One basic feature, which determines the difference between fonè and other record companies, is the recording of performances in their natural spaces, that is in the places where they were originally presented. This leads to a constant search for suitable locations, and the choice of churches, theatres, country mansions, drawing rooms and so on. The recordings are carried out with the utmost simplicity, the only way not to do violence to the music: all the equipment is high fidelity; use is made of valve-type paired microphones manufactured in the years 1947 and 1949 (U47, U48 and M49) with an extremely natural and transparent timbre and a bi-microphonic field effect; these microphones have a very important history: they were used to record the Beatles at the Abbey Road Studio and by the RCA for the "Living Stereo" recordings.
J.S. Bach Concerto in La minore No. 1 per violinno, Archi BWV 1041
Even though Bach's existence was mainly geographically stable, he was a careful and responsive observer of the principal European musical trends. It is possible to recognize an undeniable debt to Vivaldi's works in the typical compositions of the Italian school: the Violin Concert that Bach draws on in the musical form, the instrumentation and the style, which he anyway revises according to his creativity. Unfortunately, the only pages that remain of a certainly broader production (some of the Harpsichord Concerts are nothing else but transcriptions for Violin Concerts) are the two Violin Concerts BVW 1041 and 1042 and the wonderful Violin Concert BVW 1043.
Therefore, few are the exemplars that alone arouse admiration for their naturalness through which the principal characteristics of Vivaldi's Concert are absorbed in the writing of Eisenach genius. The author adds personal elements as a more frequent employment of thecontrapuntal writing and a different insight is assigned to the slow movement that for Vivaldi was only a moment of suspension compared to the pressing and creative rhythms of his Allegro, but which here becomes the most beautiful lyrical page. Vivaldi's imprint can be found in the basic structure of the Concert that draws on thealternation between Solo - Tutti which he enriches with a melodic and astonishing invention, always closely related to the principal themes and a play of contrapuntal pursuit thatcontribute to conquer the audience and which make these pages great violinists' favourites.
Vivaldi's influence can be also recognized in the theme that opens the First Movement in the Violin Concert in a min. BWV 1041. It is intoned by the orchestra and immediately repeated by the violin, with variations and combinations that once again give evidence to Bach's endless creative inspiration. A Mediterranean melody, introduced by the orchestra and then presented in many repeatsamong solo performances, characterizes the Andante. The parts assigned to the soloist stem from the principal theme and then move through flourishing and grace notes which refine the melodic pattern, while the orchestra is reduced, and managing without bass strings, gives way to the soloist. The last movement is a jig with a lively rhythm, that gives the soloist space to show a bravura passage not to be missed, with virtuosic passages.
Niccolo Paganini - Violin Concert No.4 in D min
In 1828, Paganini was at the peak of his brilliant concert career. Acclaimed by a Europeanaudience, the Genoese violinist decided to leave Italy and to go on tour in Europe. This tour would separate him from his country for six years. He appeared every evening in front of an audience of passionate concertgoers whose acclaimgrew evermore. For this reason, the composer decided to continuously enrich his repertoire so as to stun his admirers through new acrobatic feats on his instrument. It is from this demand that many of Paganini's compositions come to life. Concert n. 4 in d min was written after the long European tour of those years and was followed by a premierein Frankfurt in February 1830, with the usual success.
When speaking of Paganini, it is difficult to separate the composer from the virtuous performer and, in fact, the contingent circumstances surrounding the composition ofthe concert go a long way to explain in detail the distinctive characteristics of the piece. Paganini's greatness can actually be found in his ability to arrange a score which both involves and astonishes the audience, not only for the transcendental difficulty of the virtuous passages, but also for the skilful juxtaposition of melodies and musical effects of great impression. The virtuosity of every paganinian page must be read in its rightful place in the distinctive value of Romanticism and is to be understood as an ideal tension towards the crossing of technical limits and, therefore, as powerful assertion of the artistic personality. This aspect charmed a whole generation of romantic musicians, from Schumann to Chopin. These aspects form part of a style of writing still deeply tied to eighteenth-century stylistic features, with the classical dialectical contraposition between "solo" and "tutti".
The Fourth Concert, more than the other compositions of the same genre, shows a particularcare in the scoring, which within its musical structure calls upon the wind instruments, yet asfeatures as its absolute protagonist, the violin, which alternates between moments of melodic(cantabile ) expression and incredible technical resourcefulness, to astonish the audience ofthe European concert halls.
