Search - Alfredo Bernardini - oboe;Masumi Nagasawa - harp :: Souper Galant

On period instruments Harp music written during the Ages of Enlightenment and Romanticism added a delicate fragrance to the banquet of the Epicureans. Each disc in the series Soirées du Goût will treat you to a gastronomic musical adventure, being filled with exciting and elegant flavours. On this cd, harpist Masumi Nagasawa joins with oboist Alfredo Bernardini for a 'souper galant'. The sole sonata for solo harp (in G major) by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach is a jewel for the single-action harp. The beautiful single melodic line with its thin texture and harmony is typical of the galant style. It is interesting to wonder for which harpist this sonata might have been written. If we imagine that Bach would have met this harpist during his appointment to the court of Frederick the Great, we must first think of the brilliant harpist Petrini, who was known as 'the foremost virtuoso of the time who could play in all 24 keys with equal facility'. The authorship of the Bach sonatas in E flat major and G minor is unclear; these two pieces display many similarities and can easily be linked together for several reasons. Christoph Schaffrath also belonged to the court of Frederick the Great and was one of the many interesting and inventive composers in Berlin at that time. Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782) was the youngest of Johann Sebastian Bach's children. Masumi and Alfredo have transcribed his Sonata VI in B major for oboe and harp duet for this recording, basing our arrangement on the various original versions of this score. Carl Friedrich Abel was an intimate friend of Johann Christian Bach. He wrote a series of sonatas for flute and harpsichord, one of which is recorded here in a version for oboe and harpsichord. Its similarities with the classical style of J.Chr. Bach are evident. Alfredo Bernardini (oboe) moved to The Netherlands for specialized study of baroque oboe and early music. He has performed throughout Europe, the U.S.A., Japan, China, Israel and South America as a member of major baroque ensembles, including Hesperion XX, Le Concert des Nations and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra. He founded the ensemble Zefiro and has taken part in over one hundred recordings. Masumi Nagasawa (harp) performs on the double-action pedal harp, the single-action harp (18th and 19th century period harp), the Irish harp and the ancient Japanese harp or 'Kugo'. Her recitals involve wide repertoire and challenging programmes. She has performed for radio and television in Europe and Japan; she has been a soloist with the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra, the St. John's College Choir Cambridge and has also appeared as a soloist together with Dame Kiri te Kanawa and Cecilia Bartoli.