Intégrale de L'Œeuvre pour clavecin et orgue

Description

Very little is known about Bernardo Storace (?1620-?1664), except that he was the vice-master of the chapel of the Senate of Messina (Sicily) when he published a collection of 23 compositions for harpsichord and organ in 1664. Enrico Viccardi, who is responsible for this recording, claims that Storace, "much more than a mere bridge between Frescobaldi and Pasquini, is truly one of the great European composers of Baroque keyboard music." Barton Hudson, a specialist in Storace, writes that his Toccate are less "passionate" than those of his Neapolitan or Roman contemporaries because they remain confined to the same harmonic molds (tonic/dominant), but that his ricercari are more interesting. What about the interpretation offered by Enrico Viccardi on four ancient instruments or copies of ancient ones (harpsichord, spinets, organs)? He indulges in a welcome expressive playing in the very beautiful passacailles in A minor and C minor (tracks 10 and 11 of CD 1) and to a lesser extent in the one in D major (track 1 of CD 2), while the dance pieces (Passo e mezzo, Romanesca, Balletto, Corrente) notably lack rhythm, especially in the ternary measures where the lift of the third beat is almost tied to the following first beat. And in any case, the interminable Pastorale (12 minutes!) has very little interest, regardless of how it is played. But even just for the aforementioned passacailles and some of the variations heard here and there, this box set is worth acquiring. (Jean-Paul Lécot)