 |
| Fabrizio Longo (photo: Alessandro Ruggeri) |
A new disc recorded by Opera Qvinto, led and directed by violinist and
musicologist Fabrizio Longo, has brought to light more of the restricted
surviving oeuvre of Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi Mealli, namely the “Sonate, Roma
1669”. The little that is known of the enigmatic violinist and composer, who
was born in Tuscany in 1624 and died either in Madrid or Rome in 1687, is that
he received his training in the chapel of San Marco, Venice, then from 1660 to
1669 serving as one of the chamber virtuosos at the court of Anna de’ Medici in
Innsbruck. His surviving opuses 3 and 4 date from 1660, their brilliant writing
finding its notable place at the beginning of the first great and influential
Italian and Austrian schools of violin-playing. Some recordings of these two
opuses exist. The 1669 Trio Sonatas, (Sonate Cio Balletti), bearing no opus
number however, have received less attention. In 1978, Willi Apel was perhaps
the first to note that these sonatas had remained almost completely unnoticed
by modern scholars and performers. In his liner notes, Fabrizio Longo, an
authoritative scholar of Pandolfi Mealli and his music, we learn of the
dramatic events of the composer’s life: that he was later employed in the
Cathedral Chapel of Messina (Sicily). It was there in the Duomo that the
composer-priest murdered the Roman castrato Giovanni Marquett, consequently
fleeing to France, and finally settling in Spain, where he was employed in the
court of the Spanish Habsburgs. All of Pandolfi Mealli’s surviving works are
preserved in the Civic Museum of Bologna.
The 1669 Sonatas were published in Rome by Amadeo Belmonte. The title
page defines them as “Sonate cioé Balletti, Sarabande, Correnti, Passacagli,
Capriccetti, e una Trombetta, a uno, e dui Violini, con la terza parte della
Viola a Beneplacito”. they are generally associated with Messina, as the title
page lists Pandolfi Mealli as a violinist in that city and also due to the fact
that the sonatas are dedicated to eighteen musicians (as was his practice in
opuses 3 and 4) who were known to have been employed at the Messina Cathedral.
Longo mentions an anonymous and decidedly witty pasquinade (satire written and
posted in a public place) appearing in Messina in 1666 that alludes to the
persons inspiring each of the pieces, most of which are in the form of suites.
Take, for example, “Il Cara Capriccetto Quinto”. In Longo’s liner notes, we
learn that this work refers to Placido Cara, to whom it was suggested that he
abandon orchestra direction and return to his own playing. The small, well
balanced suite opens with a noble processional, the imposing presence of the
bass drum adding to its grandeur. The following Corrente, its dotted agenda
rich in echoes and asides, is not taken at breakneck pace. Tambourine jingles
add to its skipping, dance-like charm. The work concludes with a Sarabanda, its
smooth, serious course devoid of percussion, offering the listener a deeper
glimpse into its subtle timbral variety. The advice offered to singer Pietro
Maurizio, the artist inspiring ”Il Maruritio, Capricett à violino solo”, was
that, despite being complimented on his voice, he should avoid forays into its
higher registers, lest his fate be that of Icarus! Here, we hear Fabrizio Longo
soloing in the four miniature movements, his playing personal, flexed and
spontaneous. Each movement emerges as a separate vignette, from the thoughtful
playing of the Largo, to the Presto variations, to the semplice melody from
which the Allegro unfolds, to the notes inégales infusing energy into the final
movement.A curious connection to the composer’s own life events is the
exquisite suite titled “Il Marquetto”, the work associated with the counter
tenor whose life Pandolfi Mealli would take, its solemn, downhearted opening
Adagio to a ground accompanied by the funereal sounds of the bass drum,
followed by a plaintive, cantabile Arietta most sensitively played and
ornamented. Impatient to make its entrance, the ensuing Brando (Italian version
of the bransle), festooned with percussion, speaks of energy and ebullience.
A painful episode of Sicily’s history, the conflicts arising from Spanish
presence, present in much art of the time, is referred to in “La Spata Fora”, a
work dedicated to Prince Spatafora but also possibly to a trumpeter in the
chapel by the name of Spatafora. Here, straightforward functional harmonies
give rise to plangent melodies, contrasted by intense drum utterances and a
sense of urgency, calling to mind the source of the suite. Another point
of interest in the disc is the instrumentation chosen by Longo. In addition to
strings, theorbo, harpsichord and drum, he makes a point of engaging the
traditional instrumental variety of Messina of the 1660s, for example, in the
two “La Domenga” Sarabands: in the first, there is substantial use of the Jew’s
harp, common in Sicilian folk music and referred to there as the
"marranzanu"; in the second, the triple flute is played in its
characteristic folk style.
Recorded on period instruments for the TACTUS label (2017), these
mid-Baroque works, although influenced by the “stylus fantasticus”, are
presented in balanced, suave, sensitive and articulate playing, its virtuosity
employed as a means of expression. Each small gem is delivered within its
own context. Fabrizio Longo’s liner notes provide much valuable information on
Pandolfi Mealli and his extraordinary music.
No comments:
Post a Comment