Its overall length (upwards of 160 cm) and great number of strings (up to 16 courses) makes the chitarrone one of the more spectacular instruments of the early baroque. The name probably means large kithara, after the instrument played by the Classical Greek poets, and it was first developed as a bass lute in order to accompany singing and recitative indeed it appears to have become the favourite instrument in Italy for accompanying the voice by 1600. It also enjoyed a short-lived but rich flowering as a solo instrument, however, to which the three virtuosi of the album title all contributed greatly, as performers as well as composers. Between 1604 and 1640, Giovanni Girolamo Kapsperger (also known as Johann Hieronymus Kapsberger), Alessandro Piccinini and Bellerofonte Castaldi published a number of collections of chitarrone music, from which Jakob Lindberg has chosen some favourite dances, arias, toccatas and passacaglias. Combined into seven suites, they provide rich opportunity to enjoy the particular timbre and the special playing techniques of this splendid instrument, the chitarrone. Highly regarded both for his live performances and his many recordings, Jakob Lindberg has a long-standing interest in the many varieties of lutes, including lute mandorée, orpharion and archlute, and has now dedicated himself to researching their relative research which informs both the performances and Lindbergs own liner notes.
Although this recording's purpose is to put the chitarrone/theorbo out front, these are the best performances of these pieces I've heard.
Thanks, BT. I also picked this one up from the Recommended Albums that came up on the page - Armada - $5.19 2-fer from Fretwork. Just the things to put wind back in my eMu horse latitudes sails.
I've been deep into country/folk/americana music for quite a while now, but I recently noticed Il Fondamento released a new recording of Zelenka's music in 2012, which I couldn't resist. It is excellently performed and a delight to listen to.
Jan Dismas Zelenka, a contemporary of J.S. Bach's, is not as well known as Bach, but should be. Born in Bohemia (now Czech Republic), his works come very close, if not equal to, the genius of Bach. For these reasons, Zelenka is often referred to as "the Bohemian Bach." Wikipedia describes his compositions as of "a very daring compositional structure with a highly spirited harmonic invention and perfection of the art of counterpoint. His works are often virtuosic and difficult to perform, but always fresh and surprising, with sudden turns of harmony." If you are a baroque music lover and are not yet familiar with the great composer, Zelenka, do yourself a favor and check him out. There is an EXCELLENT online resource in pdf format of detailed information for every single recording available of Zelenka's works here. It is continually updated.
One of the best groups recording Zelenka's music today is the magnificent Ensemble Inegal of Prague. Their CDs are incredibly hard to find - I had to order mine directly from Czech Republic, but it was so worth it!. If you would like to hear some of Zelenka's works in their entirety (including two tracks from Ensemble Inegal), you can listen to a mix I made on 8Tracks that includes 11 full-length Zelenka here. The mix contains both instrumental and vocal pieces (solo and duet arias and choral).
Nice, Zalenka. I had an aunt give me two cassettes of some of his chamber music that included a bassoon when I first started playing bassoon. I had forgotten about him and his work until, as a a member of eMusic, I searched him out again. He is definitely a baroque composer worth checking out .
Vivaldi: Concerti & Cantata with Bassoon
Frans Robert Berkhout, Pieter Dirkson, and La Suave Melodia
Currently listening to this on Spotify. Gorgeous. This is just the way I like my baroque - the strings are crystal clear and there is an overall excellent sound quality, besides stunning works by Vivaldi. If you like baroque music, I highly, highly recommend it!
Going to cross-post this to the mispriced thread...
The 4 CD box set of Vivaldi and Corelli Concertos by Amandine Beyer and Gli Incogniti, which sounds a lot of fun to my untutored ear from the samples (and which I meandered to by re-reading Kez's comments above about another Gli incogniti recording, which I got to by looking for the Vivqaldi discussion higher up...but I digress) is $37 on MP3 at Amazon and $24 at emusic, $10.99 at 7digital.
ETA, the CD booklet can be viewed here
@GP, glad to see you investigating baroque music. That Gli Incogniti group is indeed very, very good.
As long as you're focusing on Vivaldi, don't forget about Rachel Podger's Vivaldi La Stravaganza (mentioned earlier in this thread). It can be streamed on Spotify. It's a 2-disc set, but is broken down into Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 there. More than one person has been turned on to classical music by that album.
Hmmm. As a newbie to Vivaldi arcana I am trying to get my arms around the 295 tracks of Vivaldi in my library, many of them from a couple of big box grab bags, others ripped from CDs. I want a way of at least knowing what I already have as I explore further. My naive plan is that if I could get the RV number into every track title tag I could get some kind of overview. (Ironically, the album I paid the most for has the worst tags). I am a bit confused already.
