Carlo Mannelli (1640-1697)
Sonates en trio, op. 3

Ensemble Giardino di Delizie

Katarzyna Solecka, violon baroque
Valeria Brunelli, violoncelle baroque
Sofia Ferri, archiluth, théorbe, guitare baroque
Elisabetha Ferri, clavecin, orgue
Ewa Anna Augustynowicz, violon baroque, direction

Ce cahier de douze sonates en trio : C'est tout ce qu'il nous reste, sur plusieurs centaines d'opus, de l'abondante œuvre de Carlo Mannelli (Rome, 1640-Rome, 1697). Castrat soprano, violoniste et compositeur romain, il écrivit un traité de violon, perdu. Son cadet Corelli, que Mannelli a souvent dirigé en tant que chef, le situait parmi « les plus importants professeurs de musique à Rome ». C'était un violoniste éminent dans les palais et églises romains entre 1670 et 1690, avant que Corelli ne le remplace progressivement comme premier violon soliste. Par rapport aux autres compositeurs instrumentistes alors actifs à Rome, il fait figure d'excentrique : L'organisation de ses sonates ne prévoit pas une alternance régulière entre mouvements lents et rapides. Son style est très différent de celui de Corelli, plus « classique ». Là où ce dernier recherche la poétique de la symétrie et de la variété, Mannelli s'attache à l'exploration de l'idiome instrumental. Il cherche à surprendre du point de vue harmonique, avec des mouvements de grande richesse tonale et d'inattendus chromatismes expressifs, ainsi qu'avec des figures rythmiques rapides. Ses compositions semblent soumises à la prédominance des lignes violonistiques. De ces sonates méconnues, la violoniste et directrice artistique Ewa Anna Augustynowicz et l'Ensemble Giardino di Delizie, exclusivement féminin, nous offrent une lecture pleine de fraîcheur, de gaité, de tendresse et de dynamisme. (Marc Galand)

The forgotten art of a 17th-century Roman master, in the hands of a dynamic period ensemble with a string of acclaimed rarity albums to their credit. The Baroque trio-sonata repertoire still yields up plenty of undiscovered treasure lying in libraries across Italy. The Ensemble Giardino di Delizie has been diving into it and coming up with polished gems on Brilliant Classics by Stradella (96079), Colista (96033) and Lonati (95590). Like Colista, Carlo Mannelli (1640-1697) was Roman by birth and training. He sang and played the violin for ensembles at both church and court, and was permitted to dedicate his Op.2 collection to Cardinal Benedetto Pamphilj. Perhaps it was the patronage of this influential family that opened doors to his training with Michelangelo Rossi, and to distinguished musical societies in Rome. Another noble Roman family was the recipient of Mannelli’s Op.3 collection of trio sonatas, with its dedication to Prince Domenico Rospigliosi. Much of the composer’s output is now lost, and we can only surmise at the riches deprived to us by time, given the fresh melodic invention of what survives here. Compared to Stradella and co, Mannelli cuts an eccentric, highly individual figure, musically speaking, and he has no interest in the orderliness of Corelli. The arrangement of slow and fast movements is unpredictable: the four-movement No. 10 begins with three separate Adagios! The six-movement No.9 cuts a sequence of four slow movements in half with a fugue, and so on. Three of the twelve sonatas feature a ravishing aria for the violin, who takes on a soloist’s role. When Mannelli writes quick music, he pushes his musicians to the limits, as in the finale of the First Sonata. Counterpoint is subordinate to the kind of highly elaborate violin writing at which Ewa Anna Augustynowicz has already shown herself to excel in previous albums, making this new recording an essential acquisition for Baroque-music aficionados.