1. Sonate, Op.10, No.XIV     4:37
2. Sonate, Op.10, No.XV     4:50
3. Sonate, Op.10, No.XVI     4:48
4. Sonate, Op.10, No.III     7:34    
5. Sonate, Op.10, No.IV     6:14
6. Sonate, Op.10, No.IX     6:13
7. Sonate, Op.2, No.I     3:51
8. Sonate, Op.2, No.VIII     5:05
9. Sonate, Op.2, No.II     5:35
10. Sonate, Op.2, No.XV     5:55
11. Sonate, Op.2, No.VII     6:47
12. Sonate, Op.10, No.XIII     9:46

Ensemble Baroque de Nice
Gilbert Bezzina - violin solo & direction

Composer Giovanni Legrenzi worked all over northern Italy in the second half of the 17th century, eventually taking the prize post of chorus master at Saint Mark's in Venice. His output was large and varied, and he helped along a variety of young genres including the instrumental ensemble sonata, two sets of which are excerpted in this release by the Ensemble Baroque de Nice. The innovations in the music are perhaps hard for the general listener to tease out, and the album, with its liner notes delving into such minutiae as the possible motivations contained in Legrenzi's wording of the dedication of one of the volumes, is probably of most interest to specialists and students of the period; the performances are straightforward but nothing more. For those bitten by the Baroque bug, however, this is worthwhile stuff. A great deal happened to the ensemble sonata between 1655, when the Op. 2 set performed here was published, and 1673, when the Op. 10 set, titled "La cetra" (The Lyre), appeared, and to listen to these pieces is to hear instrumental ensemble music emerging as a genre on a par with vocal music in importance. Both sets are for two to four instruments, almost always including a pair of violins, plus continuo. But the structures of the later sonatas are more complex, with a greater variety of moods and with small sections defining different relationships between the instruments. The generation of Corelli that followed Legrenzi, despite the growing emphasis on virtuosity, represented a simplification of what Legrenzi accomplished. These sonatas, like the rest of Legrenzi's music, would have been well known among northern Italians of his time, and the album can be recommended to anyone interested in that general scene. ---James Manheim, AllMusic Review

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1. Atto primo		54:44
2. Atto secundo		48:16
3. Atto terzo		1:00:43

Anastasio: Georg Nigl (baritone)
Arianna: Cornelia Ptassek (soprano)
Giustino: Elisabeth Kulman (mezzo-soprano)
Eufemia: Delphine Galou (mezzo-soprano)
Vitaliano: Peter Kennel	(alto)
Andronico: Terry Wey	(alto)
Amantio: Hermann Oswald (tenor)
Polimante/Erasto: Manfred Bittner (bass)

Balthasar-Neumann Ensemble
Thomas Hengelbrock - conductor

Rokokotheater, Schwetzinger Festspiele 2007

Giovanni Legrenzi was an Italian composer of opera, vocal and instrumental music, and organist, of the Baroque era. He was one of the most prominent composers in Venice in the late 17th century, and extremely influential on the development of late Baroque idioms across northern Italy.

Giovanni Legrenzi came from a musical family and first studied music with his father. In 1645, he took the position of organist at Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo, near Clusone, and held this post until 1656. Like many composers, he entered the priesthood, in 1651. In 1656, he left Bergamo for the more musically prestigious court of Ferrara, where he was named to the position of maestro di cappella at the Accademia dello Santo Spirito, a position he held from 1657 until 1664. He enjoyed great success as both composer and choir master. He left Ferrara at some point in 1665 and little is known about the positions he held or even where he lived until 1670. He was rejected for positions in many cities, including Vienna, Milan, Parma, Bologna, and Venice; and he declined positions in Modena and Bergamo.

In 1670 Giovanni Legrenzi went to Venice, where he became the maestro di coro at the Ospedale dei Derelitti. (Literally named hospitals, "ospedale" were more a cross between boarding homes and conservatories, which specialized, as the names suggest, in the education of orphaned or abandoned girls. Many prominent composers were very closely affiliated with these, most famously, Antonio Vivaldi and the Pieta.) In 1671, he also took the post of maestro di cappella at the oratory of the Congregazione dei Filippini. In 1681, Legrenzi became vice maestro di cappella at San Marco (Venice), succeeding Antonio Sartorio in that position, and in 1683, he became maestro di coro at the Ospedale dei Mendicanti. His most prolific years of opera composition began in 1681, during which he produced at least two major works a year. In 1685, he was promoted to maestro di cappella at San Marco and with this promotion, returned the majority of his attention to sacred music.

Il Giustino is an opera in 3 acts. The work uses an Italian language libretto by Nicol Beregan based on the life of Emperor Justin I. ---bach-cantatas.com

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