Marcin Mielczewski (?1590-1651)
Canzon Seconda a 2 Canzon Prima a 2

Kaspar Foerster (1616-1673)
La Sidon, Sonate a 3 en fa majeur pour 2 violons, viole de gambe et basse continue
Sonata a 3 en do mineur, pour 2 violons, dulcian et basse continue
Sonata a 3 en sol majeur pour 2 violons, viole de gambe et basse continue
La Pazza, Sonate a 3 en ré mineur pour 2 violons, viole de gambe et basse continue
Sonate a 3 en do mineur pour 2 violons, violone et basse continue
Sonata a 3 en si majeur pour 2 violons, viole de gambe et basse continue

Mikolaj Zielenski (1560-1620)
Communiones totius anni-Fantazja III pour 2 violons, dulcian et orgue
Communiones totius anni, Fantazja II pour 2 violons et orgue

Adam Jarzebski (1590-1649)
Chromatica-Concerto a 3
Cantate Domino-Concerto a 2
Berlinesa-Concerto a 3
Tamburetta-Concerto a 3

Stanislaw Sylwester Szarzynski (1650-1713)
Sonata en ré majeur pour 2 violons et basse pour orgue

Ensemble Giardino di Delizie

Ewa Anna Augustynowicz, violon baroque
Katarzyna Solecka, violon baroque
Cristina Vidoni, violoncelle baroque
Silvia de Maria, viole de gambe
Paola Ventrella, théorbe
Elisabetta Ferri, clavecin, orgue

Elena Bianchi, dulcian
Fabrizio Carta, théorbe
Amalia Ottone, viole de gambe
Marco Contessi, violone

Contrairement au disque homonyme paru il y a quelques années chez Dorian (Jewels of Polish baroque) qui offrait une sélection de musique vocale, celui-ci est purement instrumental. On y retrouve les mêmes compositeurs complétés de noms tout aussi représentatifs du style baroque en Pologne au 17ème siècle. L'allemand Kaspar Foerster (1616-1673) fait ici figure d'intrus car né à Dantzig il fit un bref passage en Pologne à la Chapelle Royale de Varsovie. Il signe six fort belles Sonates en trio d'inspiration italienne pour douçaine ou viole de gambe, deux violons et orgue. Mikolaj Zielenski (1560-1560) fut semble-t-il le premier musicien à publier sa musique (surtout religieuse) en Italie. Ses deux Fantaisies empreintes de gravité contrastent avec la volubilité italianisante des pages d'Adam Jarzebski (1590-1649). Confrère de ce dernier (ils travaillèrent tous deux sous le règne des Vasa, Wladislaw et Zygmund), Marcin Mielczewski (1600-1651) est représenté par deux Canzone d'une polyphonie délicate et austère. Stanislaw Sylwerster Szarzynski (1650-1713) quant à lui est ici représenté par sa seule composition connue : une Sonate d'une belle éloquence pour le cistercien qu'il fut. Les six jeunes femmes de l'ensemble Giardino di Delizie portent cette musique avec véhémence et conviction. (Jérôme Angouillant)

Vibrant chamber music by little-known 17th-century composers including world-premiere recordings. Italy was a reference point for the cultural élite of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which looked to Venice for its republican system, and to Rome for its Christian heritage. Seventeenth-century Polish singers, players and composers soon adopted Italian manners, both at home and abroad, and many courts established Polish-Italian ensembles, to which the all-female Ensemble Giardino di Delizie is a unique modern counterpart. Mikolaj Zielenski was the first Polish composer to publish his works in Italy: a huge collection of sacred works originating from Venice in 1611 and including a pair of instrumental fantasias featured on this album. Adam Jarzebsky (1590-1649) was another cosmopolitan figure, a violinist who worked in royal courts in Germany and Italy and whose music naturally absorbs the idioms of his adopted countries. Marcin Mielczewski (c. 1651) was a colleague of Jarzebsky’s at the royal Polish court under the period of Swedish occupation, and Kaspar Förster (1616-1673) studied under Carissimi in Rome before returning to Warsaw and then to Danzig, the city of his birth; his Italianate compositions include the trio sonatas which here receive their first recordings. The musicians of Ensemble Giardino di Delizie aspire to the Baroque aesthetic of ‘saper ben parlare per ben suonare’; thus they take their cue from their fluency in both Polish and Italian, and a phonetic analysis of each language, in order to inflect their interpretations. Full of both suave, Corellian phrasing and lively Polish rhythms, their performances are unfailingly intense and exciting. Founded in 2014 by the violinist Ewa Anna Augustynowicz, the ensemble is joined here by a quartet of guests: Elena Bianchi (dulcian), Fabrizio Carta (theorbo), Amalia Ottone (viola da gamba) and Marco Contessi (violone). The Ensemble Giardino di Delizie made its debut on Brilliant Classics with trio sonatas by Carlo Ambogio Lonati. The album met with an enthusiastic response from the critics: ‘The performance sounds completely natural, full of spontaneity and bursting energy… An album of real discovery, then, superbly played and well recorded, in a close yet resonant sound well suited to the interpretation.’ (The Classic Review) ‘There’s a fluidity in the ensemble’s playing that makes Lonati’s music sparkle… Violinists Ewa Anna Augustynowicz and Katarzyna Solecka play with equal skill, letting the listener enjoy the exchange between them… A delightful listening experience from beginning to end.’ (WTJU.fm)