Hollandse Meesters uit de 18e eeuw

In this try-out concert for a live CD recording, La Sfera Armoniosa plays concertos by Henricus Albicastro. Mike Fentross' Dutch baroque orchestra has been working on the 'Dutch Masters of the 18th century' series since 2019, and Dutch master number four, Henricus Albicastro, is now on the bill. Two years ago, La Sfera played a try-out concert featuring van Wassenaer's concertos at Splendor. This CD was nominated for an Edison this year. Previous CDs in the series with works by Willem de Fesch (Alkmaar), Pieter Hellendaal (Rotterdam) and Count Unico van Wassenaer (The Hague) have already received high praise in the national and international press. quotes: -A new innovative recording of Van Wassenaar's delectable Concerti Armonici is finally here. Mike Fentross's scintillating live performance of La Sfera Armoniosa proves that the big picture and the thrill of the moment, endless scraping and resuming can transcend. Edison jury report 2024 -La Sfera Armoniosa under the direction of Mike Fentross conveys the contrasting affects of the music of Pieter Hellendaal with expressive warmth and stylistic assurance. BBC music magazine 2022 -Pieter Hellendaal, Six Grand Concertos Op. 3", by La Sfera Armoniosa, on the Challenge Classics label. Sublime! Stretto 2022 -Several of the De Fesch concertos featured here have been recorded in the past, but performances of this calibre make a valuable gesture towards redressing undeserved neglect.... Classical-music.com 2021 Albicastro was born at Pappenheim more than 350 years ago. We adopt him as a Dutch master because his musical career took place in the Netherlands. At the age of 21 (1681), Albicastro moves to Leiden, where he is enrolled at the university as Musicus Academiae (music teacher). There he was put in charge of the Leiden Collegium Musicum. Albicastro had a great reputation as a virtuoso violinist and composer; Quantz mentions him in the same breath as Biber and Walther. His music, violin sonatas, trio sonatas and concerti grossi, is published in Amsterdam by the renowned publisher Estienne Roger. Albicastro's music career lasted 25 years. The '12 Concertos Opus 7', published in 1704 with Roger in Amsterdam are one of his last compositions and the only ones for orchestra. Albicastro's Concertos for string orchestra show great originality, virtuosity and craftsmanship. In 1706, the 46-year-old Albicastro chose a career as a soldier and for the rest of his life, unfortunately, he would not put a note of music on paper. In 1730, he died in Maastricht at the age of 70. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Line up ENG:
Violin 1 Cecilia Bernardini, Tomoe Badiarova, Ivan Liev Violin 2 Josef Tan, Luca Alfonso Rizzello, Emma Williams Viola Esther van der Eijk, Bernadette Verhagen Cello Octavie Dostaler Lalonde, Evan Buttar Contrabas Severiano Paoli Harpsichord Teun Braken Theorbo Mike Fentross