| Label: PAN CLASSICS
Catalog: PC10232
Format: CD Gaetano Nasillo, cello; Jesper Christensen, harpsichord; Tobias Bonz, cello (basso continuo)Francesco Geminiani (c 1680-1762)
6 sonate per violoncello e basso continuo op. 5 (1746) Francesco Geminiani (c 1680-1762) is one of the leading composers of the 18th century. He studied in Rome with Corelli and A. Scarlatti, and in 1711 became leader of the opera orchestra in Naples. Settling in London in 1714, he earned instant success as a violin virtuoso and became one of the most influential teachers (of the violin and composition). Geminiani's principal works are solo sonatas and concerti grossi. His model was Corelli, but he composed with originality, writing for a wider range of solo instruments and using a more sonorous and chromatic idiom; his music is more expressive and dramatic than Corelli's (though still contrapuntal).
The "Corellian" style characterizing his earlier works had been gradually abandoned beginning with the op. 4 and his cello sonatas op. 5 took a further step forward. By then, nothing could be traced back to what was Geminiani's initial style; the melody became more tortuous and unpredictable, resulting in an atmosphere of spontaneity that would certainly have disorientated the contemporary audience. The continuous crossing of the solo line with the bass, the irregularity of the melody, the ornamentation and the expressiveness of his musical phrases would surely have made these compositions seem eccentric to the current taste of the times. In fact, however, it is precisely this aspect that strikes our imagination. The expressive force of this music is so great that we can easily consider it to be the most important collection of cello sonatas of its time.  Price: $27.98 |
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