Rachel Podger meets Holland Baroque Society – Antonio Vivaldi – La Cetra: 12 Violin Concertos (2012)
PS3 Rip | 2SACDs ISO | DST64 2.0, DST64 5.0 >1-bit/2.8224 MHz | Full Scans 300dpi | 6.61 GB
When back in 2003 Rachel Podger’s recording of Vivaldi’s 12 violin concertos Op.4 ‘La Stravaganza’ Vivaldi: La Stravaganza – Podger/Arte Dei Suonatori was released it was universally acclaimed & quickly went on to garner numerous awards from many sections of the music press including Gramophone, Stereophile & The Absolute Sound as well as winning a Diapason d’Or. It is also interesting to note that even on SA-CD.net more than 100 people have recommended that recording. In the intervening years Rachel Podger has widened her recorded repertoire to make further highly regarded recordings of works by Bach, Haydn & Mozart, but she has now made a triumphant return to Vivaldi with this wonderful set of the composer’s 12 Violin Concertos Op.9 known as ‘La Cetra’ .
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Holland Baroque Society meets Eric Vloiemans – Old, New & Blue (2013)
DSD64 (.dsf) 1 bit/2,82 MHz | Time – 63:06 minutes | 2,49 GB
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 63:06 minutes | 1,03 GB
Studio Master, Official Digital Download – Source: NativeDSDmusic | Artwork: Digital booklet | © Channel Classics Records
Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue’ is the traditional English bridal rhyme, ending with and a silver sixpence in her shoe. Five little things, often pieces of clothes, small presents or even heirlooms to bring good luck to the bride. Something old stands for tradition and family, something new for a hopeful future and forthcoming happiness, something borrowed reminds the bride of all her friends, always ready to advise and assist, and something blue symbolises the love and fidelity of the new couple. And finally a silver sixpence to bring wealth.
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Holland Baroque Society, Milos Valent – Telemann: Barbaric Beauty 18th Century Dance Transcriptions (2011)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:17:28 minutes | 2,38 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Channel Classics Records
It goes without saying that Telemann had a thorough command of the French and Italian styles. Countless ensembles, including ours, have played such pieces. In ‘Barbaric Beauty’ we follow a completely different path by focussing on Telemann’s Polish style. At least, this is how he described the pieces he wrote after discovering the music played along the Polish-Hungarian border. It was at the beginning of his career, when he was just 25 years old, that he heard sounds that were to inspire him throughout his life.
On this recording Holland Baroque Society meets Miloš Valent – specialist both in Baroque music and 18th-century Central- European folk music. They play folk music from the heart of Europe, and Baroque music influenced by folk music from Telemann, among others. This program demonstrates the centuries-old influence of ‘popular’ music on ‘art’ music: a kind of world-music avant la lettre. Supported by cimbalon-player and flautist Jan Rokyta, Holland Baroque Society and Valent show the influence of folk music on baroque art-music, and highlight two important aspects shared by both styles: ‘groove’ and improvisation. Alongside the Concerto ‘Polonois’, they present dance music from the folk-music collection Melodarium/ Szirmay-Keczer, melodies and dances from the Uhrovec Collection (1730), collections from which Telemann chose his favourite folk tunes. Beyond this, you never quite know what’ll happen when Miloš arrives…
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Rachel Podger, Holland Baroque Society – Vivaldi: La Cetra, Op. 9 (2012)
DSF Stereo DSD64/2.82MHz | Time – 01:57:26 minutes | 4,64 GB | Genre: Classical
Source: ISO SACD | © Channel Classics Records B.V. | Front Cover, Booklet
In September 1728, Vivaldi met the Habsburg Emperor Charles VI in or near Trieste, where the emperor was supervising the construction of a new harbour. Charles was a great admirer of Vivaldi, and he gave him the title of knight and a golden chain with a medallion, and invited him to visit Vienna. In turn, Vivaldi gave the emperor a manuscript with a collection of concertos entitled ‘La Cetra’ (the cittern or lyre). It was probably no coincidence that the composer had used the same title for the Twelve Violin Concertos Opus 9 ‘La Cetra’ featured on this CD, which he published a year earlier through Le Cène in Amsterdam, with a dedication to the Emperor. According to the Vivaldi scholar Michael Talbot, the lyre symbolised the great love of music of the Habsburgers. Earlier, in 1673, Giovanni Legrenzi had already dedicated an early anthology – likewise entitled La Cetra – to the-then Emperor Leopold I. Talbot also considers the use of scordatura (adjusted tuning of the strings) in the violin part of the 6th and 12th concertos of Opus 9 to be a homage to the Habsburg Emperor. The scordatura practice was indeed a popular tradition in Austria and Bohemia, as we know from the violin music of Biber and Schmelzer. Concerning the remarkable encounter between Emperor Charles and Vivaldi at Trieste in 1728, the Abbé Conti wrote: ‘The Emperor talked about music at length with Vivaldi. It is said that he told him more in two weeks than his ministers in two years.’
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Rachel Podger, Holland Baroque Society – Antonio Vivaldi – La Cetra (2012)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:58:46 minutes | 2,40 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Channel Classics
Podger is a dynamic and unfailingly accurate virtuoso with exceptional interpretive instincts that can turn an unimposing rhythmic accent, a tiny melodic figure, or a seemingly routine harmonic progression into a moment of surprise or sheer wonder not only at the technical facility but also at the unexpected expressive effect. These concertos are full of challenges for the soloist, and Podger, who has considerable experience not only with Vivaldi, but with Mozart, Bach, and Haydn, has no apparent fear of any of them. And she also is a confident leader, bringing her very capable orchestral colleagues perfectly along with her, not only concerning tempos, but more importantly into her personal conception of dynamics, her volatile phrasing and often relentless rhythmic thrust. This is what makes these performances so exciting, invigorating, and so memorably different from the Vivaldi we’ve previously known and loved from performers such as Fabio Biondi, Giuliano Carmignola, and Andrew Manze.
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