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Italophilia - Discovering the Italian Style in Handel's London
Various composers

The Counterpoints

Italophilia - Discovering the Italian Style in Handel's London

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Challenge Classics
UPC: 0608917200034
Catnr: CC 720003
Release date: 01 November 2024
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Label
Challenge Classics
UPC
0608917200034
Catalogue number
CC 720003
Release date
01 November 2024
Album
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
EN
DE

About the album

This CD by The Counterpoints, entitled Italophilia: Discovering the Italian style in Handel’s London, investigates the Italian musical influences on English baroque music in the seventeenth and eighteenth century. Already in 1683, Henry Purcell (1659-1695) had written in the foreword of his Sonatas of three Parts that he had ‘faithfully endeavour’d a just imitation of the most fam’d Italian Masters’. In later years, the impact of these Italian Masters would only increase, reaching its apogee in the work of George Frideric Handel (1685-1759). This CD contextualizes Handel’s work with composers he influenced and was influenced by, both in England and Italy.

The Counterpoints have released an earlier CD on Challenge: Thomascantors in Dialogue (2022), focused on German composers. On Italophilia, the geographical focus shifts to Italy and England. As a consequent, there is a musical relocation, towards a different kind of expression, more contrast between lively and cantabile movements, and solo and tutti moments. Taking Handel as the key figure for this CD then is very fitting, as he had connections to all three countries. Finally, the vocal music and its narrative elements runs like a thread through the entire program. This reflects Handel’s oeuvre, in which vocal music also has a central place.

Diese CD von The Counterpoints mit dem Titel Italophilia: Discovering the Italian style in Handel's London untersucht die italienischen musikalischen Einflüsse auf die englische Barockmusik im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert. Bereits 1683 schrieb Henry Purcell (1659-1695) im Vorwort zu seinen Sonatas of three Parts, dass er sich „treu bemüht“ habe, eine „gerechte Nachahmung der berühmtesten italienischen Meister“ zu schaffen. In späteren Jahren sollte der Einfluss dieser italienischen Meister nur noch zunehmen und seinen Höhepunkt im Werk von Georg Friedrich Händel (1685-1759) erreichen. Diese CD kontextualisiert Händels Werk mit Komponisten, die er sowohl in England als auch in Italien beeinflusste und von denen er beeinflusst wurde.

The Counterpoints haben bereits eine frühere CD mit dem Titel „Challenge: Thomascantors in Dialogue“ (2022) veröffentlicht, die sich auf deutsche Komponisten konzentriert. Mit „Italophilia“ verlagert sich der geografische Schwerpunkt auf Italien und England. Infolgedessen gibt es eine musikalische Verlagerung hin zu einer anderen Art des Ausdrucks, mehr Kontrast zwischen lebhaften und kantablen Sätzen sowie Solo- und Tutti-Momenten. Händel als Schlüsselfigur für diese CD zu nehmen, ist daher sehr passend, da er Verbindungen zu allen drei Ländern hatte. Schließlich zieht sich die Vokalmusik mit ihren erzählerischen Elementen wie ein roter Faden durch das gesamte Programm. Dies spiegelt Händels Werk wider, in dem die Vokalmusik ebenfalls einen zentralen Platz einnimmt.

Artist(s)

Thomas Triesschijn (recorder)

Thomas Triesschijn began his musical studies with choral and recorder lessons at the age of seven. Aged 13, he was admitted to the talent programme of the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague to study with Dorothea Winter. After earning a Bachelor of Music, he completed his Master’s degree at the HKU University of the Arts Utrecht with Heiko ter Schegget. In 2010, Thomas was a finalist in the Dutch national finals of the “Eurovision Young Musicians Competition” and appeared on national television as a soloist with Holland Symfonia conducted by Otto Tausk. The year after, Thomas won first prize during the finals of the Princess Christina Competition in Rotterdam. Thomas focuses on the performance of both early and contemporary music. He has...
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Thomas Triesschijn began his musical studies with choral and recorder lessons at the age of seven. Aged 13, he was admitted to the talent programme of the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague to study with Dorothea Winter. After earning a Bachelor of Music, he completed his Master’s degree at the HKU University of the Arts Utrecht with Heiko ter Schegget.

