6 Flute Quartets

Op.23

Gabriele Formenti flute

Ensemble Il Demetrio

Paisiello

GIOVANNI PAISIELLO – 6 Flute Quartets Op.23In writing a concert program or the cover notes for a CD one usually focuses, for concision’s sake on the historical and musical aspects of the pieces performed and on their main and most relevant technical and structural characteristics. Much less common is indeed the reference to the strictly performing aspects which, for a specific repertoire such as this, may vary significantly from the current one. Even more unusual is to refer to the economic and social context in which a certain musical genre is nurtured and favourably received.

The repertoire we present here is particularly representative of this aspect, as towards the end of 1700s and the beginning of 1800s Europe witnessed the growth and diffusion of new musical habits, especially as regards chamber music. These were favoured by the increasing role of a growing category of music followers belonging to the bourgeois middle class, therefore with the help of socio-economic factors.

The appearance and growth of a new clerical and entrepreneurial class was in fact characterized by the appearance of a new public free to devote time to music and arts, with modalities and needs quite different from those of the aristocrats, up to them sole users of arts.

Undoubtedly Paisiello played a fundamental role in the change from mostly aristocratic to mostly middle class customers. He was initially mostly active in composing for the aristocrats (let us think for example of his relationship with Ferdinando of Borbone in Naples and the time spent in Saint Petersbourg at the court of Catherine of Russia) but also favourite and never forgotten composer for the first important “burgeois” in history, Napoleon.

It is exactly the relationship between Paisiello and the French general, lasting even after the composer left Paris to return to Naples, which appears to be the best explanation of the new climate for music customers establishing itself in both Paris and Continental Europe after 1789.

It is indeed within the context of this change that we must frame the amateurial interest for performances of small musical ensembles, with one of the instruments

GIOVANNI PAISIELLO 1740-18166 Flute Quartets Op.23

No.1 in C R E.091. I. Allegro moderato 6’012. II. Minuetto 2’51

No.2 in D R E.06 3. I. Andante poco adagio 3’094. II. Rondo (Allegretto) 3’56

No.3 in E minor R E.10 5. I. Allegro spirituoso 6’466. II. Minuetto 2’10

No.4 in G R E.08 7. I. Poco Adagio 3’058. II. Rondo (Allegro moderato) 6’06

No.5 in G R E.07 9. I. Andante 2’1710. II. Rondo 5’12

No.6 in G R E.11 11. I. Allegro 8’52

Recording: 25-26 July 2015, Bartok Studio, Bernareggio, ItalyProducer: Raffaele Cacciola (Bartok Studio)Sound recording: Federico CaldaraA= 430 HertzCover: Girl lost in contemplation of an image of the Virgin 1853, by Georg Waldmüller (1793–1865)p & © 2017 Brilliant Classics

Ensemble Il DemetrioGabriele Formenti flute G. Tardino, copy after A. Grenser, 6-keyed flute, ca.1763Elisa Bestetti violin Italian anonymous violin, second half of the 18th centuryMaurizio Schiavo viola E. Gorr, Cremona - copy after G. P. Maggini viola, ca.1610Antonio Papetti cello French anonymous cello, first half of the 19th century

usually in the role of soloist or protagonist, and quite often also as the sponsor of the piece itself. In the period we are discussing, defined not without some enforcement “classic”, the most common and popular chamber ensemble amongst the ranks of amateurs was indeed the string quartet (2 violins, 1 viola, 1 cello), ensemble which within a few decades moved from aristocratic circles to amateur circles, whereby the term amateur is used explicitly to mean people who play music for the love of it and not in any way meant as a derogatory term.

The string quartet in the latter decades of 1700 has in itself been the subject of several specialist studies which have reaffirmed what was in part already known, i.e. he huge contribution made to this musical repertoire by Italian composers, living temporarily or permanently abroad. Amongst these Boccherini in Madrid, with a record number of 91 string quartets Giuseppe Maria Cambini in Paris, with approximately 55, Viotti first in Paris and subsequently in London with 18 quartets written between 1783 and 1785. and yet separate consideration should be given to Pietro Nardini who returnd early form his position at the court in Stoccarda, to move to Florence and establish himself permanently in the orchestra of the Archiduke (6 quartets) and so on.

