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Alessandro Scarlatti 1660–1725

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III. IV.

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Sinfonia No.8 in G for recorder, strings & b.c.

I. Allegrissimo II. Adagio III. Allegro IV. Adagio V. Vivace

0’56 1’20 1’45 1’04 1’13

25 26 27 28

Sinfonia No.12 in C minor ‘La geniale’ for recorder, strings & b.c.

I. Adagio e staccato II. Andante giusto III. Adagio IV. Andante moderato

1’50 2’24 2’17 2’20

12 Sinfonie di concerto grosso (1715) Compact Disc 1

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44’32

1 2 3 4 5

Sinfonia No.2 in D ‘Concertata con li ripieni’ for recorder, trumpet, strings & b.c.

I. Spiritoso II. Adagio III. Allegro IV. Adagio V. Presto

0’58 1’02 1’59 1’26 2’01

6 7 8 9 10

Sinfonia No.3 in D minor for recorder, strings & b.c.

I. Vivace II. Adagio III. Andante IV. Adagio V. Allegro

0’39 1’37 2’05 1’16 1’50

11 12 13 14 15

Sinfonia No.6 in A minor for recorder, strings & b.c.

I. Vivace II. Adagio III. Allegro IV. Adagio V. Allegro

0’38 1’42 2’05 1’43 1’05

16 17

Sinfonia No.7 in G minor for recorder, strings & b.c.

I. Moderato II. Moderato

0’52 2’41

Grave Allegro

2’09 1’09

Capella Tiberina on period instruments Corina Marti recorder Giuseppe Frau trumpet Paolo Perrone concertmaster Alexandra Nigito maestro al cembalo (harpsichord) Massimo Merone, Sonoko Asabuki, Drissi Battah violin I Gabriele Politi, Giancarlo Ceccacci, Matthew Lonson, Céline Lamarre violin II Gian Claudio Del Moro, Maria Antonietta Losito viola Gioele Gusberti, Sarah Souza-Simon cello Roberto Stilo double bass Tiziana Azzone theorbo/Baroque guitar

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Compact Disc 2

1 2 3 4 5

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Sinfonia No.1 in F for 2 recorders, strings & b.c.

I. Allegro II. Adagio III. Allegro IV. Adagio V. Allegro

44’15

0’50 0’54 1’50 0’53 1’19

6 7 8 9 10

Sinfonia No.4 in E minor for recorder, oboe, strings & b.c.

I. Vivace II. Adagio III. Allegro IV. Adagio V. Allegro

0’51 1’08 1’43 1’35 1’49

11 12 13 14 15

Sinfonia No.5 in D minor for 2 recorders, strings & b.c.

I. Spiritoso e staccato II. Adagio III. Allegro IV. Adagio V. Allegro assai

1’11 1’36 2’14 1’35 1’30

16 17 18 19 20 21

Sinfonia No.9 in G minor for recorder, strings & b.c.

I. Vivace II. Adagio III. Moderato IV. Adagio V. Allegrissimo VI. Menuet

0’42 1’23 2’31 1’38 1’11 0’54

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Sinfonia No.10 in A minor for recorder, strings & b.c.

I. Vivace II. Adagio III. Allegro IV. Adagio V. Allegrissimo

0’43 1’26 2’16 1’35 1’16

27 28 29 30 31

Sinfonia No.11 in C for recorder, strings & b.c.

I. Spiritoso II. Lento III. Allegro IV. Adagio V. Allegro

0’43 2’00 1’48 1’15 1’27

Capella Tiberina on period instruments Corina Marti recorder Ann Allen oboe/recorder II Paolo Perrone concertmaster Alexandra Nigito maestro al cembalo (harpsichord/organ) Christoph Rudolf, Massimo Merone, Coline Ormond, Lina Manrique violin I Gabriele Politi, Alberto Caponi, Giancarlo Ceccacci, Rafael Maldonado violin II Margreet van der Heyden, Matthew Lonson, Daniel Frisch viola Sophie Lamberbourg, Sarah Souza-Simon, Zin Young Yi cello Roberto Stilo, Federico Abraham double bass Krishnasol Jimenez, Diego de Abrantes theorbo/Baroque guitar

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Alessandro Scarlatti: 12 Sinfonie di concerto grosso Published between 1880 and 1882, the four volumes of Francesco Florimo’s La scuola musicale di Napoli e i suoi conservatori played a major role in officially establishing Alessandro Scarlatti as ‘a master from whom all the others may be said to derive’. In so doing, the study brought to completion a process of canonisation started by Kiesewetter, Jahn and Fétis, and further developed throughout much of the 19th century. In actual fact, two of Scarlatti’s contemporaries had already expressed their own views on the subject. In 1729 Bonifacio Pecorone hailed Scarlatti as ‘the Orpheus of music, and the man who best understands counterpoint of our times, as any informed person will agree, and as his many works reveal’. And in 1709 Francesco Maria Zambeccari had declared that ‘Scarlatti is a great man, yet for one so good he is also bad, because his compositions are very difficult, and hence more suitable for chamber performance because they don’t work in theatres’ – in other words, ‘works that those familiar with counterpoint will appreciate, whereas in a theatre audience less than twenty out of one thousand can really understand it’.

