Description

Experimental vocal and instrumental compositions from the second half of the previous century, closely connected in text and thought with Italian poetry, convey an impression of the philosophy and compositional methods of the two musicians Luigi Nono (1924-1990) and Salvatore Sciarrino (b. 1947), which were similar in several aspects. The title of the CD, Parole e Testi, is thus meant quite literally. The singers of SCHOLA HEIDELBERG under Walter Nußbaum – accomplished performers of new vocal music – sing Nono’s chant Sarà dolce tacere on a text by Cesare Pavese (1960) as well as Sciarrino’s ensemble pieces L’alibi della parola (1994) and Tre canti senza pietre (1999) – both setting verse from various sources. Nono’s early compositional art, which culminated in Polifonica – Monodia – Ritmica for six instruments and percussion (1951), is performed by the ensemble aisthesis from Heidelberg in 2005 in the reconstructed, unabridged version which Nono originally created (presented on CD for the first time here). The abridged version, in which the work had its world premiere at the Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music under the baton of Hermann Scherchen in 1951, completes the CD as a bonus track.

Description

At the age of 18, Felix Mendelssohn composed his String Quartet Op. 13, one of his major early works. The fact that it was written after Beethoven’s death reveals a wealth of references: the youthful master experimented blithely with form and content. The Quartet also has an autobiographical component going back to the song “Frage” (“Question”), the beginning of which (underlaid with the question “Ist es wahr?” – “Is it true?”) provides the motto of the first movement and returns toward the end of the finale – a very personal message from Mendelssohn.

The Quartet Op. 44/1 was written during a period of infatuation with Cécile Jeanrenaud, whom he married in 1837. Here the mature mastery of the composer is palpable; everything arises from his own intuition. He creates a fascinating symbiosis of traditional classical form and romantic stylistics which is profoundly his own and radiates great unity – in addition to a wealth of musical themes, harmonic impulses, a songful, emotional slow movement and a rousing, virtuoso scherzo and finale.

This music is performed with profound passion by the young musicians of the Kazakh State String Quartet.

Description

In 1996, the complete recording of the oratorio La morte del cor penitente (The Death of the Penitent Heart), composed around 1671, by the Northern Italian Early-Music ensemble Sonatori de la Gioiosa Marca was a special event: for the first time, the Italian composer Giovanni Legrenzi (1626-1690) – an important creator of sacred and chamber music – was introduced with a voluminous work. At the same time, the recording, which went on to win several awards, also marked the beginning of the career of the Sonatori around Andrea Marcon, now long famous. Legrenzi was a master of baroque musical rhetoric: expressive harmonies and melodic elegance transformed the libretto by an unknown author, which illustrates its theme with numerous metaphors, into a sensuous pleasure. The little-known masterwork is interpreted sensitively, movingly and mellifluously by soloists with expressive voices (including Roberta Invernizzi, Elisabetta de Mircovich, Mario Cecchetti and Marco Beasley) and the Sonatori, also performing as a collective of soloists. This DIVOX reference recording is reissued at a time in which the outstanding importance of the heart is also recognized by science (www.heartmath.com).

The group Sonatori de la gioiosa Marca (Musicians of the joyous ‘Marca‘) was founded in 1983 in Treviso (Marca Gioiosa et Amorosa). It is considered one of the most select Italian ensembles in the field of performing music from the Baroque period. Its soloist members perfected their talents with leading performers of ancient music at Basel’s Schola Cantorum, London’s Royal College of Music, and Geneva’s Centre de Musique Ancienne. Their repertoire spans from Gabrieli to Mozart, with special emphasis on the great Venetian tradition of the 17th and 18th centuries. – The recordings with Vivaldi’s Violin Concertos (Solo violin: Giuliano Carmignola) on the Label DIVOX ANTIQUA (CDX 79404 and 79406) were incredibly successful and earned many international Awards, i.e. “Diapason d’Or de l’année 95/96”.