Therefore it is “on the map of Europe that we should trace the route and successes of the Italian quartet at the time of Mozart” (Garnier – Panafieu) and more generally of Italian instrumental music of the time. But this position seems to rely too much on the fact that publishing of these pieces is as a rule obtained abroad. However few people consider that in Italy musical printing in the second half of 1700 was more or less non-existent. Up to the appearance of Ricordi in 1808 in fact, most of the music was copied by hand and research in libraries does indeed yield and enormous treasure of the kind.

We must moreover consider certain phenomena underlying the success of other instruments besides strings. the Dizionario by Lichtental (1826), a fundamental instrument in assessing the Italian taste in music of the previous era reports for instance under the heading “flauto” the following testimonial “the flute differs in extension, variety and richness of its accents. Besides having much energy, it results

also very pleasant, whenever it attempts to imitate the singing human voice in its middle tones and does not modulate excessively the highest and lowest tones of the range” such a description appeared indeed an ideal one to lead us into the repertoire which is the subject of the present recording. The connotation “very pleasant” could in fact open the subject of how the flute was welcomed into Italian “good society”, which occurred approximately in the late 700’s, adoption which placed it immediately in a much higher position than any other wind instrument and led it to a much wider success than could possibly be expected. And Naples appears to be all but marginal to this phaenomenon.

If one abandons printed sources and turns one’s attention to musical archives and libraries, there are many happy surprises in that area. this is what is emerging thanks to the library and archive findings in the last few years, as shown for instance by the collection of flute music from the 700’s of the Ricardi di Negro family in Udine, that of Luigi Leopardi (Giacomo’s brother) in Recanati, the to the Sermolli brothers’ (Antonio and Vincenzo) in Montecatini and so on. And we could go on speaking of the flute music production within the professional musical and amateurial circle surrounding the Lorena’s court in Florence, where many a flutist and composer of flute music (for instance Nikolaus Delius) were active and busily productive with a yield which has been accurately studied in the past few years. But Naples appears to play a no less significant role.

As far as we can tell Paisiello’s flute quartets were written in Naples in 1800, as were Cimarosa’s more or less at the same time. Equally from Naples in the same period were the quartets in 1813 (same year as the famous flute concerto) this Neapolitan flute production entices us to look upon the production of musical instruments taking place in the partenopean capital, thus disclosing that in the gulf capital traverse flutes of particular value and complexity were produced. Proof of it may be the fact that Giovan Battista Orazi (d. 1804) Neapolitan flutist and amateur publisher in 1797 an essay “saggio per costruire e suonare un flauto travesrso enarmonico che ha I tuoni bassi del violino” One of his instruments passed on upon

GIOVANNI PAISIELLO – 6 Quartetti per Flauto Op.23Nel redigere un programma di sala o le note di copertina di un disco ci si concentra normalmente, per concisione, sulle notizie storico-musicali relative ai brani eseguiti e sulle principali caratteristiche compositive e tecniche degli stessi. Meno frequente è il riferimento alle modalità esecutive che, per un certo repertorio del passato, possono divergere anche notevolmente da quelle attuali; altrettanto inusuale, se non più raro, è il riferimento al contesto sociale ed economico in cui un certo genere musicale del passato trovò linfa e favorevole accoglienza. Il repertorio qui eseguito è particolarmente rappresentativo al riguardo in quanto, a cavallo tra Sette e Ottocento si diffusero in Europa nuove consuetudini musicali, in particolare nel repertorio da camera, favorite dal crescente ruolo assunto da un nuovo genere di appassionati appartenenti al ceto ascendente della borghesia, e dunque col favore anche di fattori socio-economici. L’emergere di una nuova classe impiegatizia e imprenditoriale fu infatti caratterizzato dalla formazione di un nuovo pubblico dotato di tempo libero da dedicare alla musica e alle arti, con modalità ed esigenze differenziate, ma di solito alternative a quelle fino ad allora rappresentate dalla classe aristocratica. Riguardo al passaggio tra la committenza musicale aristocratica e quella borghese mi pare utile ricordare proprio il ruolo avuto da Paisiello, musicista inizialmente e principalmente attivo al servizio dell’aristocrazia (basti pensare ai rapporti con Ferdinando di Borbone a Napoli e al periodo speso a San Pietroburgo da Caterina di Russia), ma anche compositore prediletto e mai dimenticato del primo grande ‘borghese’ della storia, ossia Napoleone. Anzi proprio i rapporti tra Paisiello e il generale francese, anche dopo il definitivo abbandono di Parigi e il ritorno a Napoli del compositore, paiono il contesto più favorevole per intendere il mutato clima di committenza musicale che si venne a creare, nella capitale francese e nel resto dell’Europa continentale dopo il 1789. E’ nell’ambito di tale cambiamento che va infatti inquadrato l’interesse amatoriale per l’esecuzione in piccoli complessi di strumenti musicali, uno dei quali sovente con ruolo di solista o di protagonista, e non di rado anche di committente del brano eseguito. Nel periodo in oggetto, che non senza

