Pietro Antonio Locatelli: Il Virtuoso, il Poeta - Violin Concertos, Concerti Grossi

by Isabelle Faust, Giovanni Antonini, Il Giardino Armonico

Overview

Baroque concertos were often published in sets, but for the performer, it is almost never a good idea to plow woodenly through these; the sets were not intended as documents to be performed. It is especially important in the case of Pietro Locatelli, a great virtuoso and a compositional progressive, where it is important to select works that display something of his personality. This has rarely been done, and the successful effort here by violinist Isabelle Faust, backed by the Italian Baroque specialists Il Giardino Armonico and director Giovanni Antonini, landed on classical best-seller charts in the late summer of 2023. Faust's subtitle, "il virtuoso - il poeta," gives an idea of the album's flavor. Locatelli was a virtuoso like few others in the 18th century. The violin concertos here include cadenza-like "capricci" that he marked as optional and that were really the predecessors to Paganini-style virtuosity; they pose major challenges to the player (like extended passages that ride very high on the fingerboard), although nothing Faust can't handle, but "il poeta" is the other side of the coin. Locatelli was a musical progressive who broke up the homogenous textures of Baroque music in search of new forms of expression that went even beyond the still-underappreciated innovations of Vivaldi's late style. Consider the heavily programmatic Concerto Grosso in E flat major, Op. 7, No. 6 ("Il pianto d'Arianna"), a kind of instrumental realization of the story of Ariadne and Theseus that is like an opera without words. The are more brilliant players than Faust in this style, but none of them has quite gotten to the essence of Locatelli's music like she has. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	08/25/2023
Label:	Harmonia Mundi
UPC:	3149020947234
Rank:	22877

Tracks

1. Concerto grosso in C minor Op. 1 No. 11~Largo
2. Concerto grosso in C minor Op. 1 No. 11~Allemanda. Allegro
3. Concerto grosso in C minor Op. 1 No. 11~Sarabanda. Largo
4. Concerto grosso in C minor Op. 1 No. 11~Giga. Allegro
5. Violin Concerto in A major Op. 3 No. 11~Allegro
6. Violin Concerto in A major Op. 3 No. 11~Largo
7. Violin Concerto in A major Op. 3 No. 11~Andante
8. Concerto grosso in E-flat major 'Il pianto d'Arianna' Op. 7 No. 6~Andante - Allegro - Adagio - Andante - Allegro
9. Concerto grosso in E-flat major 'Il pianto d'Arianna' Op. 7 No. 6~Largo
10. Concerto grosso in E-flat major 'Il pianto d'Arianna' Op. 7 No. 6~Largo andante
11. Concerto grosso in E-flat major 'Il pianto d'Arianna' Op. 7 No. 6~Grave
12. Concerto grosso in E-flat major 'Il pianto d'Arianna' Op. 7 No. 6~Allegro
13. Concerto grosso in E-flat major 'Il pianto d'Arianna' Op. 7 No. 6~Largo
14. Violin Concerto in C minor Op. 3 No. 2~Andante
15. Violin Concerto in C minor Op. 3 No. 2~Largo
16. Violin Concerto in C minor Op. 3 No. 2~Andante
17. Concerto grosso in F minor Op. 1 No. 8~Pastorale

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Isabelle Faust   Primary Artist,Violin
Giovanni Antonini   Primary Artist,Conductor
Il Giardino Armonico   Primary Artist,Orchestra
Stefano Barneschi   Violin

Technical Credits

Aline Blondiau   Artistic Director,Editing
Felix Broede   Cover Photo,Photography
Leonhard Mausiell   Instrument Design
Roberto Paol'Emilio   Instrument Design
William Horn   Harpsichord Maker
Grazia Bilotta   Management
Przemek Loho   Management
Irene Weber-Froboese   Liner Note Translation
Giacinto Santagiuliana   Instrument Design
Alberto Panzani   Photography
David Bague I Soler   Instrument Design
Eric Kleinmann Rangendingen   Instrument Design
Andrea Castagneri   Instrument Design
Eduardo Gorr   Instrument Design
Carlo Antonio Testore   Instrument Design
Hughes Deschaux   Mixing,Engineer,Mastering
Eriberto Attili   Instrument Design
Franz Joseph Knitl   Instrument Design
Federico Lowenberger   Instrument Design
Dennis Collins   Liner Note Translation
Pietro Locatelli   Composer
Michel Chasteau   Liner Note Translation
Charles Johnston   Liner Note Translation
Giovanni Antonini   Liner Notes
Cesare Fertonani   Liner Notes
Isabelle Faust   Liner Notes
Francisco Hervas   Instrument Design