In 2010, Thomas was a finalist in the Dutch national finals of the “Eurovision Young Musicians Competition” and appeared on national television as a soloist with Holland Symfonia conducted by Otto Tausk. The year after, Thomas won first prize during the finals of the Princess Christina Competition in Rotterdam.

Thomas focuses on the performance of both early and contemporary music. He has performed all over Europe, the United States and Asia as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral musician, working with ensembles and conductors such as Les Talens Lyriques and Christophe Rousset, Vox Luminis and Lionel Meunier, Holland Baroque and Daniel Reuss, Opera2Day and Hernán Schvartzman. His performances have taken him to distinguished festivals and stages such as the Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, Château de Versailles and the Concertgebouw Amsterdam.

Along with his performing activities, Thomas is in international demand as a teacher and juror at music competitions. He is based in Lucerne (Switzerland) where he teaches the recorder at the Musikschule Luzern.


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Petr Hamouz (cello)

Aljosja Mietus (harpsichord)

Giulio Quirici (theorbo)

The Counterpoints

After starting out as a duo in their student days at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague, recorder player Thomas Triesschijn and harpsichordist Aljosja Mietus soon envisaged a larger ensemble that could expand depending on the repertoire. With the violinist Matthea de Muynck and cellist Petr Hamouz they formed The Counterpoints. The group soon had success at the York Early Music Young Artists’ Competition and the Göttingen Händel Competition, and appeared on stages such as The Concertgebouw Amsterdam as well as at various prestigious Early Music and Chamber Music festivals all over Europe. In September 2019 they released their first ensemble CD, “La Querelleuse” which was highly praised in national and international press.
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After starting out as a duo in their student days at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague, recorder player Thomas Triesschijn and harpsichordist Aljosja Mietus soon envisaged a larger ensemble that could expand depending on the repertoire. With the violinist Matthea de Muynck and cellist Petr Hamouz they formed The Counterpoints. The group soon had success at the York Early Music Young Artists’ Competition and the Göttingen Händel Competition, and appeared on stages such as The Concertgebouw Amsterdam as well as at various prestigious Early Music and Chamber Music festivals all over Europe. In September 2019 they released their first ensemble CD, “La Querelleuse” which was highly praised in national and international press.

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Kristen Witmer (soprano)

Composer(s)

Henry Purcell

Westminster Abbey is not just the place where British monarchs were crowned, it's also the place where many English great men were burried. Among those was also Henry Purcell. This final resting place had a double meaning for him: firstly, with his status as a composer he deserved a spot in the abbey, but secondly this was also the location where he worked during the reign of Charles II and William & Mary.  Most people will recognise the last aria of Purcell's beloved opera Dido and Aeneas: 'Remember me, but ah! forget my fate.' More abstract, but less trenchant are his brilliant Fantasias (for viola da gamba) which Purcell composed in the early 1680s. These are small, at times daringly expirimental works, which...
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Westminster Abbey is not just the place where British monarchs were crowned, it's also the place where many English great men were burried. Among those was also Henry Purcell. This final resting place had a double meaning for him: firstly, with his status as a composer he deserved a spot in the abbey, but secondly this was also the location where he worked during the reign of Charles II and William & Mary. Most people will recognise the last aria of Purcell's beloved opera Dido and Aeneas: "Remember me, but ah! forget my fate." More abstract, but less trenchant are his brilliant Fantasias (for viola da gamba) which Purcell composed in the early 1680s. These are small, at times daringly expirimental works, which he carefully dated. Yet, Purcell mostly developed himself as a composer of vocal music, with numerous odes, 'welcome songs', motets (anthems), songs for domestic use (both sacred and secular, both monophonic and polyphonic) and music for theatre.


