L’atra Venezia

• Background: L’Altra Venezia (CD)
• Performers: Scaramuccia; Javier Lupiáñez, Inés Salinas, Patricia Vintem
• Label: Snakewood

Works on this album include:

• Diogenio Bigaglia. “Dresden” Sonata No. 2 in C major
• Antonio Caldara. Sonata for violin and continuo in F major
• Tomaso Albinoni. Sonata for violin and continuo in B flat major
• Giorgio Gentili. Sonata for violoncello and continuo in A major
• Giorgio Gentili. Capricci da camera a violino e violoncello o cimbalo, Op. 3
• Giorgio Gentili. Sonata for violoncello and continuo in G major
• Tomaso Albinoni. Sonata for violin and continuo in G minor
• Giovanni Battista Reali. Sonate da camera a violino e basso, Op. 2,

This album, which has already won a number of awards, came to my attention recently through a conversation; I’d not heard of this ensemble. The gist was to present us a contrasting view of the Venice sound via the composers Bigaglia, Caldara, Albinoni, Gentili, and Reali, in contrast, I think, to Vivaldi. While I was not able to access the liner notes by Talbot, he is credited as finding the new works by Albonini, featured on this album.

The sound is up-close and intimate. From the website:

The recordings on this CD were made with a proprietary microphone technique, called ECA, that was developed by our sound engineer in order to achieve maximum sound fidelity, with very good positioning of the instruments in the virtual space that is being created between your speakers. The mixing and mastering process has been performed with an almost fully analog equipment chain in order to maintain the complex tonal character of the sound of gut strings and the harpsichord. This results in a musical vividness and three-dimensional sound that is rarely heard in acoustic music recordings.

This release provides us tight playing; the violin well-matched by continuo team. This album provides a concert that might well-be great fodder against Vivaldi’s chamber works, especially with his first two opuses. There is something recognizable here in these works’ style, but to my ears, the results are less formulaic. All three instrumentalists are on top form and provide us a fresh take on Venetian music at the turn of the eighteenth century.

Presentation of these works is straightforward; the violinist uses some degree of expressive devices, including some vibrato; his instrument’s tone has a husky, warm aspect. The cello sound is likewise warm in tone. On the cello sonatas the basso continuo is realized by harpsichord.

Given the constraints of this three-member ensemble, they provide us an honest and fresh account of unfamiliar pieces from the early 1700s in Venice. This was an enjoyable and surprising recording which opens my anticipation of further exploration with these musicians.