| Label: ACCENT
Catalog: ACC24267
Format: CD Petr Wagner, viola da gamba, Ensemble Tourbillon/+Gottfried Finger (1660-1730)
[Aria et variationes] D / Sonata Secunda D major / Sonata Terza A major / Sonata Quarta D minor / Sonatina A major / Sonata Quinta A major / Sonata
Sesta A minor / [Balletti scordati] A major / Sonata
Prima D major / Prelude E minor / Sonata D minor / [Divisions] G minor Coming from Moravia, composer and virtuoso Gottfried Finger was active throughout Europe. In the course of his life he worked in London, Munich, Vienna, Berlin among other places, and finally in Mannheim, where he was concertmaster of the upandcoming court orchestra, dying there in 1730. It is known that he had mastered several instruments. In addition to the viola da gamba, he also played trumpet, violin, lute, recorder, bassoon, baryton and eventually the cello.
He was certainly one of the greatest viola da gamba players of his time, and wrote some of the most elaborate and technically demanding pieces for that instrument.
Finger's viol da gamba music reflects AustrianCzech as well as English and Italian influences.
During his lifetime, only his Opus 1 appeared in print, an indication that his work is only being rediscovered gradually. The present CD, with the Czech viola da gamba player Petr Wagner and his Ensemble Tourbillon, is the first complete recording of Finger's works for solo viola da gamba. The composer demands from the soloist all the technical and musical abilities available y, and covers a broad range of highly virtuosic to poetically elegant works. So Petr Wagner as in his recording, highly acclaimed by the critics, of the Pièces de Viole by Roland Marais (ACC 24229) - can now prove his complete mastery with Finger's solo viola da gamba works.  Price: $27.98 |
