MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


 REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

alternatively
CD: Crotchet AmazonUK AmazonUS
Download: Classicsonline


Giuseppe TARTINI (1692 - 1770)
Violin Concertos Vol. 15
CD 1
Concerto in B flat (D 120) [13:20]
Concerto in D (D 27) [11:11]
Concerto in C (D 8) [13:23]
Concerto in g (D 82) [09:45]
CD 2
Concerto in C (D 10) [09:50]
Concerto in D (D 35) [09:52]
Concerto in A (D 100) [12:54]
Concerto in E (D 52) [13:03]
Giovanni Guglielmo (D8,35,52), Federico Guglielmo (D10,120), Carlo Lazari (D27,82,100) (violin)
L'Arte dell'Arco/Giovanni Guglielmo
rec. 14-19 May 2006, Chiesa Santa Maria Annunziata, Sovizzo Colle (Vi.), Italy. DDD
DYNAMIC CDS 591/1-2 [47:44 + 45:46]
Experience Classicsonline

Interest in the music of Giuseppe Tartini is definitely growing and this has resulted in several recordings of his music being released in recent years. The two-disc set reviewed here is Volume 15 in a huge project aiming at covering all of Tartini's violin concertos. No fewer than 135 concertos have been preserved, so this is indeed a major undertaking which in itself deserves much praise. It is even more impressive in the light of the fact that only a small proportion of Tartini's output has been printed, and that the autographs are often very difficult to read, as Nicola Reniero explains in the booklet. But all the effort put into this project certainly pays off, because these works are just wonderful pieces of music.

They are very different from most Italian violin music we hear. Tartini belongs to the era between baroque and classicism, and music from this period is still largely neglected. That is certainly the case with Italian music; one could get the impression that after Vivaldi nothing of any substance was written. Tartini isn't the only Italian composer of this era who has remained in the shadows for far too long. Another Italian of the later 18th century, Pietro Nardini, also a famous violinist and violin composer, is almost completely ignored.

Tartini's critical remarks about Vivaldi's compositions for the violin are frequently quoted. They are indeed useful to explain how different these two men were. Tartini criticised in particular the pyrotechnics in Vivaldi's concertos. His aesthetic ideals were different: like others in his time he was a strong advocate of naturalness in music. He was not the first: in 1720 Benedetto Marcello (1686-1739) published a treatise in which he sharply criticised the excrescences in the opera of his days, and decades later Christoph Willibald von Gluck launched his famous opera reform. Tartini did the same in his compositions for his own instrument.

The preference for naturalness didn't hold Tartini back from writing demanding solo parts; these concertos are anything but easy. But as William Carter, in the programme notes of Palladians' recent recording with violin sonatas by Tartini (Linn Records), states, his virtuosity "rises out of a desire to express rather than amaze". And in his view it is his "intense pictorial inward gaze which seems at least as strong as his desire to create 'brave sport' that sets him somewhat apart from his colleagues."

Tartini was strongly influenced by literature, in particular poetry. He usually read from the writings of Metastasio, Petrarch or Tasso before starting to compose. Quotations from these writings are often included in his manuscripts. This poetic inspiration is reflected in his concertos, which are dominated by lyricism and expression of a rather introspective kind. The highlights of the concertos played on these discs are the middle movements. Of the eight concertos there are two with the indication 'adagio', one is a 'largo' and the other five are andantes. One of them is referred to as 'andante cantabile', but the addition 'cantabile' can easily be applied to all concertos, and to all movements, including the allegros which usually open and close these concertos.

The German composer and theorist Johann Mattheson stated that it was melody rather than counterpoint which was the foundation of music. Tartini seems to agree: there is very little counterpoint here, but he certainly knew how to write beautiful melodies. These concertos are full of them, and listening to these concertos at a stretch is no problem at all, as Tartini time and again comes up with new ideas.

That this set is captivating is also due to the performances. The first volumes in this series were released in the late 1990s and they didn't get very favourable reviews. The playing was technically sometimes under par, and in particular the intonation was often off the mark. In addition the recording wasn't up to contemporary standards. I hadn't heard any later volumes since, so I was curious to know whether these problems had been overcome. I am happy to report that the standard of playing and recording has vastly improved. Yes, there are still moments when the intonation is a little suspect, in particular in virtuosic passages and at the top of the violin's range. In the ensemble there are also some precarious moments, but they are negligible in the light of the overall level of performance. The three violinists share the solo parts, and they all do a fine job. They add some ornamentation, in a tasteful and never exaggerated way. In some movements they play short cadenzas, and in these the players have captured the spirit of Tartini's music very well.

This volume in a series of all Tartini's violin concertos is an excellent way to get to know his music, and I wouldn't be surprised if it encourages listeners to explore his oeuvre further. It is to be hoped that the next volumes in this project are as rewarding as this set.

Johan van Veen

 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.