his death to another passionate Neapolitan amateur Anania De Luca enticed him to carry out experiments on the construction of basso flutes and contact two of the most important local producers about them, Cristofaro Custode and Andrea Venbacher (Barbieri 1999). But this is not the last or the least of coincidences: such experimental activity in building a bass flute occurred in Naples in 1814-1815, roughly at the same time as Mercadante was writing his quartets and his concert. But the list of Neapolitan manufacturers of musical instruments of the time could not be considered complete without quoting Giovanni Panormo, about whom more biographic details have recently come to light, as well as his son and grandchild who continued his production well into the 800’s (Nocerino 2009).

In summary, even in Italy transverse flute gained since the beginning pf the 800’s a consideration comparable to harp, piano and later guitar and mandolin amongst the instruments preferred in turn by the most successful social class, the bourgeoisie, as the target of amateur musical entertainment, after having been popular with the aristocracy. however as we are convinced that most of the production of instrumental scores by the Italian great masters was composed mostly abroad or for the foreign market, we should perhaps revise this opinion. And Naples, as usual should be held in higher consideration.

This is all the more likely ever since, as it recently happened, we began to become better acquainted with the production of flute music in Naples thanks to highly qualified research (Tommaso Rossi d’Avena Braga) currently limited to the second half of the 700’s, but we soon will see this to be true also for the immediately subsequent decades.© Dr. Renato Meucci (professor of music history – Conservatorio “G. Cantelli”, Novara)Translation: Anna Maria Colli

modula troppo ne’ suoni molto acuti o molto gravi”. Una tale descrizione sembra ideale per trasportarci nell’ambito del repertorio qui oggetto di registrazione. La connotazione ‘molto aggradevole’ potrebbe infatti aprire il discorso riguardo all’accoglienza del flauto nella buona società italiana, avvenuta più o meno nel tardo ‘700, adozione che lo collocò in una posizione più elevata rispetto a qualsiasi altro strumento a fiato e che conobbe un successo davvero superiore a quanto ci si potrebbe aspettare. E Napoli non sembra essere affatto marginale rispetto al fenomeno. Se si abbandonano le fonti a stampa e si passa agli archivi e biblioteche musicali, le sorprese al riguardo non sono poche. E’ quanto sta affiorando grazie alle ricognizioni archivistiche e bibliografiche effettuate in questi ultimi anni, come dimostrano ad esempio il fondo di musiche flautistiche settecentesche della famiglia Ricardi di Negro di Udine; quello di Luigi Leopardi, fratello di Giacomo, a Recanati; quello appartenuto ai due fratelli Antonio e Vincenzo Sermolli a Montecatini, e così via. Per non parlare della produzione flautistica nella cerchia musicale, professionale e amatoriale che attorniava la corte lorenese a Firenze, presso la quale erano attivi flautisti e strumentisti a fiato la cui produzione è stata accuratamente studiata negli anni passati (in particolare da Nikolaus Delius). Ma Napoli non sembra essere da meno. A quanto pare i quartetti con flauto di Paisiello furono scritti proprio a Napoli nel 1800, quelli di Cimarosa più o meno nello stesso periodo sempre a Napoli, come pure quelli di Mercadante del 1813 (stesso anno del celebre concerto per tale strumento). Questa produzione flautistica napoletana spinge allora a gettare uno sguardo anche alla produzione degli strumenti musicali nel capoluogo partenopeo, rivelando così che nelle grande città del golfo si realizzavano flauti traversi di pregio e anche di particolare complessità. Ne è prova il fatto che Giovanni Battista Orazi (m. 1804), flautista e amatore napoletano, pubblicò nel 1797 un Saggio per costruire e suonare un flauto traverso enarmonico che ha i tuoni bassi del violino. Un suo strumento, passato in eredità alla sua morte a un altro appassionato napoletano, Anania De Luca, spinse quest’ultimo a svolgere a sua volta esperimenti sulla costruzione di un flauto ‘basso’ e a contattare al riguardo due dei principali

