Torelli: Concerti grossi op.8 Nr.1-12 (2CD)

A native of Veneto, Giuseppe Torelli is one of the composers who contributed to the fame and success of the Bolognese school, which, along with the Venetian, Roman and Neapolitan schools, was undoubtedly one of the cornerstones of Italian Baroque music. Torelli's surviving output includes nearly 200 works, most of them chamber instrumental compositions and orchestral pieces with soloists. Eight of these works survive in print, virtually all of which were published in Bologna beginning in 1686. The 12 Concerti grossi con una Pastorale per il Santissimo Natale, posthumous work No. 8 from 1709, edited by Felice Torelli, the composer's brother and celebrated painter, are undoubtedly his most inspired works, and not only because of their extremely high musical quality. The collection is divided into two parts: Six pieces are concerti grossi proper, the other six are concerti for violin and orchestra. Solo violinists Jérémie Chigioni and Roberto Noferini (already the performer of the world's first recording of Paganini's Capricci on historical violin, jpc 5281537) lead the Ensemble Locatelli from Bergamo, conducted by Chiara Cattani.