Portrait [IMPORT]

Johann Sebastian Bach (Composer), Francesco Geminiani (Composer), George Frederick Handel (Composer), Biagio Marini (Composer), Giovanni Mealli (Composer), Jean-Fery Rebel (Composer), Giuseppe Tartini (Composer), Georg Philipp Telemann (Composer), Marco Uccellini (Composer), Antonio Vivaldi (Composer), Academy of Ancient Music (Performer), Romanesca (Performer), Richard Egarr (Performer), Andrew Manze (Performer), Caroline Balding (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Academy of Ancient Music, Romanesca, Richard Egarr, Andrew Manze, Caroline Balding
• Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach, Francesco Geminiani, George Frederick Handel, Biagio Marini, Giovanni Mealli, et al.
• Audio CD (August 15, 2000)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Harmonia Mundi Fr.
• ASIN: B00004UFDH
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #75,656 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  #2 in	Music > Classical > Featured Composers, A-Z > ( R ) > Rebel, Jean-Féry
  #3 in	Music > Classical > Featured Composers, A-Z > ( P ) > Pandolfi-Mealli, G.A.
  #4 in	Music > Classical > Featured Performers, A-Z > ( M ) > Manze, Andrew

Track Listings

1. Sonata for violin & continuo in G minor, B. g5 ('The Devil's Trill'): No. 3, Andante-Largo-Adagio

2. Sonata for violin & continuo, Op. 3/3 ('La Melana')

3. Violin Concerto, for violin, strings & continuo in E flat major ('La tempesta di mare'; 'Il cimento' No. 5), Op.8/5, RV 253: I. Prest

4. Violin Concerto, for violin, strings & continuo in E flat major ('La tempesta di mare'; 'Il cimento' No. 5), Op.8/5, RV 253: II. Larg

5. Violin Concerto, for violin, strings & continuo in E flat major ('La tempesta di mare'; 'Il cimento' No. 5), Op.8/5, RV 253: III. Pre

6. Sonata for violin & continuo 'detta La Laura rilucente,' Op. 4/5

7. Concerto Grosso in G minor, Op.6/6, HWV 324: No.3., Musette

8. Concerto Grosso in G minor, Op.6/6, HWV 324: No.4, Allegro

9. Sonata for violin & continuo No. 6 in B minor: No.3, Gracieusement

10. Sonata for violin & continuo No. 6 in B minor: No.4, Viste

11. Toccata and Fugue, for organ in D minor, BWV 565 (BC J37)

12. Sonata for violin & keyboard No. 3 in E major, BWV 1016: No.1, Adagio

13. Gulliver Suite, for 2 violins in D major, TWV 40:108: Intrada

14. Sinfonia Sesto Tuono, for chamber instruments & continuo, Op. 22

15. Balletto Quarto Allemano, for 3-4 instruments & continuo, Op. 22/4

16. Sinfonia Terzo Tuono, for chamber instruments & continuo, Op. 22

17. Violin Sonata in A major, Op.1/3, HWV 361: No.3, Adagio

18. Violin Sonata in A major, Op.1/3, HWV 361: No4, Allegro

19. Concerto Grosso, for 2 violins, strings & continuo No.12 in D minor ('La Follia'; after Corelli Op. 5/12)

20. Concerto Grosso, for 2 violins, strings & continuo No.12 in D minor ('La Follia'; after Corelli Op. 5/12)

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This is a compendium of pieces drawn from Andrew Manze's recordings past, present, and projected. It includes single movements, groups of movements, and complete works, some unaccompanied, some with one or two supporting instruments, some with the ensemble Romanesca, some with the Academy of Ancient Music, of which Manze is co-director and concertmaster. The selections range from intimate chamber music to brilliant bravura pieces and are well designed to whet the listener's appetite to hear the complete records. They also display Manze's versatility, virtuosity, improvisatory imagination, expressiveness, and communicative power, which have propelled him to the top rank of Baroque violinists. He succeeds in combining rigorous scholarship with adventurous spontaneity, passionate involvement and a sense of humor--all of which are also in evidence in his erudite but entertaining program notes.