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Alessandro Scarlatti

Pietro Alessandro Gaspare Scarlatti was an Italian composer from the Baroque period. He mainly acquired fame through his oratorios, cantatas and (Neapolitan) operas. He was the father of Domenico, who followed his father's example and became a composer himself. In total, Scarlatti composed 38 oratorios, along with many masses and operas. His music has a spontaneous and unpredictable character, and at times a bit incoherent. Scarlatti had a great influence on the music of Georg Frideric Handel. Around 1708, the two composers met almost daily. 
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Pietro Alessandro Gaspare Scarlatti was an Italian composer from the Baroque period. He mainly acquired fame through his oratorios, cantatas and (Neapolitan) operas. He was the father of Domenico, who followed his father's example and became a composer himself.

In total, Scarlatti composed 38 oratorios, along with many masses and operas. His music has a spontaneous and unpredictable character, and at times a bit incoherent. Scarlatti had a great influence on the music of Georg Frideric Handel. Around 1708, the two composers met almost daily.


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Francesco Geminiani

Francesco Geminiani was born at Lucca, in Tuscany, in December 1687. At an early age he showed considerable talent after being taught violin lessons by his father. Later he studied the violin under Carlo Ambrogio Lonati in Milan and then in Rome under the celebrated master, Corelli. It is also considered possible that he studied composition with Alessandro Scarlatti whilst staying in Naples. At the age of 20 he returned to his home town of Lucca where he played the violin in the Town Orchestra for three years. He then moved to Naples in 1711 to take up the position as Leader of the Opera Orchestra. By this time he had become recognized as a brilliant violin virtuoso; indeed the orchestra...
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Francesco Geminiani was born at Lucca, in Tuscany, in December 1687. At an early age he showed considerable talent after being taught violin lessons by his father. Later he studied the violin under Carlo Ambrogio Lonati in Milan and then in Rome under the celebrated master, Corelli. It is also considered possible that he studied composition with Alessandro Scarlatti whilst staying in Naples.

At the age of 20 he returned to his home town of Lucca where he played the violin in the Town Orchestra for three years. He then moved to Naples in 1711 to take up the position as Leader of the Opera Orchestra. By this time he had become recognized as a brilliant violin virtuoso; indeed the orchestra appears to have experienced some difficulty in following him due to his improvisational virtuosity, or, as the music historian Dr. Burney put it, "his unexpected accelerations and relaxations of measure".

In 1714, he tried his fortune in England, where his brilliant violin playing immediately met with great success. London had become a major European music center, thanks in part to Handel, who had himself studied in Rome under Corelli and thus brought a measure of Italian musical style with him. Geminiani gained much support from the aristocracy and leading figures at the Royal Court, and was invited to play the violin before George I, accompanied at the harpsichord by no less than Handel. He soon established himself in London as the leading master of violin-playing, with his concerts, his published compositions, and his theoretical treatises, the first and most important being "The Art of Playing the Violin" (1731) which included all the technical principles of essential violin performance.

He also had aristocratic pupils, among them the Earl of Essex who in 1728 tried unsuccessfully to arrange for Geminiani to become Master and Composer of the State Music of Ireland. It was also the Earl of Essex who had to rescue him from prison after he ran into debt through his consuming passion for art-dealing and collecting. This may have led him to leave London for a period in Dublin in 1733, where he rapidly built up a fine reputation as a teacher, performer, concert promoter and musical theorist. In that same year, he opened a Concert Room in Dublin, using the upstairs premises for music and the rooms below for trading in pictures. However, he was soon to return to London to make it his permanent home, although he did pay another visit to Dublin a few years later.

