On this collection of Bach and Vivaldi Violin Concertos, you get Pinchas Zukerman conducting and playing violin with the English Chamber Orchestra and members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. (Violinist Kenneth Sillito is the other featured soloist on the two Vivaldi Concertos for Two Violins.) This is an excellent collection for sure,. WATCH 'MultiPiano' OTHER VIDEOS AT: Ensemble: Tomer Lev, Berenika Glixman, Daniel Borovitzky, Raviv Leibzirer Tel Av.
Review by: David Vernier
In the old days when people used to go to a record store, buy a recording, then take it home and have a couple of friends over to listen, sometimes they might play a little game: try to identify the composer/artist/music. This disc of baroque works for violin solo would have made a good subject for the challenge. More knowledgeable listeners wouldn’t have guessed Bach or Vivaldi, or even Telemann as composers; but neither would they have been likely to suggest Matteis, or Baltzar, or Nogueira. Nor would they have chosen Augusta McKay Lodge as performer–the 25-year-old virtuoso, 2015 winner of the Juilliard Historical Performance Concerto Competition (who knew there was such a thing?) is just now making her mark on the world stage, a world where the once-obligatory in-store record signing appearance has been replaced–thanks to the disappearance of said stores–by websites, email lists, and digital downloads.
One thing hasn’t changed, and has little to do with age or even the name of the composer or composition, and that is great violin playing, which Lodge delivers consistently, carefully, and confidently throughout this 68-minute program. Pieces such as these assume a certain level of advanced technique, which comes with the territory for many of today’s well-schooled, formidably well-practiced young string players. However, what sets a handful of performers apart from those who merely use these kinds of works as novelty pieces to show off their “formidable” technique comes down to details such as tonal variation, articulation, and phrasing–anyone who plays at a certain level can play the notes, but it’s artists like Lodge who make the music sing and dance and sometimes really engage on a deeper interpretive level–where we listen more closely and hear the mysterious transformation of a single line into multiple parts, fleshed out harmonies, and sophisticated developmental features, articulate, assertive, seductive, lovely, elegant.
Few listeners will have heard of Bach contemporary Nicola Matteis–he is rarely, or barely, mentioned in the common music dictionaries–but his music as presented here is engaging, highly accomplished, and, yes, sophisticated enough to remind us once again of the old “what if”–that is, if Bach hadn’t existed, the solo violin works of a composer such as Matteis today would very likely hold a favored place in the standard repertoire. The structural and developmental elements that define Bach’s solo violin works are here as well, as in the gradual heightening of tension and harmonic complexity through the substantial, remarkable C minor Fantasia. Lodge certainly makes the case, as she does with the music of another “obscure” composer, 18th-century Portuguese violinist Pedro Lopes Nogueira. Lodge offers only two relatively short examples of his work, but they have the effect of making us want to hear more.
While the set of four short pieces by Thomas Baltzar are interesting enough, they are more like challenging exercises than true concert works. Alternatively, the Pisendel and Biber selections, anything but “rare” (listen to Rachel Barton Pine’s own commanding performances on Cedille–and read our review–for a useful comparison), are significant and substantial masterpieces of the solo violin genre, the former, although very different in style, holding its own alongside Bach’s monumental creations, and given vibrant, articulate voice by Lodge’s artful interpretive imagination and skillful bow. The oft-recorded Biber Passacaglia makes a compelling climax to a very satisfying recital.
Recording Details:
Album Title: Beyond Bach And VivaldiReference Recording: Pisendel and Biber: Rachel Barton Pine (Cedille); This one, Matteis: This one
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Bach And Vivaldi On Youtube
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Works for Solo Violin by: Nicola Matteis (fils); Pedro Lopes Nogueira (attrib.); Pietro Antonio Locatelli; Thomas Baltzar; John Walsh (ed.); Johann Georg Pisendel; Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
Bach And Vivaldi Music
Bach, Vivaldi, Handel
Johann Sebastian Bach was a composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist of the Baroque Period. A Germany native, he enriched many established German styles through his sense of rhythm and organization. Bach many pieces, which were appreciated for their intellectual depth, technical command, and artistic beauty.
He was born into a very musical family, where his father, Johann Ambrosius Bach, was the director of the town’s musicians. All of his uncles were professional musicians. Bach also sang, and he went to school pursuing his choral skills. After graduating, he held several musical posts across Germany; he served as Kapellmeister(director of music) to Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen, Cantor of Thomasschule in Leipzig, and Royal Court Composer to August III. With the marriage of his first wife (and second cousin), Bach became the father of 7 children. After her death the musician remarried, and had a total of 20 children before he died. His health and vision declined by 1749, and he died at 65 years old. Historians believe that his death was caused by a combination of stroke and pneumonia.
Bach today is widely known for his genius in harpsichord and clavichord. He is now generally regarded as the master of the fugue, and as one of the greatest composers of all time.
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi, an Italian Baroque born in Venice, was a composer, priest, and renowned violinist. Nicknamed il Prete Rosso (“The Red Priest”) because of his red hair, he would become recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, his influence during his lifetime was widespread throughout Europe. Vivaldi is known mainly for composing about 500 instrumental concerti, especially for the violin, as well as sacred choral works and over 40 operas. His best known work is a series of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons.
Many of his compositions were written for the female music ensemble of the Ospedale della Pietà, a home for abandoned children where Vivaldi worked with. He traveled often in pursuit of opportunity, and after meeting the Emperor Charles VI, Vivaldi moved to Vienna. The Emperor died soon after Vivaldi’s arrival, and the composer died a poor man of 65, without a steady source of income. His work was popular at the time but slowed after his death, although today his pieces are once again appreciated worldwide.
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas and oratorios. He was born in 1685 to a family indifferent to music, whom thought he would pursue a career as a lawyer. Before reaching the age of 7, he seemed to have mastered the organ and harpsichord. He received critical training eventually, and within fifteen years, Handel, a dramatic genius, started opera companies to supply the English nobility with Italian opera.
Probably the most famed moment of his existence, Handel played for King George II and watched him rise to his feet at the composer’s premier. He had major success with Messiah(1742), in which he extended musical composition based upon the religious theme. He never performed an Italian opera again after this. Almost blind, and having lived in England for almost 50 years, he died a respected and rich man.Handel is regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time, with works like Water Music, Music for the Royal Fireworks and Messiah remaining popular. Handel composed more than 40 complete operas in 30 years, and interest in Handel’s operas continues to grow today.