For instance, I was just listening to the Rachel Podger recordings that you, Kez, recommended. The first track on the first disk is, according to Spotify, "Concerto in B Flat, Opus 40 No 1: Allegro". Ok, so far so good.
So I consult the list of Vivaldi's works on Wikipedia and it says "The following is a list of compositions by Vivaldi that were published during his lifetime and assigned an opus number." There are only 13 Opuses (Opi?) in the list, including a fake! Is that because of the "during his lifetime" rider? But there are no further Opuses listed. And this list has 14. 40 is more than both 13 and 14, even I know that.
So I go back to Wikipedia and it has RV472 listed - but says that RV472 is "Concerto Bassoon, strings C major". But the track I started with is in B Flat and does not sound to me like it is for bassoon. Nope, not bassoon.
Puzzled. I go back and stare at the track list, and then cross-compare with Amazon. Aha, Eureka, Gadzooks! what Spotify says is Opus 40, Amazon says is Opus 4. Emusic agrees. So the track name was not even right to start with. That makes more sense of the Wikipedia page, but not of why that other list thought there was an Opus 40 that is the same as RV472 (not to mention an Opus 45 and 57, also listed there!).
However, rolling with Amazon (and noticing belatedly and ashamedly that Opus 4 is indeed La Stravaganza and that that is in the title of the CD I am listening to) I now deduce that the track I was listening to back when I started this was RV383a. At least I THINK so. The Opus 4 entry says it consists of 12 concertos (and the Podger release has 12 works) but THERE ARE ONLY 11 RV NUMBERS LISTED ON WIKIPEDIA!!! The classical.net list does have 12, though. Phew. Yes, 383a.
And this is just the first track that I have tried to clarify. I have 295 of them and getting this far took a good 30 minutes.
I have several graduate degrees, I should be able to do this. I think I need to start a spreadsheet.
GP, the Wikipedia page is the one to trust (well, OK, apart from the omitted concerto from the op.4 list). The RV list is sortable so you don't need your spreadsheet!
The "opus 40" business is to do with a failed attempt to catalogue Vivaldi's works in the 1940s by someone called Rinaldi. I didn't realise anyone used this, but maybe we should expect this sort of behaviour from bassoonists?
The "official" 12 opus numbers plus RV are your only man.
@GP, I feel your pain. There's a lot of confusion out there with bad tags and misinformation and, as I've mentioned more than once in previous posts on this thread, not knowing what a particular work is just drives me nuts. Glad to see Nereffid has given some guidance for you to sort it all out.
By the way, not to overwhelm you but capitalizing on your present baroque interest - do keep in mind for future listening this soundtrack album of a French movie by Jordi Savall, " Tous les Matins du Monde: Bande Originale du Film." I could be wrong, but I think you may like it. It's another one that many non-classical listeners have found they really enjoy.
Well, I did need the spreadsheet. With so many tracks it will otherwise take me forever to even figure out which concerti I might have twice or where the gaps are (acknowledging that with Vivaldi the gaps are going to be huge unless I buy a very big set) or whether I already have something I am looking at on emusic.
I've been going through and changing the track title tag so that the RV number is first (and so does not disappear if the title is too long), and am making spreadsheet that matches RV numbers with albums and artists.
I already have three versions of RV443. Who knew? 93 and 540 too.
Now, I have three tracks that are not tagged with RV numbers. They are "Concerto For Bassoon & Strings In F Major" - which going by the Wikipedia list fits at least 7 concertos. I don't suppose there is any way of narrowing this down? Find ways to listen to them all and compare, I guess.
@GP, what a mess! Ive seen such a concerto listed as anywhere from RV 485 to 491, i imagine they are all different works written in the same key and for the same instruments. The most sure way to know what you have is to look at the liner motes, but that doesnt help with most digital downloads. Maybe check the various websites that have online liner notes. There is a handy list of links to the sites that have full liner notes that has been posted elsewhere here and over at emusic. That's a very handy resource that i keep meaning to go back and look up again myself.
Or maybe you could get lucky by googling the album plus the words 'liner' or 'CD booklet'. Or see if the Archiv website lists the album. They are pretty good to list the complete works included in albums.
It's not three albums, just three movements. And unfortunately I am not sur what album they are from. I think they are probably from one of my "big box" downloads, and my habit with those has been to split them into their component albums, but with Vivaldi I ended up with various stray concertos of uncertain origin and just grouped them. Oh well, when I next get time I'll see if I can use Spotify to do a listening comparison.
