Various Artists - Psalmen Und Lobgesange - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

George Frideric Handel's stay in Rome in 1707/08 coincided with the last great musical heyday of the time-honoured city with it's great patrons such as the Cardinals Pamphilj and Ottoboni or the Princes and Barberini and Ruspoli. The young Saxon was able to develop his artistic talents wonderfully in Rome and met the exceptional Roman singers of the time. Among them was the tenor Vittorio Chiccheri, whom Handel employed in leading roles in his Roman oratorios, and who presumably not only fulfilled Handel's requirements but also inspired him. The Roman tenor Lucca Cervoni and Alessandro Quarta with his ensemble Concerto Romano have set out on the trail of Vittorio Chiccheri, of whom we have hardly any biographical clues. We only know the roles in which he was heard and these were significant in addition to Handel, Alessandro Scarlatti and Antonio Caldara, among others, also wrote for Chiccheri, as did Chiccheri himself. With his soft and supple timbre and the great flexibility and agility of his voice, Lucca Cervoni revives Handel's famous tenor and transports us to Baroque Rome in it's last great heyday with wonderful arias.

It is well known that in Venice a InchGolden AgeInch of compositional, vocal, and instrumental musical creativity and virtuosity emerged, and then flourished during the mid-1500s to the mid-1700s. The 16th century experienced a substantial development in the cappella ducale of Saint Mark's, which, until the end of the 17th century, remained the leading center of musical activity in the city. Evidence of this comes from the profusion of significant musicians that it received in that InchGolden AgeInch either as maestri di cappella, or as organists (Claudio Merulo, Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli), or as virtuoso instrumentalists (the cornet player Giovanni Bassano). Claudio Merulo and Andrea Gabrieli played a decisive role in the simultaneous emergence of Venetian keyboard and stile concertato music. The latter's nephew Giovanni Gabrieli can be thought of as the standard-bearer of the Venetian School as a whole. The cornett virtuoso Giovanni Bassano composed magnificent polychoral motets in stile concertato for the idiosyncratic liturgy found at St Mark's. With such works Bassano emerges as the worthy successor of the Gabrielis. Les Traversees Baroques, on this , explores all of these composers of the Golden Age.

Various Artists - Elegie Works for 2 Guitars / Various [COMPACT DISCS] date 01/23/2001