forzatura viene definito ‘classico’, il complesso cameristico più in voga tra la nuova schiera di amatori divenne certamente il quartetto d’archi (2 violini, viola, violoncello), complesso che nel giro di qualche decennio passò dall’ambito musicale aristocratico a quello dei dilettanti borghesi (e qui ‘dilettanti’ – sia detto esplicitamente – va inteso come musicisti ‘per diletto’, di certo non nell’altra accezione del termine). Lo stesso quartetto d’archi, nell’ultima parte del Settecento, è stato recentemente oggetto di alcuni studi specialistici che hanno ribadito un dato in parte già noto, ossia il consistente contributo fornito a tale repertorio da compositori italiani, parzialmente o temporaneamente attivi all’estero. Tra questi innanzitutto Boccherini a Madrid, con il primato di ben 91 quartetti ad arco; Giuseppe Maria Cambini a Parigi, con circa 55; Viotti prima a Parigi e poi a Londra, con 18 quartetti scritti tra 1783 e 1785. E un discorso a parte meriterebbe Pietro Nardini che rientrò per tempo in Italia (nel 1766) dal suo posto presso la corte di Stoccarda, per stabilirsi poi a Firenze e insediarsi durevolmente nell’orchestra granducale (6 quartetti). E la lista potrebbe ovviamente continuare. Dunque è “sulla carta d’Europa che bisognerebbe seguire i percorsi e i successi del quartetto italiano all’epoca di Mozart” (Garnier-Panafieu) e, più in generale, della musica strumentale italiana della stessa epoca. Ma questa posizione sembra fidarsi troppo del fatto che le pubblicazioni di questi brani sono di norma effettuate all’estero. Tuttavia pochi tengono in considerazione che in Italia la stampa musicale nel secondo Settecento risulta pressoché inesistente, giacché fino all’avvento di Ricordi (1808) la musica qui si copiava a mano, e dunque bisognerebbe cercare nelle biblioteche, dove infatti si trova un immenso patrimonio al riguardo. Va inoltre tenuto conto di certi fenomeni di costume alla base del successo di qualche altro strumento e non solo degli archi. Il Dizionario (1826) di Lichtenthal, un’opera fondamentale per l’analisi del gusto musicale italiano dell’epoca precedente, riporta ad esempio alla voce “flauto” la seguente testimonianza: “Il Flauto si distingue per l’estensione, per la ricchezza e varietà de’ suoi suoni ed accenti. Oltre che ha molto brio, riesce anco molto aggradevole, allorché cerca di imitare il Canto della voce umana ne’ suoni medj, e non

Founded in Pavia by Maurizio Schiavo, Il Demetrio is an acclaimed ensemble specializing in baroque music played on original instruments. Its research into forgotten scores of the Italian repertoire has led to numerous important rediscoveries and memorable performances. These include the opera Il Demetrio by J. Myslivecek; the Dixit Dominus, for soloists, choir and orchestra and the Tantum ergo, for bass, viola concertante and orchestra by A. Rolla; Tre composizioni per la Settimana Santa (Adoramus te, Miserere and Christus factus est) for choir and string orchestra by A. Cagnoni. Il Demetrio’s repertoire also comprises more recent works, an interest that has given rise to some unusual concert programs: for example, Paesaggi sonori, a collection of scores for silent films by F. Vittadini, the composer and conductor born in Pavia; and Lennon barocco, a baroque rendering of some of John Lennon’s most famous hits.