At this period of English musical life, as the essayist Roger North testified, Corelli's music had rapidly become the staple diet of players and music clubs alike: "Then came over Corelly's first consort that cleared the ground of all other sorts of musick whatsoever," wrote North in about 1726. "By degrees the rest of his consorts, and at last the conciertos [0p. 6] came, all of which are to the musitians like the bread of life." Whether out of respect for his teacher, or to "cash in on" his teacher's popularity is a matter of speculation; whatever his motive, Geminiani based his earliest published Concertos on Corelli's Sonatas for Violin and Continuo, Op.5. He later made further concerto arrangements from Corelli's Trios Op.1 and Op.3, as well as having made arrangements from his own Violin Sonatas Op.4.

His own Concertos, Op.2 and 3, appeared in 1732 and 1733, the Op.3 Concerti Grossi being amongst his most popular works at the time. He revised and reissued them in full score in about 1755. In the opinion of Burney - usually a stern critic of Geminiani - the Op.3 concertos "established his character, and placed him at the head of all the masters then living, in this species of composition" (General History of Music, Vol. 4, 1789).

He also published further Concertos as Op.7 (1746), and The Enchanted Forest, a staged pantomime scored for two violins and cello with an orchestra of two trumpets, two flutes, two horns, strings and timpani, was presented in Paris at the Tuileries palace in 1754.

As a renowned violin virtuoso, he published several challenging collections of his Violin Sonatas which require dramatic flair from the player; indeed such was the difficulty of his Op.1 and 4 in particular that very few contemporary violinists dared play them in public. Among the Sonata movements are fugues and double fugues, strong in imitative counterpoint, and idiomatic passages of multiple stopping.

Geminiani provided ornaments for both slow and fast movements as well as cadenzas; he advocated the use of vibrato 'as often as possible'. The expressiveness of his playing was much admired by both Hawkins and Burney; Tartini tellingly described him as 'il furibondo'.

Geminiani was undoubtedly fond of arranging his own works: among his transcriptions are Harpsichord versions (1741) of his Op.1 and 4 and Concerto Grosso versions of Op.4 (1743). His Op.5 Cello Sonatas (published in Paris), together with a transcription for Violin (issued in London and The Hague), appeared in 1746. In about 1755 he published 'modernized' versions of the Op.2 and 3 Concertos, and in 1757 a final arrangement of Op.1 in trio format.

He gained further fame from the publication of a series of practical treatises which were much reprinted, translated and paraphrased. In addition to The Art of Playing on the Violin, Geminiani produced Rules for Playing in a True Taste (1748), revised a year later as A Treatise of Good Taste in the Art of Musick, a Guida harmonica with supplement (c.l754), The Art of Accompaniment (c.l754) - written from the soloist's point of view - and The Art of Playing the Guitar or Cittra (Edinburgh, 1760). When considered together with his music and the implications of the alterations he made when reissuing collections such as Op.1 and 4, Geminiani's treatises represent an important source of post-Corellian performance practices.


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Antonio Vivaldi

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was an Italian Baroque composer, virtuoso violinist, teacher and cleric. Born in Venice, he is recognised as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread across Europe. He composed many instrumental concertos, for the violin and a variety of other instruments, as well as sacred choral works and more than forty operas. His best-known work is a series of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons. Many of his compositions were written for the female music ensemble of the Ospedale della Pietà, a home for abandoned children where Vivaldi (who had been ordained as a Catholic priest) was employed from 1703 to 1715 and from 1723 to 1740. Vivaldi also had some...
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Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was an Italian Baroque composer, virtuoso violinist, teacher and cleric. Born in Venice, he is recognised as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread across Europe. He composed many instrumental concertos, for the violin and a variety of other instruments, as well as sacred choral works and more than forty operas. His best-known work is a series of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons.
Many of his compositions were written for the female music ensemble of the Ospedale della Pietà, a home for abandoned children where Vivaldi (who had been ordained as a Catholic priest) was employed from 1703 to 1715 and from 1723 to 1740. Vivaldi also had some success with expensive stagings of his operas in Venice, Mantua and Vienna. After meeting the Emperor Charles VI, Vivaldi moved to Vienna, hoping for preferment. However, the Emperor died soon after Vivaldi's arrival, and Vivaldi himself died less than a year later in poverty.

