydn himself indicated only “Violone” in his scores until 1772. The violone in this epoch was considered the “true” bass of the string family. The three instruments are always well identified, and you can always grasp the individual lines: the main melody as well as the embroidery, the foreground as well as the background.

Het Italiaanse oudemuziekensemble Musica Elegentia onder leiding van violonist Matteo Cicchitti brengt een bijzondere cd uit met muziek van de Oostenrijkse componist Georg Christoph Wagenseil. Hij componeerde de zes sonates voor viool, cello en violone in het begin van de jaren vijftig van de 18e eeuw. Ze behoren tot wat bekend staat als de ‘galante stijl’, de 18e-eeuwse rococo in de muziek. Uitgevoerd door dit ensemble staat deze muziek garant voor een aangename luisterervaring.

Met de muziek van Georg Christoph Wagenseil (1715-1777) wil Musica Elegentia de luisteraar kennis laten maken met enkele componisten die, in vergelijking met Haydn en Mozart, als onbelangrijk worden gezien, maar die heel actief en invloedrijk waren in het muzikale leven van die tijd. Ze maakten veel kwalitatief goede muziek, die het verdient om herontdekt en gewaardeerd te worden. Hun stijl ontstond als reactie op de strenge en veeleisende regels van de late barok, als ware het een generatieconflict. De sonates zijn prachtige getuigenissen van de tijd tussen Händel en Bach aan de ene kant en Haydn en Mozart aan de andere kant.

Ogenschijnlijk is het eenvoudige muziek, maar in feite is de muziek heel verfijnd. Met het idee van het verklanken van een gesprek zoals dat in die tijd werd gevoerd in de salons. Een compositie waarin de verschillende instrumenten een dialoog aangaan. Ontspannen muziek voor zowel de muzikanten als de luisteraars. Muziek die beantwoordde aan het verlangen in die tijd naar beschaafd vermaak, niet alleen voor de aristocratie, maar ook voor de opkomende burgerlijke klasse.

De zes sonates behoren tot de eerste kamermuziekwerken voor drie onafhankelijke strijkers, zonder de ondersteuning van een toetsinstrument. Het instrumentale gehalte van deze sonates weerspiegelt, lijkt het wel, het vocale patroon van een trio tussen sopraan, tenor en bas, waarin de hogere stemmen in een duet met elkaar verweven zijn en de lage stem ondersteunt, controleert en waar nodig ingrijpt met korte aanwijzingen.

Zo werkt het ook in de uitvoering van Musica Elegentia, met als doel de inter-instrumentale dialoog en de individualiteit van de drie instrumenten te versterken, alsof ze gesprekspartners in gesprek zijn. Studies over de uitvoeringspraktijk tonen aan dat in Weense en Oostenrijkse kringen de violone als bas heel gebruikelijk was. Joseph Haydn zelf gaf tot 1772 alleen violone aan in zijn partituren. De violone werd toendertijd beschouwd als de echte bas van de strijkersfamilie. De drie instrumenten zijn altijd goed geïdentificeerd en je kunt altijd de afzonderlijke lijnen begrijpen: de hoofdmelodie, evenals het borduurwerk, de voorgrond en de achtergrond.

Dit is de eerste opname van Musica Elegentia bij Challenge Classics. Het ligt in de lijn der verwachtingen dat er meer opnamen volgen met dit ensemble, dat zich bezighoudt met de herontdekking van hoogwaardige instrumentale muziek, uit een periode die nog steeds wordt verwaarloosd en waaruit de muziek niet of nauwelijks wordt opgenomen.