Gabriele Formenti was born in Milan in 1978. He graduated in modern flute at the “G. Verdi” Conservatoire of Milan and then cum laude in baroque and classical flute with Marcello Gatti at the “A. Pedrollo” Conservatorie of Vicenza. He also attended masterclass with Barthold Kuijken, and, for many years, at Urbino Musica Antica summer courses in the class of Kate Clark. He worked with Accademia Montis Regalis, Orchestra Sinfonica dell’Università degli Studi di Milano, il Bell’Accordo ensemble. Today he’s an active member of Ensemble Il Demetrio. In 1994 he was awarded first prize in national flute competition “Endas Lombardia”. Formenti took an arts degree, obtaining a BA in History of Music with a thesis on works for flute by Pietro Nardini. Formenti

costruttori locali dell’epoca, Cristofaro Custode e Andrea Venbacher (Barbieri 1999). Ma le coincidenze non finiscono qui: tale attività sperimentale per costruire un flauto basso si svolgeva a Napoli nel 1814-15, all’incirca nello stesso periodo in cui Mercadante scriveva i suoi quartetti e il suo concerto. Ma la menzione dei costruttori napoletani di quest’epoca non potrebbe dirsi completa senza citare Giovanni Panormo, sul quale sappiamo ora molti maggiori dettagli biografici, come pure sull’attività del figlio e del nipote che continuarono la sua produzione durante il primo periodo dell’Ottocento (Nocerino 2009). Il flauto traverso insomma anche in Italia conquistò già nel primo Ottocento una considerazione che lo pose accanto all’arpa, al pianoforte, e più tardi alla chitarra e al mandolino tra gli strumenti di volta in volta preferiti dal ceto sociale di maggior successo, quello borghese, come occupazione di qualificato diletto musicale, dopo essere stato per qualche tempo in auge presso la società aristocratica. Tuttavia, convinti come spesso siamo nel riconoscere che la produzione strumentale dei grandi maestri italiani si svolse prevalentemente all’estero o per l’estero, dovremmo forse un poco ricrederci. E Napoli forse, e come sempre, andrà rivalutata.

Ciò è tanto più probabile da quando, come è avvenuto di recente, si è cominciato a conoscere meglio la produzione flautistica napoletana grazie a studi altamente qualificati (Tommaso Rossi, d’Avena Braga), per il momento limitati al secondo Settecento, ma ben presto vedremo che lo stesso vale per l’epoca di poco successiva. © Dr. Renato Meucci (professore di Storia della Musica – Conservatorio “G. Cantelli”, Novara)

Born in 1977, Elisa Bestetti took a Diploma in violin in 1999 at the G. Verdi Conservatoire in Como, where she studied under Silvio Moscatelli, later specializing with Osvaldo Scilla.

In 2005 she obtained a further diploma in baroque and classic violin at the Accademia Internazionale delle Musica in Milan, where she studied under Stefano Montanari. Further courses and master classes were to follow, with Stanley Ritchie at Indiana University in the USA, and with Enrico Onofri.

Since 2001 her career as a concert performer has gone from strength to strength. She has played with orchestras such as Concerto Italiano, Accademia Bizantina, Academia Montis Regalis, Zefiro, Divino Sospiro, LaBarocca, Ensemble Elyma, La Risonanza, Il Complesso Barocco, Concerto de’ Cavalieri, Silete

Venti, Il Tempio Armonico, both as soloist and as principal violin in concert seasons throughout Italy, Europe and America. Among the venues in which she has performed are the Lincoln Center in New York, the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris, the Teatro Nacionál in Madrid, Hagia Eirene in Istanbul, the Ambronay Festival, the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, Teatro de la Ciudad de Mexico, and the Chan Center in Vancouver. The conductors she has worked with include J. Savall, O. Dantone, R. Alessandrini, A. De Marchi, S. Montanari, A. Bernardini, G. Garrido, B. Kujiken, E. Onofri and S. Ritchie.