Evidently the Neapolitan school was branching out in a direction that differed from that of its claimed founder, and even scholarly esteem did not prevent the revered master from dying in a state of indigence. Yet today’s audiences, unperturbed by Zambeccari’s box office concerns, will appreciate the skilful counterpoint of these 12 Sinfonie di concerto grosso. They have come down to us in a score that is partly handwritten by the composer, and in a set of seven separate parts, in keeping with the Roman custom. The manuscript bears a date marking the start of composition (Cominciate al P[rim]o Giugno 1715, ‘begun on 1 June 1715’), and the set includes a concertino cello part that is distinct from the concerto grosso basso part. Both manuscripts are kept at the British Library (R.M. 21.b.14–15), but come from the Royal Music Library. The title Sinfonia di concerto grosso would seem to be characteristic of Scarlatti: although traditionally extended to the entire collection, in actual fact the term only refers to the first of the twelve compositions (‘Sinfonia Prima, di Concerto grosso, con due Flauti’), while the second is described as a ‘[Sinfonia] Concertata Con li ripieni’, and the others are without titles of this sort. As for the separate parts, they are collected together under the overall title of 12 Sinfonia(s) & Concertos, where the original title is reinterpreted (through hendiadys) by analogy with coeval collections of Sinfonie e concerti, such as those of Giuseppe Bergonzi (1708) or Luigi Taglietti (1709). This is somewhat misleading, in view of the fact that the composer preferred the term sinfonia concertata, in keeping with the tradition in which this terminological distinction referred to the difference between the counterpoint of the symphonies and 6

the homophonic idiom of the concertos. Such usage had been established earlier by Torelli’s Sinfonie a tre e concerti a quattro Op.5 of 1692, and Albinoni’s Sinfonie e concerti a cinque Op.2 of 1700.

Before disappearing as a concept it was later adapted and completely inverted, as in the VI Sinfonie da camera ed altrettanti concerti da chiesa Op.2 by Andrea Zani (1729). In Naples, on the other hand, it survived through to the 1730s in works such as the Recorder Concerto in G minor by Nicola Fiorenza and the Cello Concerto in D minor by Leonardo Leo, whose second movements in the form of a fugue account for the term sinfonia concertata rather than concerto (Naples, Conservatorio di musica ‘S. Pietro a Majella’, M.S. 2258–62, 15.8.5/1). Only one of the Scarlatti symphonies bears a characteristic title of its own: La geniale, which pertains to the last of the collection and refers to the concept of genius typical of the period, defined in the third edition of the Vocabolario degli Accademici delle Crusca (Florence, 1691) as an ‘inclination of the mind’. In this sense, it is probable that the title of the Sinfonia No.12 does not allude to anything extravagant or extraordinary, which is certainly not present in the music, but rather signifies a concept akin to what Vivaldi felt about his Favorito RV277. Geniale thus refers to something that is ‘congenial’, particularly loved by audiences or the composer.

Eight of the twelve symphonies are recorder concertos, not dissimilar in form to the seven that Scarlatti included in a Neapolitan anthology of 24 Concerti di Flauto [...] Di Diversi Autori dating back to the same years. (For a close examination of the manuscript and a confutation of the traditional dating of 1725, see my notes in Capella Tiberina’s recording of Francesco Mancini’s 12 Recorder Concertos, Brilliant Classics 94324.) The other four symphonies, whose scores come across as double concertos for two recorders (Nos. 1 & 5), recorder and trumpet (No.2) and recorder and oboe (No.4) are really concerti grossi with three concertino instruments, as revealed by the solo cello part that is separate from the basso of the orchestra. Clearly it was opportune to double the concerto grosso parts, in keeping with the explicit instructions for Sinfonia No.2 (‘Con li ripieni’), and the implicit indications for Sinfonia No.1, where the violins are accompanied here and there by the addition of soli/tutti cues.