Der Weg, der auf dieser und den folgenden CDs mit Musik von Georg Christoph Wagenseil (1715-1777) beschritten wird, hat das unbestreitbare Verdienst, uns mit einigen Komponisten bekannt zu machen, die im Vergleich zu Haydn und Mozart als "unbedeutend" gelten. Sie waren nicht nur sehr aktiv und einflussreich auf das Musikleben jener Zeit, sondern schufen auch eine beträchtliche Menge an Qualitätsmusik, die es verdient, wiederentdeckt und gewürdigt zu werden. In einer musikhistorischen Perspektive hilft die Musik dieser weniger berühmten Autoren, den Übergang zwischen dem Niedergang des Barocks gegen Mitte des 18. Jahrhunderts und dem Beginn des klassischen Stils zu rekonstruieren. Eine Periode, die wir oft als "vorklassisch", "galant" oder "frühe Wiener Schule" bezeichnen. Diese lobenswerte kulturelle Operation, die darauf abzielt, nicht nur "kleine" Komponisten, sondern auch bestimmte Gattungen, die als "Hausmusik" gelten, wiederzuentdecken, ermöglicht es uns, besser zu verstehen, wie die "musikalische Landschaft", insbesondere in Wien, aussah. Die Hausmusik entsprach dem Wunsch nach kultivierter Unterhaltung nicht nur der Aristokratie, sondern auch des aufstrebenden Bürgertums und war somit ein unbestreitbares Statussymbol.
Die sechs Triosonaten auf dieser CD, die um 1750 entstanden, lassen sich der Gattung Divertimento" zuordnen: Vor 1780 war der Begriff allumfassend und umfasste alle nicht-orchestrale Instrumentalmusik, einschließlich Sonaten und Quartette. Vor allem die Idee der "musikalischen Konversation", des Dialogs oder Diskurses zwischen den verschiedenen Instrumenten, ist in dieser Art von Komposition sehr präsent, in der eine angenehme und gut geregelte Salonkonversation allein durch die Noten simuliert und sublimiert wird.
Die auf dieser CD vorgestellte Sammlung von sechs Sonaten aus den frühen fünfziger Jahren des 18. Jahrhunderts sollte zu den ersten Kammermusikwerken für drei unabhängige Streicher ohne die Unterstützung eines Tasteninstruments für die Realisierung des Continuos gezählt werden. Das Instrumentalensemble in diesen Sonaten spiegelt fast das vokale Muster eines Trios aus Sopran, Tenor und Bass wider, wobei die beiden oberen Stimmen ein Duett bilden und die tiefe Stimme unterstützt, kontrolliert, hervorhebt und hier und da mit kurzen Einwürfen eingreift.
Im Allgemeinen ist in diesen "Divertimenti-Sonaten" eine sichere Hand im Umgang mit der polyphonen dialogischen Verflechtung sowie der Form, gemischt mit einem ziemlich guten Standard der melodischen Erfindung, immer eingefügt in eine strenge und gleichzeitig glatte Struktur. Dies gilt umso mehr für die Aufführung von Musica Elegentia, die darauf abzielt, die Idee des Dialogs zwischen den Instrumenten und die Individualität der drei Instrumente hervorzuheben, so als wären sie Gesprächspartner im Dialog. Diese Sonaten sind exquisite Zeugnisse des Mittelalters zwischen Händel und Bach auf der einen und Haydn und Mozart auf der anderen Seite.
Studien zur Aufführungspraxis haben gezeigt, dass in Wiener und österreichischen Kreisen die Verwendung des Violone als "Bass" zumindest bis zu einem bestimmten Zeitpunkt sehr häufig war. Joseph Haydn selbst gab in seinen Partituren bis 1772 nur "Violone" an. Der Violone galt in dieser Epoche als der "wahre" Bass der Streicherfamilie. Die drei Instrumente sind immer gut zu erkennen, und man kann die einzelnen Linien immer nachvollziehen: die Hauptmelodie ebenso wie die Ausschmückung, den Vordergrund ebenso wie den Hintergrund.

