Various Artists - Splendour of Venice - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

The work that gives this disc it's name, Michael Colgrass' Winds of Nagual, was inspired by the writings of Carlos Castaneda and his experiences with a Yaqui Indian sorcerer, delving into the secrets of pre-Columbian wisdom.

In the early summer of 1630, Venice was struck by the plague in a devastating way It raged for 18 months and killed almost 50,000 people, more than a third of the population at the time! Doge Nicolò Cantarini vowed to build a large church for the deliverance from the plague, and even though he was unable to experience it himself, this vow was carried out. With the Santa Maria della Salute, one of the most magnificent churches in the city was built. Since the year of liberation in 1631, the festival in honor of 'Saint Mary of Health' has been celebrated every year in November. The ensemble ecco la musica has set out to find out what the music of the first Festa della Salute in 1631 might have sounded like, combining what already existed with what was new at the time and commemorating the composers who died. With the end of the epidemic, there was also a musical change, from the wind-dominated polychoral music of Gabrieli, to the style of the seconda prattica of Monteverdi and his successors with solo singers and virtuoso string accompaniment.

Venice ca. 1700 having recently arrived from France, the instruments a la mode- the oboe, bassoon, baroque recorder, and flute traversiere- go on to conquer the musical centers of the Serenissima. The versatility of these new woodwinds inspires Vivaldi at the Ospedale della Pieta and his compatriots Caldara and Lotti at San Marco throughout their lives, whether in Venice, Rome, Vienna, or Dresden. This interest in wind instruments also carries over to the next generation of Venetian composers such as Galuppi, whose career plays out in his hometown, or the emigrants Platti and Brescianello beyond the Alps. For centuries, the imperial chapel in Vienna was characterized by a particular affinity for Venice- and it was with an eye to this historical connection between Vienna and Northern Italy that oboist Elisabeth Baumer founded the Austro-Italian Ensemble Affinita with musician friends in 2012. The ensemble's debut recording brings together imaginative interpretations of well-known works such as Vivaldi's Concerto RV 103, exciting rediscoveries, and a world premiere recording of a remarkable oboe sonata by Ferrandini.