The vibrant ensemble, with founder and director Olivier Fortin, take a voyage through the elegant and extravagant world of instrumental fantasy and dance-inspired Baroque music from Italy, Germany, France and Britain.
Antonio Vivaldi’s instrumental works composed for the talented orphans at Ospedale della Pietà were magnificent tours de force. This recording of the Concerto Op. 10 No. 2 in G minor, "La notte," played on transverse flute, is a fine example, where "the night" of the title evokes both the phantasmagorical nature of dreams and the abandon of sleep.
The "British Orpheus," Henry Purcell wrote The Fairy Queen in 1692, freely adapted from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The Airs and Dances, taken from the opera’s instrumental music, mix Italian idioms with typically French and English traditions.
The wide influence of the French dance form is represented by the little known composer Guillaume Dumanoir (1615–1697) with his Suite in F major. The French style spread to the Germanic countries, as did the flamboyant Italian concertato style. One of the most beloved composers of his day, Georg Philipp Telemann, was a master of this mixing of styles. His Suite in A minor for recorder is one of some 135 that survive of the over 1000 suites he apparently composed.
Johann Bernhard Bach (1676–1749) was Johann Sebastian’s cousin. An active harpsichordist and organist, he was said to have "composed many beautiful overtures, arranged in the manner of Telemann." The orchestral suite presented here is a fine example, drawing, as did Telemann, from both rival "tastes": French and Italian.
The disc has been released on the Analekta label and is available on arkiv music.
For more info please visit www.analekta.com