Francesco Geminiani (1687-1762): 6 Concerti Grossi, Opus 7

00:00 Concerto Grosso in D minor, Op. 7 No. 2: Grave - Allegro assai - Andante - Allegro
09:43 Concerto Grosso in D major, Op. 7 No. 1: Andante - Presto - Andantino - Allegro moderato
20:00 Concerto Grosso in D minor, Op. 7 No. 4: Andante - Andante - Allegro
30:00 Concerto Grosso in C minor, Op. 7 No. 5: Andante - Allegro - Allegro
37:18 Concerto Grosso in B flat major, Op. 7 No. 6: Allegro moderato - Andante - Adagio e Presto - Affettuoso - Adagio e Allegro moderato - Andante - Adagio e Allegro vivace - Presto
52:15 Concerto Grosso in C major, Op. 7 No. 3: Presto - Andante - Allegro assai
Christian Larde & Clementine Hoogendoorn Scimone, flutes
Sergio Penazzi, bassoon / Piero Toso & Glauco Talassi, violins
I Solisti Veneti - Claudio Scimone, conductor
Geminiani’s compositions are a faithful reflection - as much in their good qualities as in the faults - of the personality revealed to us by the tale of an adventurous and unstable life and by the testimony of his contemporaries concerning his interpretive genius. There is dash and lyric warmth, to be sure, a sumptuous wealth of imagination, power and audacity of expression, but also a certain Jack of discipline, of continuity of idea, an impulsiveness not always under control, which sometimes result in incoherence or paucity of inspiration. How many splendid ideas too soon abandoned, and how one would love to see them developed as they deserve to be! But no indeed - the "furibondo" Geminiani, capricious butterfly that he is, must ceaselessly seek new nectar with which to intoxicate himself, and "the rubato, the unseasonable changes of tempo, and the whimsical pulse” that baffled the performers in his own day sometimes disconcert the modern listener even in those of his works whose style is most consistent. His work has always been subject to contradictory opinions and even in the eighteenth century Burney was reproaching him for his irregular melodie structure, his rhapsodic and improvisatory side.
His harmonic audacities, his freedom of musical speech kept on increasing. Of his Concerti Grossi, the most frequently played and the most easily accessible in modern editions are those of Op. 3, which date from 1733. Now these are stili relatively classical and dose to the Corellian model, although al ready more expressively intense. But Geminiani’s most surprising works are certainly his last, whether one means The Inchanted Forest or the Concerti Grossi Op. 7, presented here for the first time in an integral recording.
This collection was the last that Geminiani published. It came out in London in 1746, and calls for a concertino consisting of two violins, a viola, and a cello, with two flutes and a bassoon added to the ripieno strings to insure the concertant dialogue. The presence, discreet though it be, of the wind instruments represents an innovation within the Corellian tradition, as does the addition of the viola to the concertino. The musical language of Op. 7 is of an almost excessive richness and exuberance. The abundance of figurations, counter-melodies, and ornaments, the opposite of Corelli’s noble austerity, places these concerti at the extreme end of a century of evolution. The extremely complex and ramified agogic, the copiousness and abruptness of the modulations (entailing great tonai instability), the unexpected succession of movements (often quite brief), all bear witness to a kind of Dionysiac drunkenness that is characteristically Baroque. But many a detail in the writing - an accompanimental figure here, a harmonic succession there - tells us that Geminiani did not remain wholly indifferent to the earliest manifestations of European Pre-Classicism. One might remember that 1746 was also the year of publication of Johann Stamitz’ first symphonies! Lastly, one finds here, not without some surprise, certain accents very like Rameau’s, that herald The Inchanted Forest to come. From the point of view of form, three of the concerti (Nos. 1, 2, and 5) adhere to the slow-fast-slow-fast pattern of the Corellian concerto da chiesa. Two more (Nos. 3 and 4) are happy with the three-movement structure of the "modern” concerto, certain important liberties of detail aside. As for the sixth - far and away the most developed - it is a sort of inspired polymorphous improvisation, amenable to no formal classification.
HARRY HALBREICH
(Translated from the French by David Mason Greene)

[@susannafey58]

Que linda música...gracias🙏

[@user-fk2ed5kv3n]

Geminiani music is a real revelation for me and a real joy for the soul. I am an old man and I do not like music that is performed on authentic instruments. This vinyl record of I Soloist Veneti takes me back to the precious times of analog sound. Thank you for sharing this pearl with us. (Благодарим од срца.)

[@marcelotobarduran6630]

Geminiani, hermosa música...de gran profundidad. Le oigo hoy Viernes 23 de Julio de 2021.

[@marcelobrunorodrigues7630]

Excellent quality as the Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra from Stuttgart under Rolf Reinhardt's conducting!

[@shin-i-chikozima]

The comfort of these performance is irreplaceable , and beyond compare

[@HarpsichordHymnsTimRemington]

Beautiful music! I really enjoyed listening to it. Thanks for creating and sharing this video.

[@pierrelallart7542]

💗🙏

[@valentynahirenko6945]

perfectly!! Thank You!

[@mocosaurio4157]

Hermosa melodía willi christello

[@seanmchugh840]

This from 1974 is of couse perfectly in the Italian idiom, beautiful onward yet searching and measured tempos with a Bachian grace yet Vivaldian spring, considerable majesty and depth of utterance; easy and flowing and avoiding the frazzled ideas of later HIP. The more natural understanding of the idiom and better relation with the Italian baroque makes this much superior to the Iona Brown recording nine years later.

[@-dimitris]

An outdated performance of very beautiful concertos.

[@mocosaurio4157]

Hermosa melodía willi christello