It is now generally accepted that Vivaldi
wrote ten cello sonatas – one of them
now lost. Six (RV 47, 41, 43, 45, 40
and 46) of the surviving nine were published
posthumously as a set, in Paris, by
Charles-Nicolas Le Clerc around 1740.
The other three survive in manuscript
collections: RV 42 (along with RV 46)
is preserved in the library at Wiesentheid
Castle at Unterfranken in Germany; RV
39 and 44 (along with RV 47) are to
be found in a manuscript in the Naples
Conservatoire.
Geminiani’s opus 5
consists of six cello sonatas, and was
first published in Paris in 1746.
The twenty years either
side of 1740 saw the cello rise to a
very fashionable position in French
musical society, largely at the expense
of the bass-viol – a change of fashion
which stirred such strong emotions that
in 1740 Hubert Le Blanc published his
fierce Defense de la basse de viole
contre les entreprises du violon et
les pretensions du violencel. Music
such as that by Vivaldi and Geminiani
which is played here by Roel Dieltiens
and his colleagues must have made a
powerful counter-case for the cello.
Vivaldi’s sonatas cannot
be dated precisely. Without fail they
display his profound understanding of
the expressive capacities of the instrument.
Presumably the lessons he himself learned
from his work as teacher of stringed
instruments at the Pietà in Venice
fed into his writing in these sonatas.
All of his nine sonatas are in four
movements, disposed slow-fast-slow-fast.
In the manuscript of RV 42 the movements
carry titles suggesting relationship
to particular dances: Preludio-Allemande-Sarabande-Gigue.
In the other sonatas the designations
are simply of tempos, but the spirit
of the dance is never too far away.
In his slow movements, Vivaldi’s writing
for the cello is often lyrically poignant,
but too dignified ever to be merely
sentimental.
Geminiani’s sonatas
follow the same basic four movement
pattern, though some of his slow movements
- such as both the adagio and the grave
of Sonata no.6 - are so short that the
works are less perfectly balanced as
regards tempo. All three of the sonatas
played here are full of inventive, but
unflashy, writing; the best of the slow
movements have a tender melancholy and
the closing allegros are delightfully
vivacious and witty.
Roel Dieltiens’ playing
has both the drive and the subtlety
displayed in his acclaimed recording
(also on Accent) of the Bach suites
for solo cello. Given that he has worked
regularly with masters such as René
Jacobs, Frans Brüggen and Philippe
Herreweghe his musicianship need come
as no surprise. He will also be familiar
to followers of post-baroque music,
having recorded and performed works
by Kodaly, William Bolcom and Luc van
Hove. Here he shows himself fully responsive
to the demands of the music, in terms
of phrasing and intonation, rhythm and
ornamentation alike. There are other
fine performances of both the Vivaldi
and Geminiani sonatas – such as the
Vivaldi by Christophe Coin (L’Oiseau
Lyre), Anner Bylsma (Deutsche Harmonia
Mundi), Anthony Pleeth (ASV), Pieter
Wispelwey (Channel Classics) and a complete
set by David Watkin (Hyperion) and the
Geminiani by Alison McGillivary (Linn).
In the cases of both Vivaldi and Geminiani
this is music which both leaves scope
for a variety of interpretations and
which, in a sense, demands such variety.
Given, for example, the decisions that
must be made about the instrumentation
of the accompaniment – no details being
specified in the sources – there is
room for a number of interpretative
choices, none of which are necessarily
‘wrong’. Here Dieltens eschews the theorbos,
archlutes or baroque guitars that some
employ. The results are relatively plain
in colouring, but none the worse for
that.
I wouldn’t want to
make a ‘first choice’ in any of this
music. Suffice it to say that Dieltens’
performances are ones to which any listener
fond of the baroque cello is likely
to make frequent returns. The mixing
of sonatas by the two composers is suggestive
– though I can’t help wishing that Dieltens
had given us a complete recording of
one the sonatas by one or other of these
two Italian masters.
Glyn Pursglove
Roel Dieltiens (cello), * Anthony Woodrow
(double bass), ** Richte van der Meer (cello continuo),
Robert Kohnen (organ*, harpsichord**) 
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