Corelli: Op. 5, Nos. 7-11, No. 12 "La Follia" [Germany] [Import]

Bruggen (Artist), Bylsma (Artist), Leonhardt (Artist), Arcangelo Corelli (Composer), Frans Bruggen (Conductor) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Conductor: Frans Bruggen
• Composer: Arcangelo Corelli
• Audio CD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00003GPKN
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #584,728 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recorder Fireworks, an Explosion of Virtuosity, February 2, 2009

By 

Leslie Richford (Selsingen, Lower Saxony) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Corelli: Op. 5, Nos. 7-11, No. 12 "La Follia" [Germany] (Audio CD)

Arcangelo Corelli (1653 - 1713): Sonatas, opus 5, nos. 7-11 and "La Follia", opus 5, no. 12. Arranged for recorder and basso continuo by the performers on the basis of 18th century editions. Performed by Frans Brüggen, recorder; Anner Bylsma, violoncello; Gustav Leonhardt, harpsichord. Recorded at the Lutheran Church in Haarlem, the Netherlands, in September 1979. Originally released on LP by Seon. Re-released in 1999 by Sony as Sony SBK 61786. Total playing time: 53'31".

Before he took up a second career as a conductor and as the director of the Orchestra of the 18th Century, Frans Brüggen was no mean flautist - and a real virtuoso on the recorder. Fortunately, his "first" career was well documented on LP, at first by "Das Alte Werk" (a series now being selectively re-released by Warner Classics), but also by Wolf Erichson's Seon project. This 1979 recording showcases Brüggen's amazing virtuosity and is not really an accurate reflexion of Corelli's opus 5, which was originally written for violin and basso continuo (you will find a "HIPP" version by two outstanding HIPP personalities on the Naxos label: Corelli - Violin Sonatas Op. 5, Nos. 7-12 / Fernandez, Wilson). But in the 18th century, anything was possible, and a number of publishers undertook the task of rewriting Corelli so that he could be played by the numerous recorder amateurs who were interested in buying this kind of music. Brüggen, Bylsma and Leonhardt have taken the trouble of researching these re-vamped versions and compiling their own edition, transposing where necessary and also taking account of certain developments in the construction of the recorder which make it possible to play notes which were impossible 300 years ago. The "sonatas" themselves are more in the form of dance suites, and so they are played here, with the interspersed Gavotte and Gigue movements being played as merrily as one might expect. And "La Follia" is a firework of unbelievably rapid playing, an explosion of virtuosity from all three players. Thank God that it has been rereleased so often, especially as the sound is as sharp and as clear as anyone could wish. I rather assume that, should the CD be unavailable at the moment, it will appear with a different cover some time later - these three performers deservedly enjoy a reputation which makes them classics of the early music movement.