Concerto Veneziano = VIVALDI: Concerto for Violin and Strings in B-flat Major; Concerto for Violin, Strings and Continuo in E Minor; LOCATELLI: Violin Concerto in G Major; TARTINI: Concerto for Violin, Strings, Continuo — Giuliano Carmignola — Archive

by | Sep 8, 2005 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews | 0 comments

Concerto Veneziano = VIVALDI: Concerto for Violin and Strings
in B-flat Major, RV 583 “in due cori;” Concerto for Violin, Strings and
Continuo in E Minor, RV 278; LOCATELLI: Violin Concerto in G Major, Op.
3, No. 5; TARTINI: Concerto for Violin, Strings, and Continuo in A
Major, D. 96 — Giuliano Carmignola, violin/ Venice Baroque
Orchestra/Andrea Marcon
 — DGG Archive multichannel SACD, 00289 474 8952, 65:56 (Distrib. Universal) ****:

Some refreshing and unusual repertory graces this exciting album, in
which Maestro Carmignola follows, in his idiosyncratic manner, in the
footsteps of Ruggiero Ricci, Roberto Michelucci,  and Salvatore
Accardo. From the onset of the disc, we are in the throes of Vivaldi’s
fierce Lombardic rhythms and terraced dynamics, the vocal tradition of
Venetian sound here applied to bravura instrumental works for special
occasions. For the RV 583, the violin is played scordatura (raised a
half-step), with a Large e spiccato’s giving way to a bold presto. Two
orchestras play a game of antiphons, alternating with episodes of
winding cantabile. Virtuoso ornaments insinuate themselves into the
fabric of the melodic texture in a way that will find its parallel in
Chopin. The final allegro is a 6/8 alla caccia or hunt-motif, wherein
the solo has all sorts of virtuoso effects, including alternate
bowings, detache notes, arpeggios on each of the four strings, double
stops, and dervish figurations in the high register. The E Minor
Concerto seems a confession a l’amore, a chromatic incursion into lyric
drama. The second movement Largo is one of those passionate outpourings
that rival the melos in Bach and in Tartini. It has a perpetual 16th
note rhythm over which the harmonic colors shift in a subtle
chiaroscuro.

Pietro Locatelli (1695-1764) represents a boldly ostentatious, virtuoso
tradition; his musical credo is his L’arte del violino (1733). Himself
noted for fire and speed of musical execution, Locatelli followed the
example of Corelli, often blurring the tutti work with the solo
entrances. Besides the elegance and ferocity of the violin’s weaving
figurations, Locatelli is quite capable of complex polyphonic writing,
with stunning use of  ostinati to produce musical tension until
the strong cadences find relief in the hard-won resolution. The outer
movements are really colossal capriccii which frame a disarmingly
serene movement in E-flat Major. Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770) favored a
deliberately vocal tradition in violin pedagogy, a kind of
pre-classical, galant style utilizing repeated notes, trills, and
mordants that play a supple counterpoint to the orchestral tissue. The
E Major Adagio has some passing harmonies of disturbed beauty.
Violinist Carmignola adds his own portamenti to add to the chromatic
anguish of the vocal line. Having all these effects in transparent SACD
surround sound [from the birthplace of spatial music!…Ed.] 
makes for a Baroque experience of genuine Venetian character, a feast
of transcendent harmonies which celebrate the ever-joyful pleasure we
glean from great violin artistry.

–Gary Lemco

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