Fiorè : Intégrale des sonates pour violoncelle, Airs italiens du 17 ème siècle

Description

It is in the Companion to Baroque Music that one will find a brief notice about the Italian cellist and composer Angelo Maria Fiorè (1660-1723), who had a remarkable career as a cellist in Parma and then in Turin. Almost relegated to the forgotten corners of music history, Fiorè nonetheless played a significant role in the Italian cello repertoire of the seventeenth century alongside Bononcini, Jacchini, Frescobaldi, Vivaldi, and Gabrielli (Bylsma had already recorded these composers in an anthology - DHM 2004). This album from the Passacaille label, featuring some of the best current representatives of baroque music (Elinor Frey, Lorenzo Ghielmi, Suzie Leblanc, Esteban La Rotta), is a compilation of sonatas for cello, arias for soprano, and pieces for harpsichord. While A.M. Fiorè is the author of the majority of the pieces included in the program, it also introduces us to other equally overlooked Italian composers active in the 17th century. The sinfonias and sonatas from Fiorè's collections of Trattenimenti (the Italian equivalent of divertimento) have a dance-like style, alla francese, (Allemandes, sarabandes, or gigues) often virtuosic and sometimes reminiscent of opera, evoking a recitative here and an aria there. They possess a true melodic charm that often recalls similar works by Bononcini or Platti. From Marc Antonio Ziani, of whom we know a bit of sacred music, the opera aria Chi serve al dio d'amor is a beautiful da capo exchange between two voices, vocal and instrumental, equally moving (Susy Leblanc and Elinor Frey). The arias by Magni, Sabadini, and Ballaroti, accompanied by a subtle continuo (theorbo, cello, harpsichord), also testify to the organic fusion between the human voice and the instrument, effectively and imaginatively explored by these musicians. As for the solo harpsichord pieces by Carlo Ignazio Monza, they could easily be mistaken for the work of a Couperin or a Chambonnières. An unprecedented program, sumptuous interpretation, and excellent sound quality. A very beautiful album that honors an exceptional label! (Jérôme Angouillant)