Aria “Flieg hin flieg hin” and Minuet for harpsichord and cello - 01:39

“Le Coucou” for traverso1 and harpsichord - 02:13

“Le Coucou” for flauto d’amore in A and basso continuo (cello and harpsichord) 02:06

“Capriccio fatto sopra il Cucchù” for harpsichord - 04:17

“L’hirondelle” for traverso2 and basso continuo (viola da gamba and harpsichord) - 03:14

“L’hirondelle” for harpsichord - 03:16

“L’hirondelle” for traverso2 and basso continuo (viola da gamba and harpsichord) - 01:07

From the opera “Sirbace“ “Qual colomba afflitta” for traverso1 and basso continuo - 03:33

From Cantata RV 659 “Indarno cerca la Tortorella” for flauto d’amore in A flat and basso continuo (cello and harpsichord) - 03:41

From the opera Acis and Galateac“As when the dove laments” for traverso1 and basso continuo (cello and harpsichord) - 03:43

“La gallina” for traverso2 and basso continuo (cello and harpsichord) - 02:47

“Il gallo e la gallina” for harpsichord - 05:06

From “The Delightful Pocket Companion for the Flute” London: Robert Bremnen, undated “Polonese” for flauto d’amore in A - 03:14

Aria: “Pourquoy, doux rossignol” for traverso2 and basso continuo (viola da gamba and harpsichord) - 02:49

From Cantata RV 796 “Usignoletto bello” for traverso1 and basso continuo (cello and harpsichord) - 03:04

Aria: “L’augellin trà verdi fronde” for traverso1 and basso continuo (cello and harpsichord) - 02:54

“Divertimento per cembalo in cui si esprime una Uccellaja” for harpsichord - 04:13

“Ramage” for flauto d’amore in A - 04:03

“Chant d’oiseaux” for traverso1, cello and basso continuo - 03:34

Cantabile from Concerto op. X no. 6 “Il Gardellino” for traverso1 and basso continuo (cello and harpsichord) - 03:11

 

• Production: Marco Lincetto and Massimo Corvino Consulting
• Executive producer: Marco Lincettoo
• Musical producer: Marco Lincetto
• Balance, recording, mix and mastering engineer: Marco Lincetto
• Editing: Matteo Costa
• Photo: Musicians’Archive
• Cover Graphics and layout: L’Imag

To celebrate the beauty and inspiration of bird song: this is the aim of this anthology of 17th and 18th-century compositions dedicated to the voices of winged creatures. The CD takes its title from Alessandro Speranza's Divertimento per cembalo in cui si esprime una Uccellaja and includes 20 carefully selected baroque and rococo pieces.

The first piece, a previously unreleased page by G. Ph. Telemann, opens with two notes (D - B) that repeat, enunciating the cuckoo's call. This incisive musical motif, capable of being etched into our auditory memory, introduces the following tracks, dedicated in order to: cuckoo, swallow, turtledoves and doves, roosters and hens, nightingale, various songbirds
and goldfinch.

Between the 17th and 18th centuries, it was common in French instrumental suites (but also in German ones) to find movements with a title having a specific programmatic intent. From these suites (composed by Daquin, Corrette, Philidor, Schmelzer, Boismortier and Naudot) come the pieces dedicated to bird song. And many Italian musicians, such as Poglietti and Speranza, were also inspired by bird song: three pages of great expressive power for solo harpsichord by these composers and an Anonymous one are presented.

Galuppi's aria Qual colomba afflitta has come down to us only in instrumental form. It is part of a weighty collection of opera arias, published in London in the mid-18th century by John Walsh, selected and transcribed for traverso and basso continuo by Carlo Maria Broschi (1705-1782), the famous castrato known as "il Farinelli". At the time, it was still common practice to perform vocal compositions - such as opera arias or those from cantatas, French brunettes or boat songs - in simple instrumental form, as was done in the Renaissance era: a deep-rooted traditional practice with which it was also decided to perform Vivaldi's arias Usignoletto bello and Conti's L’augellin trà verdi fronde. Handel's piece As when the dove laments, on the other hand, belongs to a collection of transcriptions for traverso and harpsichord, also published by J. Walsh in London.

Within this free performing style also falls the aria Porquoy doux rossignol by the composer Jean-Baptiste de Bousset (1662 - 1725), a very popular piece at the court of the Sun King. It is a magnificent aria that Jacques Hotteterre transcribed for traverso and basso continuo, contributing to its fame and dissemination.

The Delightful Pocket Companion for the Flute, from which the Polonese by an unknown author performed here on the flauto d’amore is taken, is a pocket vademecum in several volumes published in London - undated - by Robert Bremnen. It contains hundreds of original and transcribed pieces for the numerous amateur flutists, who were increasingly eager for repertoire for their instrument. The theme of this Polonese, a Polish dance movement in three-quarter time, is the clucking of a hen, so much so that with a play on words it could be renamed Pollonese.

The CD concludes with the famous Cantabile from Concerto Op. X no. 6 "Il Gardellino" by Antonio Vivaldi, whose pure and linear melody is embellished in this CD, during the ritornelli, in the same capricious spirit as Alessandro Speranza's piece: and so, in addition to the typical arpeggiated call of the goldfinch, one can hear the imitation of a myriad of chirping birds, a tribute to the greatness of Nature, with a triumph of notes and sounds that aims to transport us into a world of emotions and beauty.
Mario Folena