Naturally, the most substantial pieces on the program tend to be especially impressive. Vivaldi's Concerto "La tempesta di Mare" is truly tempestuous, with extraordinarily daring harmonies and modulations. Manze's transcription and performance of a famous Bach Toccata and Fugue for organ creates the amazing illusion of an original unaccompanied violin composition. And, taken from Manze's recording with the Academy of Ancient Music, "La Follia," one of 12 Corelli Sonatas orchestrated by Geminiani as Concerti Grossi, is enormously exciting. Also noteworthy are selections by Uccellini and Marini performed with Romanesca, some movements from Bach and Handel sonatas, and part of Tartini's "La Sonata del Diavolo", better known as the "Devil's Trill Sonata," played unaccompanied with diabolical freedom and virtuosity. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Marketing Idea, August 28, 2000

By A Customer

I had heard of Andrew Manze but never heard him play. This CD is a very inexpensive introduction to an incredible Baroque violinist. He opens your ears to a completely different level of performance in this type of music. Highly recommended as an introduction, but be warned that you will soon be purchasing many more of his CDs.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A rich introduction to a top Baroque specialist, November 14, 2005

By	Alan Lekan (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Andrew Manze is a Cambridge-educated, early-music scholar, an internationally-famous period violinist, an accomplished chamber musician and director of the prestigious Academy of Ancient Music. His discography is vast - specializing in the early to late Baroque and with a strong affinity to the more unusual, 'quirky' Baroque sonatas such as those by Tartini, Schmelzer and Biber - recordings made with fellow Baroque specialists, John Toll and Nigel North (AKA 'Romanesca').

This sampler CD is a nice compilation of Manze's music - from solo violin to full orchestral music - featuring works from more well-known composers (Telemann, Bach, Handel, Vivaldi) to the more obscure Italian violin virtuoso composers (Tartini, Uccellini, Pandolfi, Geminiani, Marini). The selections spotlight his highly rhythmic, academic-rich style and techniques which have won accolades from the international music press like Gramophone, Penguin Guide, ClassicsToday and BBC Music. Highlights are the concerti grossi from Geminiani, Vivaldi and Handel and the sonatas from Handel and Telemann. One truly delightful work is the Handel Violin Sonata in which Manze illicits a most bouyant, spontaneous manner that is most uplifting. Less inspiring to me were the Bach and Pandolfi sonatas as were the somewhat mundane liner notes written by Manze - although they are not without some fascinating tidbits. But so much more could have been said about Manze, his unique style and his career in the notes by a third party to give a more colorful "portrait" of this artist.

If you are new to Manze's music, this CD is a great place to start to explore his broad discography and his compelling style and will help you sort out which composers/recordings you will most gravitate towards - or equally important ... the ones you don't. While varied and compelling, this one CD is only a smittering of Manze's recordings - unfortunately absent are representation works of his powerful readings of the unusual, free-form and often-meditative sonatas of the German-Catholic composers, Biber and Schmelzer (some of Manze's best recordings in my opinion). ClassicsToday gave this CD a perfect 10/10 if that helpf make your decision easier (the sound quality is consistentyly very vivid too). Harmonia Mundi offers this sampler CD at a "teaser" price (about half price) as a way to introduce listeners to great artists - with the hope of course that you will buy a few of the CD's represented here (at full price) that most catch your interest. Either way it is a win for the classical listener exploring the less-familiar Baroque violin repertoire that Manze specializes in dusting off from the shelves and performing most strikingly.

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!, September 14, 2009

By	Joanne Frances Gladney (St Louis, MO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

I love to play this at work. It is fabulous to listen to and lowers my stress level and often makes my surrounding seem plush instead government issue like they are.