Early Italian Cello Concertos Elinor Frey, Rosa Barocca & Claude Lapalme

• Giovanni Battista Sammartini (1700 – 1775): Concerto in C Major for Cello, Strings, and Continuo:
• 1 Sammartini: Concerto in C Major for Cello, Strings, and Continuo: I. Allegro 03:58
• 2 Sammartini: Concerto in C Major for Cello, Strings, and Continuo: II. Andante sempre piano 02:51
• 3 Sammartini: Concerto in C Major for Cello, Strings, and Continuo: III. Allegro 04:20
• Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741): Concerto in G Major for Cello, Strings, and Continuo, RV 414:
• 4 Vivaldi: Concerto in G Major for Cello, Strings, and Continuo, RV 414: I. Allegro molto 03:31
• 5 Vivaldi: Concerto in G Major for Cello, Strings, and Continuo, RV 414: II. Largo 03:38
• 6 Vivaldi: Concerto in G Major for Cello, Strings, and Continuo, RV 414: III. Allegro 03:04
• Giuseppe Tartini (1692 – 1770): Violin Sonata No. 7 in A Minor, B.a1:
• 7 Tartini: Violin Sonata No. 7 in A Minor, B.a1: I. Adagio (Arr. for Cello by Elinor Frey) 03:11
• Concerto in A Major for Cello, Strings, and Continuo, GT 1.A28:
• 8 Tartini: Concerto in A Major for Cello, Strings, and Continuo, GT 1.A28: I. Allegro 05:06
• 9 Tartini: Concerto in A Major for Cello, Strings, and Continuo, GT 1.A28: II. Larghetto 03:15
• 10 Tartini: Concerto in A Major for Cello, Strings, and Continuo, GT 1.A28: III. Allegro assai 04:36
• Leonardo Leo (1694 – 1744): Concerto No. 2 in D Major for Cello, Strings, and Continuo, L. 10:
• 11 Leo: Concerto No. 2 in D Major for Cello, Strings, and Continuo, L. 10: I. Andante grazioso 03:34
• 12 Leo: Concerto No. 2 in D Major for Cello, Strings, and Continuo, L. 10: II. Con bravura 02:35
• 13 Leo: Concerto No. 2 in D Major for Cello, Strings, and Continuo, L. 10: III. Larghetto con poco moto - mezza voce 03:25
• 14 Leo: Concerto No. 2 in D Major for Cello, Strings, and Continuo, L. 10: IV. Fuga 02:20
• 15 Leo: Concerto No. 2 in D Major for Cello, Strings, and Continuo, L. 10: V. Allegro di molto 03:31
• Giuseppe Tartini (1692 – 1770): Violin Sonata No. 6 in E Minor, B.e1:
• 16 Tartini: Violin Sonata No. 6 in E Minor, B.e1: I. Andante cantabile (Arr. for Cello by Elinor Frey) 03:08
• Total Runtime 56:03

Info for Early Italian Cello Concertos

Montreal based cellist Elinor Frey, who displays a proclivity for music by composers on the outer fringes, ranging from obscure Baroque composers like Fiore and Colombi to ultra-modern names like Lefkowitz and Godin, here on her latest recording focuses her historically informed and erudite scrutiny on more central exemplars of the Baroque period. Along with Canadian period instrument ensemble Rosa Barocca and their artistic director Claude Lapalme, she strives to reappraise the significant part the Baroque violoncello, the slightly smaller antecedent to today's cello, played within the musical life of the 17th and 18th centuries.

By alternating throughout the program between a 1770 German made violoncello and a 2017 American cello, as well as using an underhand bow technique apparently common at the time, she well exemplifies the different, as well as similar, methods of music-making in practice by composers of the day, including some of Giuseppe Tartini's rather odd idiosyncrasies for the time.

Along with Rosa Barocca's committed and dynamic playing, Elinor Frey's period sensitive and highly expressive interpretations teleport the spirit of a baroque ensemble (minus the powdered wigs of course) into your living room. As I had mentioned previously in a review of her recording of the music of Giuseppe Clemente Dall'Abaco, the audio recording itself is close and bright, and perfectly suited to this type of music.

Elinor Frey, cello
Rosa Barocca
Claude Lapalme, artistic director

Elinor Frey
is a leading Canadian-American cellist, gambist, and researcher who specializes in early music and new music. Her acclaimed CDs on the Belgian label Passacaille – most of which are world premiere recordings – include La voce del violoncello (2013), Berlin Sonatas (2015) with Lorenzo Ghielmi on fortepiano, Fiorè (2017), which features soprano Suzie LeBlanc, and Giuseppe Clemente Dall’Abaco: Cello Sonatas (2020) which received a Diapason d’Or. Her current release is Antonio Vandini: Complete Works, a project in collaboration with Marc Vanscheeuwijck. Her critical edition of Dall’Abaco Sonatas is published in collaboration with Walhall Editions. Frey’s album of new works for Baroque cello, titled Guided By Voices, was released on the Analekta label in 2019. In recent seasons she has performed throughout N. America and Europe, as well as ten years with Pallade Musica. Recipient of a US-Italy Fulbright Fellowship, Frey holds degrees from McGill, Mannes, and Juilliard. She teaches early cello at the University of Montréal, lectures at McGill University, and is a Visiting Fellow in Music at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University. Frey was awarded Québec’s Opus Prize for “Performer of the Year” in 2021.

Booklet for Early Italian Cello Concertos