Artist(s)

Matteo Cicchitti (viola)

Double bass player, violonist, gambist and teacher, connoisseur and continuous researcher of historical performance. He combines his activity as an instrumentalist with that of artistic and musical director for the repertoire of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
He obtained, with top marks, academic qualifications and highly perfected specializations in Conservatories and Higher Musical Institutions in the cities of Pescara, Como, Pavia, Parma, Gubbio, Rome, Frosinone, Reggio Emilia, Piacenza and Vienna under the guidance of famous masters: P. Montero, R. Sensi, L. Schumacher, G. De Frenza, W. Casali, W. Güttler, M. Di Bari, U. Nastrucci, M. Decimo, P. Veleno, N. Conci, S. Montanari, S. Genuini and F.N. Lara.
In the didactic field, he teaches at state, civic and private schools and is active as a teacher in instrumental and chamber music courses that are particularly focused on the practice of ancient instruments. He is also qualified instructor of Hatha Yoga and Yoga Nidra.
He has held conferences, masterclasses and seminars at the University "G. D’Annunzio” of Chieti, the ISSM "G. Briccialdi” in Terni, the “G. Nicolini” in Piacenza, the “A. Casella” in L’Aquila, the “A. Vivaldi” in Alessandria, the Museum of Harmonic Strings in Salle (Pe) in Abruzzo (Italy). He was invited to México to hold a baroque music masterclass in the context of the “III Festival de Música de Cámara de Jalisco” (Guadalajara, Jal. Mx).
He has performed in prestigious international theaters and halls, including: Palau de la Musica in Valencia, Philharmonic Concert Hall in Warsaw, Auditorium Baluarte in Pamplona, Casa Museo López Portillo in Guadalajara, Château Malromé (Toulouse-Lautrec's castle) in Saint- André-du-Bois, Abbaye Saint-Pierre of Vertheuil, Palladian Basilica of Vicenza, Great Hall of Collegio Ghislieri of Pavia, Paul VI Hall of Vatican City, Vittoria Theater of Turin, Fraschini Theater of Pavia, Teatro della Pergola of Florence.
He has participated in important concerts such as: Festival “Chopin i jego Europa”, Warsaw; Stresa Festival 2019; Ravenna Festival XXXI edition; Antiqua review of ancient and baroque music, Belgioioso (Pv); Antonio Vivaldi Festival, Turin; Convers-Azioni 69th ed. Olympic Theater, Vicenza; Rome Baroque Festival IX edition, Rome; Estate Musicale Frentana, Lanciano (Ch); 32nd Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte, Montepulciano (Si); Romaeuropa Festival; Encuentro De Dos Culturas, Secretary of Culture - Gobierno de Jalisco (Tlajomulco, Jal., México); Temporada de Otoño 2012, Universidad de Guadalajara (México); Festival Internacional de Teatro, Tlaquepaque (Mèxico).
As a researcher he collaborates with the Abruzzese Institute of Musical History based in L'Aquila and MVSA - Musica d'Abruzzo in Ortona (Ch), for the exegesis, study and dissemination of the musical heritage of every era and style, in particular from Abruzzo. He has published with Sony Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Arcana Records, Brilliant Classics, Neuma Edizioni, Tactus Records, Casa Editrice Tinari, Urania Records, ME Operae, Dynamic Records and Challenge Classics.
He has cooperated with artists of caliber including: L. Shambadal, S. Frigato, R. Invernizzi, G. Kunde, E. Mascardi, G. Antonelli, A. Rossi Lürig, E. Velardi, D. Monti, F. Cipriani, S. Montanari and F. Biondi.
He was a guest on live broadcasts on: Radio Classica, Rai Radio 3, Radio Mozart Italia, Ckrl 89,1 Continuo Québec and Radio Svizzera Italiana. And on live television: Rai 1, Rai 3 and Sky Classica.
He carries out intense concert activity with various orchestras: Alessandro Stradella Consort, Accademia d'Arcadia, Europa Galante, Musica Antiqua Latina, Quartetto Vanvitelli, Orchestra Barocca delle Marche, ArParla Plus, I Solisti Ambrosiani, L'Archicembalo and Musica Elegentia of which he himself is founder and director.

