Juilliard415 Performs Handel, Manfredini, Fontana and Vivaldi

I attended what was for me the last musical event of 2016 on Tuesday when I visited  Holy Trinity Church on Central Park West to hear the Juilliard415 perform the second of its four annual recitals at that location.  The ensemble has this term been focusing on the Baroque music of Italy and the program accordingly included works by Handel, Manfredini, Fontana and Vivaldi.  If the inclusion of Handel appears at first incongruous, it should be remembered that the composer, though he was born in Germany and spent most of his life in England, received his early training in Italy and there achieved his first major successes. 

The recital began with Handel's Sonata in B minor, HWV 386b, Op. 2, No. 1 (1727).  The music publishing industry in the early eighteenth century operated with much less propriety than today.  Copyrights were, of course, nonexistent at the time and pirated editions the norm.  Handel's Op. 2 actually was a compilation of works from early in the composer's career that were already decades old when published without the composer's knowledge or authorization by John Walsh.  The works were deservedly popular and far more sophisticated than most of the music then offered to the public.  The present piece was written for two treble instruments, here played by the unusual combination of flute and oboe, together with continuo, cello and harpsichord.  As the program notes by Katarzyna Klukzykowska point out, the largo contains a quote from the aria Crede l'uom ch'egli riposi taken from Handel's first oratorio Time and Disillusionment (1707).

The next two works - the Op. 2, Nos. 3 and 8 - were by Francesco Manfredini and were taken from his 1709 Sinfonia da chiesa.  Manfredini was born in Pistoria, studied violin under Giuseppe Torelli in Bologna and then spent time in the court of Monaco before finally returning the Pistoria where he spent the remainder of his life.  Much of his work, including all his ecclesiastical compositions, have been lost but what remains shows him to have been a talented composer.  The Op. 2, Sinfonia da chiesa, was a followup of sorts to his Concertini per camera, Op. 1, a collection of twelve chamber sonatas. The selections performed here were both arranged for two violins, viola, cello, harpsichord and bass.

Next came a work entitled Sonata nona (1641) by Giovanni Battista Fontana.  Little is known of Fontana's life and, aside from eighteen sonatas of which the present piece is one, all his work has been lost.  The sonatas that survived were published posthumously, and the preface to them indicates that the composer had been highly regarded by his contemporaries.  The short Sonata nona was performed on violin, dulcian and theorbo.

The program then returned to Handel for a selection of movements taken from his trio sonatas, Opp. 2 and 5.  These consisted of an andante & allegro, an adagio, a march, an andante and finally closed with a passacaille.  Fiona Last wrote in the program notes that the medley represented an attempt by the ensemble to break with the usual slow-fast-slow-fast progression of movements typical of Baroque music in order to provide something more innovative.  The use of three treble instruments - flute, oboe and violin - with a bassoon and harpsichord providing continuo was another break with tradition.

The program concluded with Vivaldi's Sonata No. 1 in G minor, Op. 1, RV 73 taken from Suonate da Camera a Tre (1705).  Perhaps due to the use of a minor key, the work was a much more subdued piece than one is accustomed to hearing from this composer though it still possessed its own haunting beauty.  Two violins took the treble parts while continuo, rather than being played by harpsichord and a single low register instrument, was instead given to cello, bass and theorbo.

This was a particularly fine recital and an excellent way to end a year filled with wonderful musical experiences.