Italian concertos & sonatas by Lucia Swarts

Lucia Swarts

Italian concertos & sonatas

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Challenge Classics
UPC: 0608917251623
Catnr: CC 72516
Release date: 25 April 2011
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Label
Challenge Classics

UPC
0608917251623

Catalogue number
CC 72516

Release date
25 April 2011

"This set is a garden of pleasure for every cello fan. Purchase and enjoy!"

Music Web International, 01-1-2012

Album

Artist(s)

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About the album

At the beginning of the seventeenth century the violin set out on its march of conquest as a solo instrument. Before then the violin was not thought highly of, but the French theorist Martin Mersenne (1588-1648) called it the king of instruments and praised it for its versatility. It lasted almost a half century before the expressive potential of the (violon)cello, the lyrical tenor and sonorous bass of the same family of instruments, was discovered.

Not without justification, the significance of Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) for the concerto has been compared to that of Haydn for the symphony.

Also under the influence of virtuoso violin music, which was developing fast, composers of the 17th century were inspired to write solo music for this ‘bass violin’, too. In turn, this required ‘adjustments’ to the instrument, which was unsuit-able for virtuoso solo play, we see therefore that violin builders in the second half of the 17th century started experimenting. In almost all cases this concerned a scaling down of the instruments. Their tuning also varied. These variants were known by varying names. In 1665 we find the term of ‘violoncello’ for the first time (with G.C. Arresti).

Of Antonio Vivaldi, the most influential, original and prolific composer of instrumental music for cello of the first half of the 18th century, we know nine cello sonatas. Then came Luigi Boccherini, a cellist but above all a visionary composer. He introduced the thumb position and thereby established a new historical record with b’’ flat as the highest note. Luigi Boccherini (19 February 1743 - 28 May 1805) was already a celebrity during his lifetime. This contemporary of Mozart made his début as a cellist at the age of 13 in his native town of Lucca and soon became a respected virtuoso in local musical circles.

Boccherini was an extraordinarily fertile composer, especially of chamber music. He wrote 32 sonatas for cello. In this CD box we can listen to four of them. Vivaldi wrote some very special pieces, but as far as Lucia Swarts is concerned Boccherini leaves him far behind. That cantilena, that Italian singing style, Boccherini could bring it out with greater prominence than any other composer. In the past the cello functioned as a bass instrument. With Vivaldi it acquired something of a tenor voice, but in the end it was Boccherini who knew how to use it as a perfect alto instrument. According to Lucia Swarts to cellists Boccherini is supremely important.

Also in this CD box are Italian 18th century cello pieces by Platti, Jacchini, Leo and Porpora.

De beste 18e-eeuwse Italiaanse cellomuziek
Deze verzameling bevat drie heruitgaven van losse albums. De werken worden uitgevoerd door celliste Lucia Swarts, klavecinist Siebe Henstra (op het tweede album) en ensemble Teatro Lirico onder leiding van Stephen Stubbs. De uitvoerenden zijn beroemde musici op het terrein van oude muziek. Hun enthousiasme, passie en kennis van deze muziek kan in elke noot gehoord worden.

Het eerste album laat de opmars van de violoncello als solo-instrument horen, in concerto’s uit de barok in verschillende Italiaanse stijlen.

Het tweede album bevat zes van de negen cellosonates van Antonio Vivaldi. De zes sonates op het album zijn werden in 1740 of 1741 gepubliceerd in Parijs, toen de componist nog leefde. Omdat Vivaldi besloten had om zijn werk niet meer te publiceren, moet aangenomen worden dat de uitgever het manuscript van een derde partij heeft gekregen. Lucia Swarts heeft de editie uit Parijs vergeleken met drie manuscripten en de editie van W. Kolneder, om de beste oplossingen te vinden.

Na Vivaldi kwam Luigi Boccherini, een van de belangrijkste componisten voor de cello. Boccherini was al tijdens zijn leven beroemd. Op dertienjarige leeftijd debuteerde hij als cellist in zijn geboorteplaats Lucca, en werd al gauw een gerespecteerde virtuoze muscicus. Boccherini componeerde 32 cellosonates, waarvan er op het derde album vier te beluisteren zijn.

Diese Wiederveröffentlichung vereint drei wundervolle Einspielungen, die sich ganz dem italienischen Cellorepertoire widmen. Lucia Swarts gehört zu den renommiertesten Cellistinnen ihrer Generation.

