Steffani: Chamber Sonatas - Sonate Da Camera

Steffani (Artist), Toccaqni (Artist), Quartetto Erasmus (Artist), Various (Composer), -- (Conductor) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Conductor: --
• Composer: Various
• Audio CD (February 24, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Concerto
• ASIN: B001OBT3KM
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #781,826 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

The Chamber Sonatas by Agostino Steffani were published in the early 1700's by the Dutch editor, Estienne Roger.
Steffani's Sonatas are usually classified as 'instrumental music'. Really there are elements in these pieces that make them blatantly different from that which is currently called 'instrumental' The six suites are in fact taken from overtures, from the refrains, and from the dances of
Steffani's six musical dramas. Each one of the six sonatas bears an opening quote that refers to the six titles author's theatrical operas:
Ouverture de l'Opera d'Orlando (1691), Ouverture de l'Opera Henricus Leo (1689), Ouverture de l'Opera d'Alexander (1690), Ouverture de l'Opera Gli Rivali Concordi (1692), Ouverture de l'Opera d'Alcibiades (1693) and Ouverture de l'Opera Gli Triomphi del Fato (1695). Most of the parts of the Sonatas have been found to be contained in each of the works cited, but some are not, probably because they refer to the music of the dances in Steffani's six musical dramas, ballets that often were not included in the scores of the operas. Agostino Steffani (1654 - 1728) was the composer who, more than anyone else, was responsible for the diffusion of the musical taste for musical drama and Venetian chamber music throughout Europe and, in particular, in the German speaking countries. He had a considerable influence on Georg Friedrich Händel, who owed him quite a bit both in terms of the music he wrote as well as in terms of his career.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars surprisingly disappointing, June 28, 2009

By 

David I. Cahill (Beijing, China) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Steffani: Chamber Sonatas - Sonate Da Camera (Audio CD)

Naxos is to be commended for launching the new Concerto series of obscure or newly discovered baroque music. Unfortunately this 2 cd-set of chamber sonatas by Steffani has the worst recording quality of any cd (or previously, LP) of classical music I have ever bought. The strings are shrill and wiry and the overall sound very "plastic"-like. I don't know how the engineers succeeded in producing such poor sound quality. As for the performance, it's difficult to judge the Quartetto Erasmus's interpretation without any comparative reference points - it's my first acquaintance with this composer - but it too seems wanting, with a listless, plodding, almost amateurish quality. Perhaps the poor sound quality is contributing to this impression. In any case, I quickly stored the cd away in my cd library, to await a future second hearing, perhaps a year or two down the line. I have a very large collection of early-to-late baroque music, and the Steffani cd looks handsome on the shelf, but that's as much as I can positively say about it at this point.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rare baroque delights, July 18, 2009

By 

Stephen Midgley (Tarbrax, West Calder, UK) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Steffani: Chamber Sonatas - Sonate Da Camera (Audio CD)

The Italian Agostino Steffani (1654-1728) was a leading composer of mainly vocal music, including operas, sacred pieces, cantatas and the truly wonderful chamber duets - all of which are well worth investigating for lovers of the baroque. So it is a rare thing to find a CD, let alone a 2-disc set, consisting entirely of instrumental music by this inspired melodist. These "Sonate da camera" are actually the composer's own selections and arrangements from six of the operas he wrote for the Hanover court, fashioned into overture-suites of the pattern later used by Bach, Telemann and others. They consist of numerous, mainly short, sharply characterised movements, with each suite working well as a unified whole; and they contain many melodic delights, with a few more extended pieces such as the graceful Chaconne from "Henrico Leone".

All this fine music is performed in exemplary period style by the Quartetto Erasmus with Isidoro Taccagni at the keyboard. Their playing is both sprightly and lyrical as appropriate, with only the distinctly odd sound of the recording raising a few question marks. While the booklet clearly shows that this is a genuine quartet of musicians (plus harpsichord) we are listening to, the rather resonant recording manages to convey the impression of a larger baroque ensemble, albeit with a somewhat metallic quality. Nevertheless, once one gets attuned it is a pleasant enough sound, and at least its sharp edge suits the instrumental music of the period reasonably well.

The 2-disc set is attractively presented, with a delicious picture on the cover anticipating the delights within; and the booklet notes, although in places somewhat tendentiously written, give adequate information on Steffani and his music. Altogether, this is an enterprising addition to the discography and to what I hope is turning out - together with some other recent CD issues and opera productions - to be a long overdue revival of the music of this rarely heard genius of the baroque.