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Press

Play album Play album
01.
Ground in d minor, Z.D222 for solo harpsichord
02:18
(Henry Purcell) Aljosja Mietus, The Counterpoints
02.
Sonata No. 10 in D major: Adagio
01:27
(Henry Purcell) Aljosja Mietus, Thomas Triesschijn, Matthea de Muynck, Giulio Quirici, Petr Hamouz, The Counterpoints
03.
Sonata No. 10 in D major: Canzona
01:36
(Henry Purcell) Thomas Triesschijn, Aljosja Mietus, Matthea de Muynck, Giulio Quirici, Petr Hamouz, The Counterpoints
04.
Sonata No. 10 in D major: Grave
01:20
(Henry Purcell) Giulio Quirici, Petr Hamouz, Thomas Triesschijn, Aljosja Mietus, Matthea de Muynck, The Counterpoints
05.
Sonata No. 10 in D major: Largo - Allegro
01:38
(Henry Purcell) Petr Hamouz, Thomas Triesschijn, Aljosja Mietus, Matthea de Muynck, Giulio Quirici, The Counterpoints
06.
Augellin, vago e canoro: Aria: Augellin vago e canoro
03:14
(Alessandro Scarlatti) Thomas Triesschijn, Aljosja Mietus, Matthea de Muynck, Giulio Quirici, Petr Hamouz, Kristen Witmer, The Counterpoints
07.
Augellin, vago e canoro: Recitativo: Pur senza mai posare
00:33
(Alessandro Scarlatti) Aljosja Mietus, Matthea de Muynck, Giulio Quirici, Petr Hamouz, Kristen Witmer, Thomas Triesschijn, The Counterpoints
08.
Augellin, vago e canoro: Aria: Io t'intendo, gentil prigioniero
01:44
(Alessandro Scarlatti) Thomas Triesschijn, Aljosja Mietus, Matthea de Muynck, Giulio Quirici, Petr Hamouz, Kristen Witmer, The Counterpoints
09.
Augellin, vago e canoro: Recitativo: Ma del tuo duol fatta pietosa Irene
00:57
(Alessandro Scarlatti) Petr Hamouz, Kristen Witmer, Giulio Quirici, Matthea de Muynck, Thomas Triesschijn, Aljosja Mietus, The Counterpoints
10.
Augellin, vago e canoro: Aria: Quanto invidio i tuoi bei voli
02:09
(Alessandro Scarlatti) Thomas Triesschijn, Aljosja Mietus, Matthea de Muynck, Giulio Quirici, Petr Hamouz, Kristen Witmer, The Counterpoints
11.
The Mad Lover: Air V (on a ground)
03:33
(John Eccles) Thomas Triesschijn, Aljosja Mietus, Giulio Quirici, Petr Hamouz, The Counterpoints
12.
Suite for guitar and basso continuo in G Major: Prelude - Aria
02:59
(Nicola Matteis) Giulio Quirici, The Counterpoints
13.
Suite for guitar and basso continuo in G Major: [Allegro]
01:19
(Nicola Matteis) Petr Hamouz, Giulio Quirici, The Counterpoints
14.
Pensieri notturni di Filli (Nel dolce dell’ oblio), HWV 134 in F Major: Recitativo: Nel dolce dell’oblio
00:32
(George Frideric Händel) Petr Hamouz, Kristen Witmer, Giulio Quirici, Thomas Triesschijn, Aljosja Mietus, The Counterpoints
15.
Pensieri notturni di Filli (Nel dolce dell’ oblio), HWV 134 in F Major: Aria: Giacché il sonno a lei dipinge
03:02
(George Frideric Händel) Petr Hamouz, Kristen Witmer, Thomas Triesschijn, Aljosja Mietus, Giulio Quirici, The Counterpoints