From my Vivaldi exploration so far I must say I am finding these Naive Vivaldi Edition recordings quite delightful (the series also seems to have consistently excellent reviews from folk more knowledgeable than I). They include previously unrecorded pieces. A lot of the Vivaldi I have heard in the past (and I would have to say even though I do like the Podger I would somewhat say the same there) have a refined, genteel feel. These are more unpredictable. An Amazon reviewer writes of the bassoon collection above: "Vivaldi was harmonically fearless and equally unafraid of demanding odd bowings and outrageous tonguings from his instrumentalists. L"Aura Soave di Cremona is an ensemble undaunted by Vivaldi's adventuresomeness." That captures something that strikes me about these recordings - they keep startling me (in a good way) with adventurous sounds and rhythms. Vivaldi made a little less respectable, but more exciting?
Thought I would cross-post this misprice/bargain here:
This is 3 disks and $6.49 at emusic if you use this page rather than this one, where it is $17.97. Reviewers who know more than I do about opera say it may be Vivaldi's best and this is a fine performance. Sounds great to me.
ETA, the $6.49 version has one defective track: Disc 2, track 21 – truncated at 1:40, should be 4:36. Still works out cheap.
Released February 24, a collection of concertos from Vivaldi's final years. If like me you like Biondi's gusto and flair this is a rather wonderful recording.
I just ran across this 7-disk set for $6.49, 411 minutes, 225 tracks. CD version is $32 on Amazon. The reviews I have found so far by people who seem to know Purcell better than I do (not hard) say it is a good recording with strong performances. Given the current booster sale at emusic (which made this $3.25, or just over one cent per track) and the absence of prior Purcell in my library I'm taking the plunge.
All of Bach - Netherlands Bach Society appear to be performing all the works of Bach and releasing a video each week. As well as the performance there are some notes about each work, and an short interview/talk.
I have not listened to more than samples and will not be doing so until it arrives, but I thought I would mention a bargain that I just took a chance on.
The samples on the individual CDs that I could find sound good and there were good reviews. There are a bunch more 5 album classical sets in this series, grouped by artist rather than composer, and the average marketplace price seems to be about $10+.
Comments
Although this recording's purpose is to put the chitarrone/theorbo out front, these are the best performances of these pieces I've heard.
Thanks much for the recommendation on Italian Virtuosi of the Chitarrone.
Checked eclassical to see if it is there yet. Will plan on getting when it becomes available. (Getting the flac version.)
Amazon link
I've been deep into country/folk/americana music for quite a while now, but I recently noticed Il Fondamento released a new recording of Zelenka's music in 2012, which I couldn't resist. It is excellently performed and a delight to listen to.
Jan Dismas Zelenka, a contemporary of J.S. Bach's, is not as well known as Bach, but should be. Born in Bohemia (now Czech Republic), his works come very close, if not equal to, the genius of Bach. For these reasons, Zelenka is often referred to as "the Bohemian Bach." Wikipedia describes his compositions as of "a very daring compositional structure with a highly spirited harmonic invention and perfection of the art of counterpoint. His works are often virtuosic and difficult to perform, but always fresh and surprising, with sudden turns of harmony." If you are a baroque music lover and are not yet familiar with the great composer, Zelenka, do yourself a favor and check him out. There is an EXCELLENT online resource in pdf format of detailed information for every single recording available of Zelenka's works here. It is continually updated.
One of the best groups recording Zelenka's music today is the magnificent Ensemble Inegal of Prague. Their CDs are incredibly hard to find - I had to order mine directly from Czech Republic, but it was so worth it!. If you would like to hear some of Zelenka's works in their entirety (including two tracks from Ensemble Inegal), you can listen to a mix I made on 8Tracks that includes 11 full-length Zelenka here. The mix contains both instrumental and vocal pieces (solo and duet arias and choral).
Vivaldi: Concerti & Cantata with Bassoon
Frans Robert Berkhout, Pieter Dirkson, and La Suave Melodia
Currently listening to this on Spotify. Gorgeous. This is just the way I like my baroque - the strings are crystal clear and there is an overall excellent sound quality, besides stunning works by Vivaldi. If you like baroque music, I highly, highly recommend it!
The 4 CD box set of Vivaldi and Corelli Concertos by Amandine Beyer and Gli Incogniti, which sounds a lot of fun to my untutored ear from the samples (and which I meandered to by re-reading Kez's comments above about another Gli incogniti recording, which I got to by looking for the Vivqaldi discussion higher up...but I digress) is $37 on MP3 at Amazon and $24 at emusic, $10.99 at 7digital.
