A manuscript was found in Parma in 1880 with the delightfully sober title Sinfonie di Varij Autori. No grandiose claims, but more than twenty sonatas for the recorder and basso continuo collected by the merchant and musician Paolo Antonio Parensi. Between 1705 and 1725, he kept a close eye on trends in Northern Italy: Corelli and Albinoni, but also Valentini, Sarri and composers we’ve hardly heard of today. Some works have not survived in any other source. Bart Coen and Mario Sarrechia open the time capsule with inquisitive ears and nimble-fingered precision. Adaptations of violin and oboe sonatas alternate with pieces written explicitly for the recorder. And in Fiocco, a Brussels native with Italian flair and French elegance, the story also gets a Belgian twist. Farewell, canon: at last we get to hear the fascinating underwater landscape beneath the tip of the iceberg!
Program
Music by T. Albinoni, A. Corelli, J.H. Fiocco, G. Valentini, D. Sarri and others
Performers
Bart Coen, recorders | Mario Sarrechia, harpsichord