|
|
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Magical, 3 Jun 2004
It is difficult not to get dizzy from the high level of performances these years of Baroque music. The innovative ideas, the freshness (in both senses of the word) have joined hands with serious musicological research and conscientious musicianship.Italian cembalo player Ottavio Dantone spent a lot of time at the British Library, studying manuscripts from the early 1700s, compositions seemingly done by Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725), father of Domenico, six cembalo concerts, a number of overtures (sinfonie) among other things. Whenever he found notes missing from the manuscripts, typically for the strings surrounding the soloist, Dantone substituted them with his own, and Dantone knows his Scarlatti. From the very first entry on this new DVD you are struck by the feeling of something really important going on here. A catastrophic grave opens the overture for the oratorio ‘Agar ed Ismaele esiliati’, a full-fledged, four-dimensional musical drama unto itself. Dantone’s period ensemble, Accademia Bizantina, plays with poignancy and immediacy, and are incredibly precise. This DVD is a 75 minutes odyssee into the head of a composer with an uncanny knack for organic musical layout and a wicked, bubbly sense of humour. Just listen to the effective spiritose that opens the overture for ‘Il primo omicidio’. Pure Goth, ladies and gentlemen! And enjoy the wonderfully fugated first movements of the six concertos.
|