 Giovanni Battista Vitali (1632-1692) fait partie d’une famille de musiciens italiens, dont il est le plus illustre représentant. Né et mort à Bologne, il y fut maître de chapelle de l’église du Saint Rosaire, puis devint vice-maître de chapelle de la cour de Modène. Levons tout de suite une ambiguïté : la célèbre Chaconne dite « de Vitali » est un faux (tout comme le soi-disant Adagio « d’Albinoni »). Attachons-nous plutôt à ces Sonates de Vitali auxquelles l’ensemble Italico Splendore consacre ces deux CDs séparés. Comme le titre l’indique, les Sonates de l’op. 5 sont d’une grande variété d’instrumentation : à 2, 3, 4 ou à 5. De plus, elles utilisent des mouvements de danses (dont celui de la chaconne - mais ici, authentique !) qui les rendent plaisantes. Les Sonates de l’op. 11 sont tantôt des Suites, tantôt à la manière française (bien que sans Ouvertures), tantôt à la manière italienne. Les interprètes, autour du premier violon Claudio Andriani, sont tous de premier plan. A leur écoute, on comprend que la recherche musicologique dont ils se réclament ne reste pas lettre morte mais est mise au service des œuvres et pour le plaisir des auditeurs. (Jean-Paul Lécot) The city of Modena, under the rule of the Este family,was the capital of the Dukedom of Modena e Reggio.Thanks to Duke Francesco ii’s fondness for the violin, music became an essential element in the most important events at the Este court, such as receptions, weddings and official visits of foreign sovereigns.These were the occasions in which the Duke displayed all his magnificence. Modena stands out for the abundance of its collection of musical documents in the Biblioteca Estense: the library is a real mine, largely unexplored so far.This consideration gave rise to the idea of making this beautiful, extraordinarily modern music available to those who are “pursuing” culture and art. So our goal is to promote a rediscovery of the enormous heritage preserved in the Biblioteca Estense, by carrying out a meticulous study of the sources of the works of the composers who were active at the Este Court in Modena, transcribing them into modern notation and critical editions, and producing monographic recordings of them.The first step consisted in the study and recording of the instrumental works of Giovanni BattistaVitali. In this third of 6 CDs dedicated to his music preserved at the Estense Library of Modena, the baroque group Italico Splendore performs the Sonatas op. 5.The title of each of the sonatas is the surname of a well-known aristocratic family of the area of Modena: this wasVitali’s explicit homage to the circles in which he was working. Each sonata is different inits affect and style: the musical material is complex and diversified, almost as if it were actually personalised: this seems to suggest that there is a deliberate correspondence between the individual pieces and the people to whom they were dedicated.
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