четверг, 3 июля 2014 г.

Michel de la Barre - Flute Suites - Nancy Hadden with Lucy Carolan, Erin Headley



Considered the best French flautist of his time, Michel de la Barre (c 1675 - 1754) has endeavoured to elevate his instrument and bring it to perfection much as Marin Marais did for viola da gamba. The composer stated this intent himself in the preface to his first book of solo flute suites (which can also boast the first information in print about slurring and ornamentation on the transverse flute). Indeed, the overwhelming majority of his musical output belongs to flute music and it is a known fact that he helped to make this instrument one of the most fashionable of the time and establihed the style that later flourished in the hands of Jacques Hotteterre le Romain and other French flute composers.

It is a pity that this music is so sparsely recorded, for it is full of sweet charm and that measured, well-balanced sensitivity and reserved sensuality which is characteristic of the best in French baroque. This disc contains pieces from different flute books by de la Barre - in later ones he began to call his suites sonatas as was the Italianate fashion of the time.

On the cover is the group portrait of French musicians (by Robert Tournières or François de Troy) where the man with the flute is thought to be de la Barre himself.

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вторник, 1 июля 2014 г.

European Baroque Guitar Music (Rome-Paris-Madrid) - Bartolotti, Granata, Corbetta, de Visee, Sanz, Guerau - Pierre Pitzl



The concept behind this album is to showcase the work of best baroque guitar composers in the period when this new instrument swept across Europe and conquered it along with its kings - that is the second half of the 17 C. The composers chosen for this task are Michelangelo Bartolotti, Giovanni Battista Granata (who answer for Rome), Francesco Corbetta (an international star of Italian origin) and his pupil Robert de Visee (Paris), and Francisco Guerau with Gaspar Sanz for Madrid. 
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