Artist(s)

Lucia Swarts

Lucia Swarts began studying the cello at the age of seven. She studied with Anner Bijlsma and Lidewij Scheifes at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague , where she acquired her solo degree in 1985.
In the year of her final exam , she gave her debut recital in the Kleine Zaal at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw , as a prizewinner in the `New Vintage`series for talented young musicians.
Apart from her appearances as a soloist , she has devoted considerable time and effort to playing music from every period of musical history in a wide range of chamber music settings, using instruments appropriate to the period .As well as the modern cello, she also plays piano, the viola da Spalla, baroque cello, cello piccolo and basse de Violon.
From 1983 on she played in the Schoenberg Ensemble (later Asko/Schoenberg) and worked with composers as György Ligety, Sofia Gubaidulina , György Kurtag, Reinbert de Leeuw, Oliver Knussen, John Adams, Steve Reich, Louis Andriessen, Martijn Padding and Mayke Nas Composer Mayke Nas (Componist des vaderlands 2016-2018) wrote a piece for her. In June 1996 Lucia was one of the solo players in the Asko/Schoenberg Ensemble in the Opera `A King Riding ` by Klaas de Vries.
Since 1983 , Lucia has been principal cellist in the baroque orchestra of the Netherlands Bach society and she also plays in the Residentie Bach Ensemble.
She worked with baroque specialists as Gustav Leonhardt, Frans Brüggen, Sigiswald Kuijken, René Jacobs, Peter Dijkstra, Jos van Veldhoven , Jos Vermunt and Ton Koopman.
While early music and contemporary music has a special place in her affection and where she was performing in many CD`s she also performs romantic music.In 1997 she recorded a CD with Leo van Doeselaar (piano ) with music of Saint -Saëns, Busoni, Moscheles and Gounod. CD .
She is always looking for new repertoire ( for herself and also for her students) ,which needs to become out of the shadow.
Lucia issued 7 solo CDs.
Six Cello Sonatas by Vivaldi (CC72051), Cello Sonatas by Boccherini (CC 72065), Italian Cello Concertos (CC 72021), Bach after Bach .Vol. 1(with Leo van Doeselaar (CC72066) , Italian Concertos & Sonatas (CC 72516).The Italian Origins (seven mouintain records) and Cello Solo Suites by J.S.Bach ( CC 72784) She is a professor in `modern ` and historical cello at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague since 1988 , where she works with Elena Malinova. Elena is also already for many years the correpetitor of her cellostudents.
Lucia is also visiting professor at the Conservatoire Superior de Salamanca and Sevilla (Spain).

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Richte van der Meer

Robert Franenberg

Siebe Henstra

Teatro Lirico

Stephan Stubbs

Composer(s)

Antonio Vivaldi

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was an Italian Baroque composer, virtuoso violinist, teacher and cleric. Born in Venice, he is recognised as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread across Europe. He composed many instrumental concertos, for the violin and a variety of other instruments, as well as sacred choral works and more than forty operas. His best-known work is a series of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons. Many of his compositions were written for the female music ensemble of the Ospedale della Pietà, a home for abandoned children where Vivaldi (who had been ordained as a Catholic priest) was employed from 1703 to 1715 and from 1723 to 1740. Vivaldi also had some...

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was an Italian Baroque composer, virtuoso violinist, teacher and cleric. Born in Venice, he is recognised as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread across Europe. He composed many instrumental concertos, for the violin and a variety of other instruments, as well as sacred choral works and more than forty operas. His best-known work is a series of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons.
Many of his compositions were written for the female music ensemble of the Ospedale della Pietà, a home for abandoned children where Vivaldi (who had been ordained as a Catholic priest) was employed from 1703 to 1715 and from 1723 to 1740. Vivaldi also had some success with expensive stagings of his operas in Venice, Mantua and Vienna. After meeting the Emperor Charles VI, Vivaldi moved to Vienna, hoping for preferment. However, the Emperor died soon after Vivaldi's arrival, and Vivaldi himself died less than a year later in poverty.

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Luigi Boccherini

On the 28th of May, 2005, it was exactly 200 years ago that the Italian composer Luigi Boccherini died in Madrid (Spain was his second fatherland). While coming from the land of opera, perhaps ironically he became the most important 'Latin' composer in chamber music. His noble and intelligent style might be less sparkling than Haydn's or Mozart's, it is nonetheless characterised by a love for details. His 'invention' was the string quintet (two violins, viola and two cellos), of which he composed over 140. Besides that, he also composed about 100 string quartets, 60 string trios, cello concertos and symphonies.

Lucia Swarts

Italian concertos & sonatas

About the album

Artist(s)

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