Paganini's creativity is evident in the surprising variety of themes that follow one other inthe score, always juxtaposed to obtain an effect that captures the audience. The most virtuous moments are inserted in the score just before the repetition of the principal theme by the orchestral tutti with an evident cathartic effect. In the Allegro maestoso that opens the concert after the orchestral introduction, the solo episodes and the orchestra passage alternate regularly. The movement opens with a quick phrase of the violins, accompanied in syncopation by or chestral "hits"; the second theme is a variation of the first idea that is presented with a more lyrical aspect and is assigned to the winds. The second movement is an Adagio flebile con sentimento, opened with a cadenced and severe gait by the orchestra and characterized by an elegiac atmosphere. The finale Rondògalante, Andantino Gaio ) is definitely faster and the virtuosic element can be found even more. The use of the triangle, that with its shrill sound counterpoints a melody of gipsy origins (used as refrain) recalls the famous movement of the Concert n. 2 "La Campanella".
Jules Massenet - Meditation from "Thais"
If Massenet's reputation (1842 - 1912) is basically linked to the lyrical repertoire, the symphonic piece, the Meditation de Thaïs conquered, for the passionate and persuasive beauty of its melodic line, even a audience wider. Thaïs is a Comédie lyrique based on a booklet by Louis Gallet (named after the novel byAnatole France) shown as world premiere at the Opera in Paris on 16th March 1894, after a difficult development.
The protagonist, Thaïs, is a Greek courtesan famous for her beauty and her bold dissolution, who receives a visit from Athanael, a hermit who wants to redeem her. Athanael succeeds inhis goal, but on his return home, confesses to have lost his peace because he has been deeplytroubled by her beauty. The piece we hear corresponds in the opera to Thaïs's conversion, when the heroine, tired of her empty life and deeply influenced by the mystical admonitions of her saviour, finally decides to redeem herself and, therefore, converts and looks for a solitary place in the desert, where, while in deep meditation, she finds her pace of mind.
The Violin andante describes masterfully this spiritual miracle: the ecstatic transfiguration of the sinner who reaches the redemption of the soul. The melodic line of the violin, a passionate and vibrant tune of great lyricism, is accompanied by the quiet pizzicato of the harp andby the sounds of the winds that dialogue with the soloist only after a crescendo progressivo. Having reached the climax, with the introduction of the whole orchestra, the piece return to the opening peaceful calm .
J.C. Bach - Sinfonia Op. 3 for Strings
"If I didn't know the name of the composer, I would say he is Italian. The first movements are good and passionate Italian pieces": this was said by a reviewer of the Hamburger Unterhaltungen in 1776 talking about the Symphonies op 3 by J. C. Bach. The Italian nature of these compositions by Johann Sebastian and Anna Magdalena's son is, without doubt, to be connected to his education. Unlike his father, Johann Christian travelled a lot and spent many years away from Germany. When he was 15, in 1750, after his father's death, he moved to Berlin to stay with his stepbrother Carl Philipp Emanuel and four years later he decided to complete his musical education in Italy, going to Bologna to study with Father Martini. Finally, he settled in Milan where he was appointed organist of the Dome.
In 1762 he was invited by the King's Theatre of London to write 2 operas and the following year, after having obtained the appointment as music teacher of Queen Sofia Charlotte, he settled permanently in England, where he was busy for 20 years working both for theatre and as music author and concert organizer. The six Symphonies published in London in 1765 as op. 3 were probably written for the series of subscription concerts created and organized together with his fellow countryman Carl Friedrich Abel, the famous "Bach-Abel Concerts" among the first and most important examples of public pay concerts held in the 18th Century Europe. Although they are very influenced by the Italian style, and in particular by the opera overtures, in the Symphonies op. 3 , the will to distinguish the symphonic genre from the one that opens the opera is evident.
Here, the first movement is widened and it is possible to find a great variety of theme anda more complete use of the orchestral tessitura whereas in the opera's overture, the lines of the basses and of the melody were the only to be favoured.
With this mix of Italian stylistic features and of Mannheim school, the slow approach to the classical instrumental form of the Symphony makes its way. The qualities of J C Bach's writing, where liveliness and tunefulness, brilliant invention, charming melodies and goodformal construction coexist, ensure to these composition an acclaimed success. The influence of these works on the young Mozart can not be underestimated. At the age of 8-9 , during his London stay in 1764-65, Mozart had the opportunity to listen to them and his first symphonic attempts were therefore inspired by them.
