Jan Dismas Zelenka.Jan Dismas Zelenka “Zelenka” redirects here. For other uses, see Zelenka (disambiguation). Jan Dismas Zelenka, also known as Johann Dismas Zelenka, (October 16, 1679 - December 23, 1745) was a Czech Baroque composer whose music was notably adventurous with great harmonic Composizioni per Orchestra Collegium col·le·gi·um n. pl. col·le·gi·a or col·le·gi·ums 1. An executive council or committee of equally empowered members, especially one supervising an industry, commissariat, or other organization in the Soviet Union. 1704: Vaclav Luks - harpsichord, Xaver Julien Laferriere - solo violin, Helena Zemanova, Marketa Zemancova - 1st violins, David Plantier, Olivia Centurioni - 2nd violins, Marie-Liesse Barau, Vasilios Tsotsolis - viola, Petr Skalka - cello, Ludek Branny - contrabass, Ann-Kathrin Bruggenmann, - solo oboist, Elsa Frank - oboe, Eckhard Lenzing - bassoon, Igor Paro - theorbo theorbo (thēôr`bō), large lute of the baroque period. It had an extra set of bass strings, not stopped on a fingerboard as the regular set are but plucked as open strings. , Premysl Vacek - archlute Arch´lute n. 1. (Mus.) A large theorbo, or double-necked lute, formerly in use, having the bass strings doubled with an octave, and the higher strings with a unison. . Production: not stated. Text: Eng., Ger., Fr., Czech, Recorded: 9 - 10/1994 studio Motorlet, Prague. Published: 2005. TT: 67:45. DDD. 1 CD Supraphon SU 3858 - 2. Alternativa: Paul Dombrecht/Passacaille Pas 9524, Nikolaus Harnoncourt/Teldec 6.42415. On this re-edition of a recording by Collegium 1704, a Czech group specialising in the performance of Bohemian, Moravian, Saxon, Bavarian and Austrian Baroque music, we find compositions written for the celebration of the coronation of the Habsburg emperor Charles VI as King of Bohemia in Prague in 1723: Ouverture a 7 concertanti ZWV 188 and Hipocondrie a 7 concertanti ZWV 187. It also includes Concerto a 8 concertanti ZWV 186 and Simphonie a 8 concertanti, compositions written for the orchestra of the Prague Count Hartig. In addition to four orchestral pieces by Jan Dismas Zelenka, the title Composizioni per Orchestra also surprisingly hides the third of his set of chamber sonatas, Sonate a due Hautbois et Basson con due bassi bas·si n. A plural of basso. obligati ZWV 181. Zelenka's musical idiom combined the influences of German, Italian, French and Czech musical traditions. Presented here by the Collegium 1704 Ensemble under the direction of the harpsichordist Vaclav Luks, it speaks to listeners in bright musical colours that are not broken up even by the long reverberation that detracts from the concrete quality of the expression of individual instruments in the cause of enhancing the "churchiness" of the sound. As is the custom with most ensembles specialising in Baroque music in our country, the continuo continuo or basso continuo In Baroque music, a special subgroup of an instrumental ensemble. It consists of two instruments reading the same part: a bass instrument, such as a cello or bassoon, and a chordal instrument, most often a harpsichord but sometimes instruments, the theorbo and archlute, sound very cautious, especially in the fast passages. There just isn't that proper "drive" on theorbos in tutti, which anyone used to listening to recording of Baroque groups especially from Italy expects. But the situation is different in the slow movements and especially in parts of the Aria from the Ouverture a 7 concertanti ZWV 188. The lute and viol viol, family of bowed stringed instruments, the most important ensemble instruments from the 15th to the 17th cent. The viol's early history is indefinite, but it is recognizable in depictions from as early as the 11th cent. During the second half of the 17th cent. instruments together in the continuo create a soft quilt for the melodic instruments, embroidered em·broi·der v. em·broi·dered, em·broi·der·ing, em·broi·ders v.tr. 1. To ornament with needlework: embroider a pillow cover. 2. with the colourful thread of the spread chords; the final Folie folie /fo·lie/ (fo-le´) [Fr.] psychosis; insanity. folie à deux (ah-ddbobr´ from the Ouverture a 7 concertanti is truly madly ravishing in its tempo and energy. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In the interpretation of the ensemble Concertus musicus Wien under the direction of Nikolaus Harnoncourt, the Ouverture a 7 concertanti abounds in a playful lightness more definable masculine. The dotted rhythm in the opening Grave is heavy but not protracted pro·tract tr.v. pro·tract·ed, pro·tract·ing, pro·tracts 1. To draw out or lengthen in time; prolong: disputants who needlessly protracted the negotiations. 2. , while the articulations and dynamic contrasts are taken to extremes, unlike Luks's bubbling loftiness. Like that of Luks, Harnoncourt's recording is stirring, but the individual details and nuances are easier to make out in the overall sound. The listener can compare this CD with another recording by the ensemble Fondamento under the direction of Paul Dombrecht, which among its other qualities has a precision of articulation. Its interpretation of all the pieces including Ouverture a 7 concertanti, Hipocondrie a 7 concertanti a Simphonia a 8 concertanti is charmingly elegant, but here the conception of play on the basso continuo basso continuo n. See continuo. [Italian, continuous bass.] Noun 1. basso continuo lute instruments cannot compare with the performance of the archlute and theorbo players of Collegium 1704. The booklet for the CD is thin, and leaves the listener searching for information about which instruments the soloists are playing. Some people may even find it but of a puzzle to make out the real key of some of the pieces in the confusion of different systems for indicating keys. But despite inconsistencies in the booklet the recording is a worthy and good quality interpretation of the brilliant musical ideas of Zelenka and is definitely worth listening to. |
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