less

Musica Elegentia

Musica Elegentia consort is a group which originates from the Musica Elegentia musical cultural association. They perform ancient music on period instruments or on faithfully reproduced copies, applying a philological reading of the music interpreted using the techniques documented by the musical interpretation treatises of the same eras.
The ensemble, founded in Lanciano CH at the end of 2012, is directed by the Abruzzese musician Matteo Cicchitti, connoisseur and continuous researcher of historical performance.
ME has participated in concerts of considerable importance in prestigious theaters and halls - Bolognese Society for Ancient Music in Bologna; Music at Marfisa d’Este in Ferrara; Early Music Day, University “G. d’Annunzio" of Chieti; Musica Antiqua ed. VIII in Vasto; Independent International Literary Prize "Marguerite Yourcenar 2013" in combination with the Music Festival of Nations, Teatro Marcello in Roma; Keiros Theater in Roma; La Classica a Trastevere in Roma; The Concerts of Santa Barbara dei Librari in Roma; X International Baroque Music Festival in Alessandria; Sibrii Music Festival in Varese; Flos Carmeli in Lanciano (Ch); Fenaroli Theater of Lanciano (Ch); The long night of the Churches IV ed. in Lanciano (Ch); Record Store Day in Lanciano (Ch); Salle Music Festival Chorda Sallis Award in Pescara; European Researchers’ Night in Chieti; Festiv’Alba in L’Aquila; Mondovì Musica, Academia Montis Regalis in Torino; Pontificio Istituto Ambrosiano di Musica Sacra in Milano; International Festival of Baroque Music, Abruzzo Region - offering the public monographic concerts with a repertoire that embraces a large part of the sacred and secular music of the 16th-17th-18th centuries, both instrumental and vocal.
The consort has recorded CDs for the ME Operae, Brilliant Classics and Challenge Classics labels with receiving excellent reviews from various: BBC Music Magazine, Pizzicato, Scherzo, Luister, Klassik Heute, Klassieke Zaken Magazine, Arkiv Music, Katholiek Nieuwsblad, Fanfare Archive, American Record Guide, Music Web International, Classica Magazine, Il Trillo Parlante, L’Ape musicale, Le Salon Musical, Classic Voice, Gothic Network, Music Voice and Non solo Audiofili.

less

Composer(s)

Georg Christoph Wagenseil

Press

They [the Sonatas] benefit from a high-flying realization... This publication is of great musical and historical interest: we have there, in formation, the "modern" chamber repertoire
Classica, 01-6-2022

Well played and recorded, delightful music by a Viennese composer still too often overlooked. The recorded sound is top-class, remarkably natural and clear, without the slightest inappropriate resonance, so that one can hear each of the three instruments clearly and appreciate the conversational interplay of voices in Wagenseil's writing. Indeed, the sound on this disc, made in the church of SS. Salvatore in Salle, is so good that recording engineer Maurizio Pacianiello deserves a special mention. I think this new disc might be the best place to begin an exploration of Wagenseil, given the approachably intimate scale of the music, the fine performances and the top-quality sound.
Musicweb International, 24-3-2022

The seldom-encountered scoring is thus appealing, and it is to be welcomed that concern for historical context does not prevent personal touches going beyond impeccable reading of the music. The divertimento character is humorously and inspiredly underlined.
Pizzicato, 16-1-2022

Here too, the reading of Cicchitti, as well as of Paola Nervi and Antonio Coloccia, is a mission that is fully successful thanks to a fluidity of sound that appears what it is: a liquid theater, a melody that becomes a stage. It is the alchemical process of brilliance and subtlety that come together in the athanor of a timbre in which all the voices participate in unison through their uniqueness.
Music Voice, 10-1-2022