Francesco Mancini - Recorder Sonatas - Ensemble Tripla Concordia

The first half of this Brilliant edition I present here contains  recorder sonatas No 2-5, 7, 9, 11, 12  written by Neapolitan composer Francesco Mancini (1672-1737). During his lifetime Mancini was somewhat overshadowed by Alessandro Scarlatti and Gaetano Veneziano, however he was well known throughout Europe as a prolific writer of operas, canatats and oratorios. Writing instrumental music came in very much second for him - maybe that's why it sounds so fresh and unusual. The fast movements have almost rock drive, or as the Grove says more scientifically "the peculiarity of his instrumental writing can be seen in his sonatas, for example the rich harmonies accompanying the melodies and the contrapuntalism of the second movements, which are often almost proper fugues".

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