Notes and Editorial Reviews
TARTINI
Solo Violin Sonatas: No. 17 in D; No. 4 in C; No. 10 in B?; No. 15 in G; No. 14 in G; in a
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Luigi De Filippi (vn)
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CHALLENGE 72561 (71:12)
Giuseppe Tartini, an ardent admirer of Arcangelo Corelli but a disdainful detractor of Antonio Vivaldi, looked Janus-faced toward the future, letting go of the figured bass, as well as toward the past, in his adherence to the violinistic legacy he treasured in the works of Corelli and his disciples, and set his sights more resolutely on things to come. Among
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Tartini’s hundreds of sonatas and concertos, the
26 Piccole Sonate
stand out as works for solo violin (those actually supplied with very simple figured basses probably could have been performed without them).
Luigi De Filippi presents five numbered sonatas from this collection, as well as a sonata in A Minor, all of which he recorded in the highly reverberant acoustic ambiance of the Church of Saint Teresa in Caprarola, Italy, in June 2010. The program opens with the Sonata No. 17 in D Major, a four-movement work (slow, fast, slow, fast) that makes two extra-musical references: In the first movement, subtitled
Di se senti
, and in the third movement, an
Aria del Tasso
. Listeners unfamiliar with these works may be grateful for the very long decay time in the church: Without the basso continuo, the first, slow, movement includes many moments of unsupported monody (these works resemble Telemann’s solo sonatas more than they do Bach’s). Filippi plays the slashing double-stops of the fast movement that follows with the sharpness of a well-stropped razor and brings an introverted, almost melancholy, reflectiveness to the brief
Aria.
His reading of the
Furlana
that brings the sonata to a close displays once again incisive technical command, with his bow snapping crisply in the figuration. Filippi mentions in his notes (which he not only wrote in Italian but translated gracefully into English) that Tartini appreciated the rustic as well as the sophisticated musical manners of his era, and both emerge in Filippi’s performances. The Sonata No. 4 in C Major consists, like No. 15 in G Major, of only three movements, in these cases, slow, fast, fast (as in so many of his sonatas for violin and bass). The essentially melodic first gives way to a technically challenging
Allegro assai
(dispatched with panache by Filippi), replete with double-stops, and a similarly bracing
Presto
. The Sonata No. 10 in B?-Major again falls into four movements, this time opening with a
Largo
in which Filippi deftly plays his own accompaniment—no figured bass required here to give a sense of completeness. In the
Allegro
, Filippi acquits himself brilliantly in the combinations of double-stops and trills (remember the “Devil’s Trill”) that sound awkwardly placed (an inspection of the scores of these sonatas reveals that they’re even more difficult than they sound—Tartini certainly didn’t prefigure Fritz Kreisler or Henri Wieniawski—as Vivaldi did—in writing ostensibly pyrotechnical passages that nevertheless lie extremely well under the fingers). Tartini studded both the
Affetuoso
and
Menuet
that follow with double-stops that Filippi renders with a gem-like precision. The 15th Sonata begins with a
Grave
to which Filippi manages to lend a plaintive quality despite its very brief duration; the work ends with an
Allegro
that begins with an arpeggiated figure very much like the one in Francesco Maria Veracini’s Sonata in A Major, op. 1/7. Since Tartini admired Veracini’s artistry, might he have been familiar with that work and consciously based this finale on it? The four-movement 14th Sonata, in G Major, again opens with an elegant, moderately paced movement in which the violin accompanies itself. The
Allegro assai
that follows again combines double-stops and trills in a manner that’s at once clever and effective. The self-accompanied
Andante cantabile
contains combinations of notes seemingly placed in very extreme positions
vis à vis
each other. Might the Sonata in A Minor, unnumbered in this series, be the “very last sonata” to which Filippi alludes in his notes? It’s a six-movement affair with an almost 10-minute
Tema con variazioni
constituting its fifth. In other respects, it’s similar to the others, with a liberal use of trills in the fast movements and thematic material that leaps from string to string.
Violinists should be overjoyed to have recordings of these sonatas available (other selections, by Giovanni Guglielmo (No. 1 through No. 12) on Newton 880241; by Emile Tassev (No. 7, No. 16, No. 20, No. 22, No. 23, and No. 25) on Forlane 16825, which I reviewed in
Fanfare
26:1, have included different works from the set, with only one overlap—Sonata No. 4—in Guglielmo and De Filippi—surprisingly, Guglielmo’s set doesn’t seem outstanding; and by Andrea Cappelleti (No. 13, No. 16, No. 21, No. 22, and No. 24 through No. 26) on Koch Schwann 3-112—in
Fanfare
17:4, I noted Cappelletti’s moments of instability. And violinists should all be seeking out the Sonata in A Minor, for its variations movement, which seems less academic and more musical—though even more complex technically, than Tartini’s famous variations on a theme of Corelli. Urgently recommended.
FANFARE: Robert Maxham
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Works on This Recording
1.
Sonate piccole (26) for Violin solo: no 4 in C major by Giuseppe Tartini
Performer:
Luigi de Filippi (Violin)
2.
Sonate piccole (26) for Violin solo: no 15 in G major by Giuseppe Tartini
Performer:
Luigi de Filippi (Violin)
Period: Baroque
Written: Italy
3.
Sonate piccole (26) for Violin solo: no 14 in G major by Giuseppe Tartini
Performer:
Luigi de Filippi (Violin)
Period: Baroque
Written: Italy
4.
Sonate piccole (26) for Violin solo: no 10 in B flat major by Giuseppe Tartini
Performer:
Luigi de Filippi (Violin)
Period: Baroque
Written: Italy
5.
Sonate piccole (26) for Violin solo: no 17 in D major by Giuseppe Tartini
Performer:
Luigi de Filippi (Violin)
Period: Baroque
Written: Italy
6.
Sonata for Violin in A minor, B a3 by Giuseppe Tartini
Performer:
Luigi de Filippi (Violin)
Period: Baroque
Written: by 1760; Italy
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