Search - Legrenzi, Escher, Lane :: Venice Before Vivaldi

One of the best of its kind.

Andres Sender | N. CA, USA | 12/08/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a truly fine CD of 17th century music, mostly violin sonatas with a few dances and cantatas interspersed, it's great to see it back at Amazon. Giovanni Legrenzi is a name one doesn't run into often but which deserves a great deal more attention. His music is rich and well-developed, full of drama and emotional depth--in that regard not unlike other Venetian music of the period, although the quality is especially high. This very lyrical music ranges from the sprightly to the contemplative, from dark to light, but always with elegance of gesture and completeness of thought. The style is earlier than Vivaldi of course, so a comparison is one of apples to oranges, but Legrenzi has a wider expressive range and sustains repeated listenings better even than Fabio Biondi's energetic Vivaldi recordings, and it is tempting to look for the seeds for much of Vivaldi in the music of Legrenzi.This wonderful music is very well served by the performance of El Mundo. The textures are clear, the tone rich and varied. The phrasing is highly expressive without being at all self-indulgent, and the rhythms both fast and slow lilt and carry you along. The music is presented clearly without losing its subtleties, unlike the sort of glossed-over 'pop' period performances often hyped by the big CD sellers. In fact, it is the layered attention to subtlety, variation and style which crowns this performance and earns it a place among the best in the field.Both in terms of the music and the performance this is an especially worthwhile period CD. I hope that even at this late date it can gain the audience and the recognition it deserves, and perhaps we can then be blessed with a sequel. If you like period performances of baroque music or are looking for an introduction to them, buy this cd!"