ETA, the CD booklet can be viewed here
As long as you're focusing on Vivaldi, don't forget about Rachel Podger's Vivaldi La Stravaganza (mentioned earlier in this thread). It can be streamed on Spotify. It's a 2-disc set, but is broken down into Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 there. More than one person has been turned on to classical music by that album.
The Amandine Beyer/Gli Incogniti 4-CD set of Bach is also $10.99 at 7digital.
For instance, I was just listening to the Rachel Podger recordings that you, Kez, recommended. The first track on the first disk is, according to Spotify, "Concerto in B Flat, Opus 40 No 1: Allegro". Ok, so far so good.
So I consult the list of Vivaldi's works on Wikipedia and it says "The following is a list of compositions by Vivaldi that were published during his lifetime and assigned an opus number." There are only 13 Opuses (Opi?) in the list, including a fake! Is that because of the "during his lifetime" rider? But there are no further Opuses listed. And this list has 14. 40 is more than both 13 and 14, even I know that.
Well, looking elsewhere this other Vivaldi cross-reference chart for bassoon students says that Opus 40 No 1 is RV 472. That looks like progress.
So I go back to Wikipedia and it has RV472 listed - but says that RV472 is "Concerto Bassoon, strings C major". But the track I started with is in B Flat and does not sound to me like it is for bassoon. Nope, not bassoon.
Puzzled. I go back and stare at the track list, and then cross-compare with Amazon. Aha, Eureka, Gadzooks! what Spotify says is Opus 40, Amazon says is Opus 4. Emusic agrees. So the track name was not even right to start with. That makes more sense of the Wikipedia page, but not of why that other list thought there was an Opus 40 that is the same as RV472 (not to mention an Opus 45 and 57, also listed there!).
However, rolling with Amazon (and noticing belatedly and ashamedly that Opus 4 is indeed La Stravaganza and that that is in the title of the CD I am listening to) I now deduce that the track I was listening to back when I started this was RV383a. At least I THINK so. The Opus 4 entry says it consists of 12 concertos (and the Podger release has 12 works) but THERE ARE ONLY 11 RV NUMBERS LISTED ON WIKIPEDIA!!! The classical.net list does have 12, though. Phew. Yes, 383a.
And this is just the first track that I have tried to clarify. I have 295 of them and getting this far took a good 30 minutes.
I have several graduate degrees, I should be able to do this. I think I need to start a spreadsheet.
tl:dnr: Vivaldi is complicated.
Oh, and the Podger is really nice, thanks Kez.
The "opus 40" business is to do with a failed attempt to catalogue Vivaldi's works in the 1940s by someone called Rinaldi. I didn't realise anyone used this, but maybe we should expect this sort of behaviour from bassoonists?
The "official" 12 opus numbers plus RV are your only man.
By the way, not to overwhelm you but capitalizing on your present baroque interest - do keep in mind for future listening this soundtrack album of a French movie by Jordi Savall, " Tous les Matins du Monde: Bande Originale du Film." I could be wrong, but I think you may like it. It's another one that many non-classical listeners have found they really enjoy.
I've been going through and changing the track title tag so that the RV number is first (and so does not disappear if the title is too long), and am making spreadsheet that matches RV numbers with albums and artists.
I already have three versions of RV443. Who knew? 93 and 540 too.
Now, I have three tracks that are not tagged with RV numbers. They are "Concerto For Bassoon & Strings In F Major" - which going by the Wikipedia list fits at least 7 concertos. I don't suppose there is any way of narrowing this down? Find ways to listen to them all and compare, I guess.
Or maybe you could get lucky by googling the album plus the words 'liner' or 'CD booklet'. Or see if the Archiv website lists the album. They are pretty good to list the complete works included in albums.
Good luck! (Sorry i dont have an easier answer.)
From my Vivaldi exploration so far I must say I am finding these Naive Vivaldi Edition recordings quite delightful (the series also seems to have consistently excellent reviews from folk more knowledgeable than I). They include previously unrecorded pieces. A lot of the Vivaldi I have heard in the past (and I would have to say even though I do like the Podger I would somewhat say the same there) have a refined, genteel feel. These are more unpredictable. An Amazon reviewer writes of the bassoon collection above: "Vivaldi was harmonically fearless and equally unafraid of demanding odd bowings and outrageous tonguings from his instrumentalists. L"Aura Soave di Cremona is an ensemble undaunted by Vivaldi's adventuresomeness." That captures something that strikes me about these recordings - they keep startling me (in a good way) with adventurous sounds and rhythms. Vivaldi made a little less respectable, but more exciting?
All of Bach - Netherlands Bach Society appear to be performing all the works of Bach and releasing a video each week. As well as the performance there are some notes about each work, and an short interview/talk.