Since 2007 she has been working closely with the Orquestra Divino Sospiro of Lisbon, also as a soloist. In 2008 she began performing with Concerto Italiano as principal second violin in performances at the Lincoln Center in New York, and in recordings. In 2009 she became a member of LaBarocca, performing as a soloist and playing the concertino part in the first violins. Since 2012 she has also been working with Accademia Bizantina.

has published a novel “Il Fortepiano di Federico”, about the Court of Frederick The Great of Prussia and C.P.E. Bach (Florestano Editore). In 2017 he will be published his second novel “Il violino noir” (Bibliotheka Edizioni) about Leclair and his Stradivari violin. He has recorded for Bottega Discantica (P. Nardini, Six Triosonatas for two German Flutes) and for Brilliant Classics (C. Tessarini, Sonatas for Flute).

Maurizio Schiavo first studied the violin with G. Adamo in Ferrara, his hometown. After graduating with full marks under the guidance of S. Cicero, he studied baroque violin with E. Gatti, baroque viola and viola d’amore with M. Righini, composition with E. Sollima and with N. Castiglioni at the Milan Conservatoire, where he also specialized in orchestral conducting with G. Taverna and opera conducting with U. Cattini. Founder of Il Demetrio, he performs baroque and classical repertoires with the ensemble, both as conductor and soloist. In addition, Maurizio Schiavo is involved in music research, having edited and performed works by B. M. Meda, A. Draghi, F. Corselli, J. A. Hasse, J. Myslivecek, G. B. Fioroni, A. Cagnoni and A. Rolla. He has also taken part in other recordings,

both as instrumentalist and conductor, including the first recording of the Arie per soprano e orchestra (Il Quaderno dell’Imperatrice) by Farinelli and the Mottetti per alto e archi by J. A. Hasse, both of which he conducted.

Maurizio Schiavo was artistic director of Armonie sul lago, a festival devoted to the rediscovery of Italian eighteenth century sacred and profane music.

Cellist Antonio Papetti gained experience in chamber ensembles playing regularly with the string quartet of the “Guido d’Arezzo” association. He has also worked with various groups such as La.Ri.S Ensemble (Laboratorio per la RIcerca sul Suono) in Milan, taking part in numerous recordings of theatrical events at the Teatro dei Filodrammatici in Milan. He has also worked with the Carlo Colla e Figli traditional puppet company, taking part in the 1995 Berliner Festwochen.

He has played with many chamber orchestras, and instrumentalists of widespread fame such as Uto Ughi, Augustin Dumay, Vladimir Spivakov, Stefano Montanari, Shlomo Mintz, Mischa Maisky, Jiang Wang, Pieter Wispelwei, Alban Gerhardt, Andrea Lucchesini, Joyce DiDonato and Marijana Mijanovic.

Alongside these activities he has performed with various opera and symphony orchestras, including the Orchestra Guido Cantelli of Milan, Orchestra Stabile di Bergamo, Camerata Ducale chamber orchestra of Vercelli, Milano Classica and the Orchestra of the Pomeriggi Musicali of Milan. He also plays with ensembles such as Il Complesso Barocco of Naples, L’ Aura Soave of Cremona, Il Canto Di Orfeo and La Venexiana of Milan, ”Accademia Legrenziana” of Bergamo.

In 1994 he founded the Ensemble della Basilica Autarena, and since then has performed in a great number of concerts with acclaimed Italian specialists in early music.

He has played in many of the world’s most famous theatres and concert halls, such as Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Teatro Nacional (the main theatre in Madrid is called the Teatro Real; in Madrid there’s an Orquestra Nacional) in Madrid, Megaron in Athens, Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo, the Konzerthaus in Berlin and the Opera House in Oslo. He has made many recordings with various ensembles for the Deutsche Grammophon, Velut luna, Brilliant and Frequenz labels.

Elisa has taken part in numerous recordings for labels such as Deutsche Grammophon, Archiv, Naïve, Opus 111, Sony Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Alpha, ORF, Hyperion, Brilliant Classics, AEON, Dynamic, Stradivarius, Amadeus, La Bottega Discantica.

Moreover, she has also been involved in the publication of scores for Carisch in Milan, directing the critical edition of unpublished manuscripts of trio sonatas for two violins and basso continuo from the baroque to the galant/pre-classical age.