Virtuosity And Grace / Sonatas For Viola Da Gamba

Description

A story of family and friendship. Between tribute to the father and modernity, the viola sonatas by Carl Philipp Emanuel and Johann Christian Bach constitute a revealing element of the history of the Bach family and its friendships with two families of virtuosos of the instrument, the Abels and the Hesses, whose fathers inspired the work of Johann Sebastian.
Carl Philipp Emanuel composes in Berlin, encouraged by the presence of the violist Ludwig Christian Hesse as well as by the enthusiasm of the patron Frederick the Great (“When I am not reading, I am writing and when I am not writing, I am playing the viola,” writes his nephew, the future Friedrich Wilhelm II). It is from the friendship between Carl Friedrich Abel and Johann Christian that the latter's sonatas are born in London.
In continuation of the recording of the viola da gamba sonatas by the father, awarded a CHOC from Le Monde de la Musique, this Arcana CD celebrates one of the greatest families in the history of music through the artistic project of Guido Balestracci and his ensemble l’Amoroso, joined for this occasion by the keyboardist Paolo Corsi: the highlighting of the viola and the different instruments of its family, with a particular sensitivity for the post-baroque repertoire off the beaten path. This is evidenced by the music programs for viola by Schaffrath or the Divertimenti for baryton by Haydn, followed by a Schubertiade around the arpeggione.