Vaccaj / Abbondanza / Borri - Andromeda / la Caccia / Il Cosacco Della Volga - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

As the forerunner of the piano and violin concertos, the concerto grosso is all about give and take. Not only one against many but also one, two or three musicians conversing with each other and with a larger ensemble in a genre that celebrates intimacy, diversity and virtuosity. The form inspired collections of instrumental masterpieces by the greatest names of the Baroque era, and it's an ideal environment for the relaxed mastery of Seldom Sene. Ever since the ensemble's debut in 2014 (Taracea, 94871), it has continued to fulfill imaginative recording projects with the same 'commitment, technical versatility, unanimity of ensemble and near-immaculate tuning on display' (Gramophone) in that first album. In their booklet notes, Stephanie Brandt of Seldom Sene and Matthias Havinga explain that the challenge of arranging this repertoire was to create a wide variety of sound colors through the intelligent use of different types of recorders and the stops of harpsichord and organ. The Sixth Brandenburg Concerto of Bach is an obvious candidate for Seldom Sene's performance, having originally been written for a similarly homogeneous ensemble of lower strings. In Handel's lovely Organ Concerto Op.4 No.1 Havinga retains the solo part while the recorder quintet plays the role of orchestra and basso continuo. The roles are reversed in Vivaldi's Concerto Grosso Op.3 No.10, where the harpsichord accompanies the recorders' flights of fancy. There is also an originally scored rarity the Sonata for five winds and organ by the Italian-born Viennese court composer Antonio Bertali.

It is no secret that Rossini never wasted his energy and, partly out of haste and partly out of laziness, he was always ready to resurrect pages of music which would have otherwise been destined to oblivion. Thus, when in 1822 he was invited by Prince Klemens von Metternich to commemorate with suitable music the Congress of the European heads of state which would take place in Verona-to InchharmonizeInch the souls, as it were-this proclaimed InchGod of harmonyInch gladly accepted. Il vero omaggio (InchsincereInch act of devotion toward the Austrian Emperor) was a recycling of the pastoral cantata La riconoscenza, performed by Rossini in Naples the year before. The sequence of pieces which constitute Il vero omaggio confirm Rossini's own statement the musical nature of the cantata is quite similar to the first act of a normal opera. As such, it was enjoyed by the public of the period, partly due to the fact that the performance was staged. What distinguishes such a cantata from an opera is not, indeed, the visual aspect, as one might assume, but rather the absence of a veritable dramatic design. The subject of the cantata was thus a mere pretense for staging a public panegyric to the Austrian Emperor by means of a grandiose concert of vocal music. The work is interpreted here by conductor Herbert Handt.

The compositions on this , which walk along the border between past and present, were dedicated to the guitar by Glauco Cataldo. He is a free-thinking musician, working in self-imposed isolation, and deserving of fame not only for his experience and substantial output, but also for the quality of his work, the fruit of an extremely unusual artistic and intellectual personality. Cataldo was born in Naples in March 1920. He studied music first in Pesaro and later in Milan, with Giorgio Federico Ghedini and Antonio Votto. From 1948 onward, he served as a teacher at the G. Nicolini Conservatory of Piacenza. He passed away in 2009. The works on this album are performed by Italian guitarist Giancarlo Dellacasa.