The London manuscript thus appears to be a mixture of concerti grossi and solo concertos, in keeping with the period custom that began with Torelli’s Op.8 (1709) and culminated in the internal symmetries of Vivaldi’s L’Estro Armonico and Manfredini’s Op.3. And even in Rome as well as in Bologna and Venice, beneath the apparent uniformity of what claimed in the frontispiece to be collections of concerti grossi, there were often solo concertos featuring the first concertino violin (hints of this are already to be found in Corelli’s Op.6 No.12). By the same token, the inclusion of a 7

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concertino of wind instruments may also seem more original today than in fact it was in 1715. In that same year the first printed collection of oboe concertos, Albinoni’s Op.7, was published in Amsterdam, while in Rome the publication of a work by Giuseppe Valentini comprising Concerti grossi con Trombe, Obue, e diversi altri strumenti was announced for 1714, though in fact it never saw the light of day.

Compared with the elegant clarity of Albinoni’s concertos, those of Scarlatti pay the price for not adhering to the modern ritornello form. The only way to make up for tonal planning in the largescale movements was to use plenty of counterpoint. An early form of ritornello dating back to the 1690s does feature in the homophonic movements, though it amounts to little more than a series of modulating episodes jumping from one key to another and placed side by side like tonal blocks, often with an almost mechanical alternation of solo and tutti, which provides no distinction between recurrent and non-recurrent sections. As with Torelli and early Albinoni, Scarlatti often opted for opening motifs that are immediately repeated in the dominant or relative major key.

Each symphony consists of five movements, with three fast tempi that frame two slow tempi.

When the symphony begins with a slow or moderato tempo, as in Nos. 7 and 12, the number of movements is reduced to four. Only No.9 features the addition of a minuet that acts as a conclusive sixth movement. The short introduction in quick time, culminating in a suspended cadence, owes much to the brilliant initial Presto of the opera sinfonie, while the second or third movement is invariably a one- or two-subject fugue that is more substantial and complex than those of Corelli.

The slow movements, on the other hand, are more varied in form: sometimes they are imitative, sometimes transitional and based on harmonic progressions, but more often lyrical, in the spirit of the modern concerto. The affinities with the opera sinfonia return in the finale, in binary form and compound ternary time. The last movement of Nos. 1, 3 and 9 features the ‘authentic’ tarantella notation, in binary rhythm with triplets, as found in the examples of tarantellas in Athanasius Kircher’s Magnes, sive De Arte Magnetica (Rome, 1641), III, viii, 2. The fascinating rhythmic ambiguity of the 17th-century notation, later replaced by a regular flow in six or twelve quavers, survived for quite some time in folk song, as recordings made by Diego Carpitella in the Salento area in 1959 clearly reveal (Rome, Accademia Nazionale di S. Cecilia, Archivi di Etnomusicologia). It is curious to think that Scarlatti, so often accused of being pedantic, should have contributed to our knowledge of Mediterranean popular culture.

Alessandro Lattanzi Translation: Kate Singleton

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About the recording Alessandro Scarlatti’s Sinfonie di concerto grosso were recorded in two sessions with different dispositions depending on the recording spaces. For the first disc, the musicians were placed according to sections, as usual. A Corelli-like disposition was chosen for the second disc, relying on the documentary evidence of Cristoforo Schor’s engraving for Pasquini’s Applauso musicale (1687), with the concertino group in front and the ripieno ensemble on steps behind.

We have chosen the typical Roman ensemble in the concerto grosso style that Scarlatti was well familiar with. The proportion between high and low instruments is almost equal, since we are informed from records of payments in the Roman archives that the sum of middle and bass instruments between c.1680 and 1720 was equal or even superior to that of the violins.

We do not know if Scarlatti’s Sinfonie were intended to be played in Naples or Rome, but in both cities the pitch was considerably lower than in northern Italy. The tono corista in Rome (i.e. the choir pitch of the Cappella Giulia) at that time was around 384 Hz (it may be altered by a semitone in different seasons) and in Naples it was even lower. We have therefore adopted an A=392 pitch on the basis of documents and surviving instruments, and after reflecting on what Giovanni Battista Doni wrote in his Annotazioni sopra il Compendio de’ generi e de’ modi della musica (Rome, 1640), p.181: …one can discern, without departing from our country, that the fundamental instruments – which nowadays are, above all, harpsichords and organs – are tuned lower in the southern part of Italy and higher in the northern part. And so starting from Naples, it is known that organ pitch there is semitone lower than that in Rome; the latter is another semitone below that of Florence; that of Florence the same distance below that of Lombardy; and the latter equally a halftone lower than that of Venice. So that, adding these differences together, Venetian pitch is a ditone, or a major third, higher than Neapolitan…

At such a pitch, sound takes on a different colour and, as Praetorius writes in his Syntagma musicum (Wolfenbüttel, 1618–20), ii, p.16: …indeed it is not to be denied that one can give harpsichords (as every experienced instrument maker knows) a sweeter and more attractive tone at this [lower] pitch than they would have if they were tuned to chamber pitch, just as flutes and other instruments in such a low pitch sound sweeter than at the regular pitch and make an entirely different effect on the ear…

