Geminiani: Concerti Grossi (After Corelli Op. 5)
Francesco Geminiani (born 1687 in Lucca, Italy; died 1762 in Dublin), a pupil of Corelli and one of the greatest violinists of his day, wrote a lot of music for his instrument, as well as a treatise on playing it. He made the orchestration of these 12 sonatas in tribute to his teacher, who would certainly have been proud if he had lived to hear them. Going far beyond mere arrangements, they seem to explore and reveal latent or unrealized intentions, adding sonorities and contrapuntal voices, enhancing character and expression. The most striking example is the famous "La Follia," where the usually hidden drama is suddenly released with a tumultuous virtuosity that foreshadows Liszt's orchestral version of Schubert'sWandererFantasy. The playing is stunning. Tuned a half-tone down, the strings have a lovely, pure, transparent sound that supports and surrounds the soloist with a warm shimmer; the long notes float, the fast movements are crisp and light, the rhythm and counterpoint are clear. Andrew Manze, who also writes informative, entertaining program notes, plays with spectacular virtuosity, a beautiful tone, and all-out expressive abandon and imagination, letting loose cascades of infinitely varied, inventive ornamentation. The second disc features the easier, more familiar sonatas, loved by all violin students, but transformed here into brilliant concertos. One of them is added to the first disc in Geminiani's ornamented version for violin and cello, while a cello sonata by Geminiani himself closes the program, perhaps a miscalculation, since the music is distinctly inferior to Corelli's.--Edith Eisler