Since the release of their first recording for Avie Records www.avie-records.com in 2003, La
Serenissima has received two Gramophone Award nominations, for Volumes 1 &
2 of The Rise of the Northern Italian
Violin Concerto: 1690-1740 and a Gramophone Award for Best Baroque
Instrumental CD in 2010 for Vivaldi: The
French Connection. The follow up CD, Vivaldi:
The French Connection 2 was nominated for a Gramophone award in 2012.
I greeted their dazzling Vivaldi release, A Tale of Two Seasons, in August 2013,
with enthusiasm. http://theclassicalreviewer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/dazzling-playing-from-adrian-chandler.html
Their debut release for Avie, entitled Per Monsieur Pisendel, featured works by Johann Georg Pisendel, Tomaso
Albinoni and a number of the Suonata à
Solo facto per Monsieur Pisendel by Vivaldi.
La Serenissima’s latest release from Avie Records www.avie-records.com goes back to that
original disc and is entitled Per
Monsieur Pisendel 2 and features more of the Suonata à Solo facto dedicated to Pisendel, a virtuoso violinist as
well as composer, together with works by Antonio Montanari, Tomaso Albinoni and
Pisendel.
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The instrumentalists on this recording are Adrian Chandler (violin), Gareth Deats (cello), Thomas Dunford (theorbo), Robert Howarth (harpsichord and organ).
Antonio Vivaldi’s (1678–1741)
Suonata à Solo facto per Monsieur
Pisendel in A, RV 29 was one of a number inscribed to his pupil, Johann
Georg Pisendel. La Serenissima create some lovely textures in the Andante that is taken at a leisurely pace
allowing the music to unfold beautifully with a subtle rhythmic lilt. This
ensemble manages a fine clarity of texture in the fast and furious Allegro, with terrific ensemble. The Largo has a typically beautiful
Vivaldian melody woven between the instruments to lovely effect. The little Presto is full of energy and joy with a
terrific rhythmic bounce.
Johann Georg Pisendel’s
(1687-1755) Sonata for Violin and Continuo in C minor opens with a melancholy
Adagio prolubite that precedes a
hesitating Andante as though forming
a prelude to the remaining movements. The Allegro
brings some attractive twists and turns as the melody moves forward, full of
invention and finely played by La Serenissima with some pithy, incisive
playing. There is a beautifully relaxed Largo,
sensitively played, that gently sways in its forward motion before the Allegro, a terrific movement, again full of fine invention
with this ensemble providing some extremely fine playing, attending to every
nuance and detail with superb textures in some of the more intense chords.
This is a particularly fine and attractive sonata.
Pisendel also studied with Antonio Montanari (1676 – 1737) in Rome and it is his Sonata for violin and continuo in D Minor
that follows. It has a sweet sounding Adagio
where Montanari weaves some particularly fine textures, beautifully revealed by
La Serenissima. The robust Allegro has
some powerfully produced textures from these players. The second Adagio brings a lovely melody with some
fine string decorations beautifully played by Adrian Chandler. Finally there is
a Giga senza basso (without basso
continuo), with a rhythmic dancing, solo violin melody that is most attractive and
finely played by Adrian Chandler.
Tomaso Albinoni (1671
– 1751) needs no introduction except to say that he also dedicated a sonata
to Pisendel (included on Volume I of Per
Monsieur Pisendel AV0018) His Sonata
for violin and continuo in B flat brings a lively flowing Allemande: Larghetto, full of little
rhythmic details, with terrific playing from La Serenissima. The Corrente: Allegro has a lovely spring to its rhythm, drawing the
music forward and allowing these players to weave some terrific sounds. The
light and breezy Gavotta: Allegro
shows La Serenissima providing more fine transparency of textures, every
instrument sounding through. The Sarabanda:
Allegro has a more gentle dancing rhythm in this short concluding movement.
The other work by Johann
Georg Pisendel is his Sonata for
Violin in A Minor where, in the opening Grave,
Adrian Chandler provides some fine flourishes as he weaves the music in this
solo sonata. The Allegro brings more
fine invention with Chandler providing some superb playing in the varying
rhythms and changing dynamics. There are even more intricate rhythms and
textural challenges in the Giga –
Variazione, the longest movement of this sonata superbly realised by
Chandler.
This is a terrific sonata that finds Chandler on great form.
Finely we return to Antonio
Vivaldi and another sonata dedicated to Pisendel, his Suonata à Solo facto per Monsieur Pisendel in F, RV 19. The Andante brings a lovely contrast as the
ensemble returns with such mellifluous textures in this gentle movement, pointed
up by lovely instrumental details. There is a lively, rhythmic Giga, full of propulsion and fine
textures with some terrific, robust playing from La Serenissima. After a lovely,
leisurely Largo, these players
provide fine detail in the intricate rhythms of the Allegro. When the final Allegro con Variazione arrives it has a
leisurely opening before the Allegro
proper appears and runs through a series of fine variations with terrific
playing, getting faster as it proceeds, to conclude this disc.
This is another terrific disc from La Serenissima who
provide so much energy, precision and vibrancy in a concert of works that
reveals the attractions of composers that aren’t normally given much exposure.
These fine instrumentalists receive an excellent recording
from the Hospital of St Cross, Winchester, England. There are informative
booklet notes from Adrian Chandler. Full details of the instruments used are
given.
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