Search - Giuseppe Tartini, L'Arte dell'Arco :: Tartini: The Violin Concertos, Vol. 5

The works of a master. Beyond the Superlative

05/10/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Actually, there are two masters at work here: Giuseppe Tartini, the composer, and Giovanni Guglielmo, the director and principal violinist of the amazing L'Arte Dell'Arco, a Baroque group playing on original instruments. Volume 10 marks the recording of exactly 60 of Tartini's output of 135 violin concertos (there are eight concertos on this 2-CD set). All of the concertos in Volume 10, as is also the case with the previous nine volumes, are world premiere recordings of music by this Baroque master and contemporary of Corelli, Vivaldi, Albinoni, Torelli, Domenico and Alessandro Scarlatti, Benedetto and Alessandro Marcello, Geminiani, Locatelli, Veracini and Bonporti. Needless to say, these are essential recordings for any aficionado of Italian Baroque music -- and of all Baroque music for that matter. I eagerly anticipate each new volume in this amazing cycle, and immediately purchase each installation without hesitation. This project by Giovanni Guglielmo and L'Arte Dell'Arco (to record all of Tartini's 135 violin concertos) is one of the most significant musical ambitions of this century. I can only hope that Armonico Tributo Austria's goal (under the direction of Lorenz Duftschmid) to record the complete works of the great Austrian master Johann Joseph Fux (on the Arcana label) achieves the same stride and support; sadly, the Fux project seems to be stalled after the issue of Volume 1. Having written 135 concertos, the Tartini project could possibly span as many as 20 volumes. Nevertheless, the issuance of every volume promises new world premiere performances of musical gems that have been hidden away in libraries for centuries. To date, Giovanni Guglielmo and L'Arte Dell'Arco's quintessential performances make this cycle imperative listening both for performers and lovers of Italian Baroque music. Simply put, do not miss this historical event. Beyond superlative! In a word, stellar!"

Composition+Virtuosity

superhugefatass | couch | 07/23/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Tartini included virtuosity in his compositions in a way that Paganini could only dream of. These compositions re-define Italian baroque. Many of the melodies are a glimpse of what would be composed nearly 150 yrs. later. The performances are also seamless, and the interpretation of these pieces is aggressive. I intend to acquire all 13 volumes of the violin concertos."