16.
Pensieri notturni di Filli (Nel dolce dell’ oblio), HWV 134 in F Major: Recitativo: Così fida ella vive
00:18
(George Frideric Händel) Thomas Triesschijn, Aljosja Mietus, Giulio Quirici, Petr Hamouz, Kristen Witmer, The Counterpoints
17.
Pensieri notturni di Filli (Nel dolce dell’ oblio), HWV 134 in F Major: Aria: Ha l’inganno il suo diletto
02:19
(George Frideric Händel) Thomas Triesschijn, Aljosja Mietus, Giulio Quirici, Petr Hamouz, Kristen Witmer, The Counterpoints
18.
Tollets ground
03:10
(Anonymous) Thomas Triesschijn, Giulio Quirici, The Counterpoints
19.
Trio Sonata Op. 2 No. 1b in b minor, HWV 386b: Andante
03:47
(George Frideric Händel) Giulio Quirici, Thomas Triesschijn, Aljosja Mietus, Petr Hamouz, Matthea de Muynck, The Counterpoints
20.
Trio Sonata Op. 2 No. 1b in b minor, HWV 386b: Allegro
02:36
(George Frideric Händel) Petr Hamouz, Aljosja Mietus, Matthea de Muynck, Giulio Quirici, Thomas Triesschijn, The Counterpoints
21.
Trio Sonata Op. 2 No. 1b in b minor, HWV 386b: Largo
03:09
(George Frideric Händel) Petr Hamouz, Giulio Quirici, Thomas Triesschijn, Aljosja Mietus, Matthea de Muynck, The Counterpoints
22.
Trio Sonata Op. 2 No. 1b in b minor, HWV 386b: Allegro
02:07
(George Frideric Händel) Thomas Triesschijn, Aljosja Mietus, Matthea de Muynck, Giulio Quirici, Petr Hamouz, The Counterpoints
23.
Sonata in d minor, No. 2 Op. 5, H. 104: Andante
02:40
(Francesco Geminiani) Giulio Quirici, Petr Hamouz, Anne-Linde Visser, Aljosja Mietus, The Counterpoints
24.
Sonata in d minor, No. 2 Op. 5, H. 104: Presto
02:38
(Francesco Geminiani) Anne-Linde Visser, Giulio Quirici, Petr Hamouz, Aljosja Mietus, The Counterpoints
25.
Sonata in d minor, No. 2 Op. 5, H. 104: Adagio
00:52
(Francesco Geminiani) Anne-Linde Visser, Giulio Quirici, Petr Hamouz, Aljosja Mietus, The Counterpoints
26.
Sonata in d minor, No. 2 Op. 5, H. 104: Allegro
05:20
(Francesco Geminiani) Giulio Quirici, Petr Hamouz, Anne-Linde Visser, Aljosja Mietus, The Counterpoints
27.
Concerto da Camera in F Major, RV 100: Allegro
02:39
(Antonio Vivaldi) Giulio Quirici, Anne-Linde Visser, Thomas Triesschijn, Aljosja Mietus, Petr Hamouz, The Counterpoints
28.
Concerto da Camera in F Major, RV 100: [Largo]
03:10
(Antonio Vivaldi) Aljosja Mietus, Petr Hamouz, Giulio Quirici, Matthea de Muynck, Thomas Triesschijn, The Counterpoints
29.
Concerto da Camera in F Major, RV 100: Allegro
02:41
(Antonio Vivaldi) Petr Hamouz, Giulio Quirici, Aljosja Mietus, Anne-Linde Visser, Thomas Triesschijn, The Counterpoints
30.
Farfalletta festosetta
05:20
(Maurice Greene) Kristen Witmer, Petr Hamouz, Giulio Quirici, Aljosja Mietus, Matthea de Muynck, The Counterpoints
show all tracks

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