Alexandra Nigito 9

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Capella Tiberina was founded by Alexandra Nigito in order to blend a passion for early music with a rigorous approach to musicological research. They perform on historical instruments and feature young and highly talented musicians who specialise in Baroque music. The ensemble aims to draw attention to the Baroque repertoire of Italy, with a special emphasis on music that originated in Rome. For Brilliant Classics they have previously recorded Bernardo Pasquini’s Passion Cantatas (94225), Francesco Mancini’s Recorder Concertos (94324) and Domenico Scarlatti’s Violin Sonatas (94325). www.capellatiberina.it

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Corina Marti’s performances have been praised as ‘strikingly superior and expressive’ (Toccata) and ‘infallible’ (Diapason). After graduating in Baroque recorder and harpsichord performance from the Lucerne School of Music, she focused her activities on the early flute (late-Medieval and early-Renaissance repertoire), gaining a degree from the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel, Switzerland, under the guidance of Pierre Hamon and Kathrin Bopp.

Marti has performed, recorded and taught late-Medieval and early-Renaissance repertoire throughout Europe and the Middle East. In 2003, she was invited to join the faculty of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis as an early flute and keyboard tutor. Her performances on these instruments and research into their history and construction have contributed to their revival among performers.

Marti also enjoys later repertoire, and has appeared as a soloist and as part of various chamber music groups, performing Renaissance, Baroque and contemporary music. With Ensemble La Morra, of which she is co-director, she has made several acclaimed recordings of 15th- and early 16th-century music (including the complete works of Johannes Ciconia, awarded the Diapason d’Or). Her ongoing interest in early instrumental music has resulted in a disc devoted to German repertoire of the late 15th and early 16th century (Von edler Art, Ramée, 2008).

Her discography of music composed after 1500 includes recordings of early-Baroque instrumental works from Lombardy, music by the Italian-Jewish composer Salomone Rossi, J.S. Bach’s flute sonatas and, most recently, the flute concertos of Francesco Mancini.

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After graduating in violin and chamber music from the ‘Santa Cecilia’ Conservatoire in Rome, Paolo Perrone continued his studies in violin and Baroque violin under Carlo Chiarappa and Enrico Onofri. He plays first violin and appears as a soloist with leading early music ensembles, including Concerto Italiano, Divino Sospiro, Concerto de’ Cavalieri and others, performing in major concert halls and festivals of early music in Italy, Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Austria, Poland and South Korea. He has made several recordings for Naïve Records, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Sony Music, CPO, Fuga Libera, Brilliant Classics, Italian Swiss Radio (CSR), Vatican Radio, Stradivarius, Rai International and Sky.

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Alexandra Nigito graduated in organ from the ‘Giovan Battisti Martini’ Conservatoire in Bologna and the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, and in harpsichord from the ‘Benedetto Marcello’ Conservatoire in Venice. Her interests in historical performance practice and musical philology led her to further her studies at the Civica Scuola di Musica in Milan with Lorenzo Ghielmi and Laura Alvini, and at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis with Jean-Claude Zehnder, Andrea Marcon, Jörg-Andreas Bötticher, Jesper Christensen and Rudolf Lutz. She has also studied singing. Alongside her practical studies, Nigito graduated in Musicology in Cremona and obtained a PhD from the University of Zurich. She performs both as a soloist and ensemble player, also working as a church organist. She has recorded for Brilliant Classics, Tactus, Arcophon and Swiss Radio DRS2.

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Special thanks are due to the Christkatholische Kirchgemeinde Möhlin, the Christkatholische Kirchgemeinde Zuzgen, and the Römisch-katholische Kirchgemeinde Zuzgen; to Kenneth Zammit Tabona for kindly supplying the cover picture; to Franck Tayodjo and Martin Schlienger for their assistance; to Rita and Simon Bieri, Karin and Albrecht Klär for their kind hospitality; to Eugen Herzog and Roger Staub for their support, and to all sponsors who made this project possible.

Recording: 21–24 January, Christkatholische Kirche, Zuzgen, Switzerland (CD2); 7–9 July 2014, Christkatholische Kirche, Möhlin, Switzerland (CD1) Studio: The Pitch – Audio Research, Perugia, Italy Sound engineers: Luca Maria Burocchi & Daniele Marinelli Musical supervision: Luca Maria Burocchi Editing: Alexandra Nigito Mastering: Umberto Ugoberti Temperament: 1/8-comma meantone · Pitch: A = 392 Hz Cover: Mediterranean Garden (2014) by Kenneth Zammit Tabona Artist photos: Michal Gondko (Corina Marti); Silvio Rizzo (Alexandra Nigito) & 2015 Brilliant Classics

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