Arena Archive

PLATTI: Six Trio Sonatas for Violin, Violoncello and Continuo – Armonioso – MD&G

PLATTI: Six Trio Sonatas for Violin, Violoncello and Continuo – Armonioso – MD&G

PLATTI: Six Trio Sonatas for Violin, Violoncello and Continuo – Armonioso – multichannel SACD (and 2+2+2) MD&G 903 1978-6, 64:40 (12/2/16) ****: (Francesco Cerrato; violin/ Stefano Cerrato; violoncello/ Marco Demaria; cello/ Michele Barchi; harpsichord/ Daniele Ferretti; organ) Late Baroque trio sonatas from the music library of the Counts of Schonbrun-Wiesenheit. By the 1730s, the language of the Italian Baroque was spoken throughout Europe. The superabundance of learned Italian-trained musicians and composers had spread out in search of patronage in courts of German-speaking lands. The most enterprising, such as Handel and Geminiani, set up shop in London, where the prosperous middle-class was learning to sit quietly through concerts. Scarlatti was on his way to Spain with the Infanta and soon to publish his hybrid Hispano-Italian masterpieces known as the essercizi. Increasingly, Power sought to dress itself in refinement, elegance, and lavish adornments. Even a relatively small court such as that in Wurzburg, owned by the family of Schonborn counts, required a resident composer/musician to certify its cultural status. The one who created the works under review here, Giovanni Benedetto Platti, turned up to occupy this position in 1722 and spent the rest of his life as a successful and well-paid employee […]