After the beautiful CD dedicated to Jean-Louis Duport, Claudio Ronco and Emanuela Vozza continued their musical journey in France in the 18th century by proposing the first-ever recording, in a double CD, of the Sonatas by Lean-Baptiste Janson, the composer who not only can be considered as the first cello professor at the Conservatoire but certainly contributed decisively to the diffusion throughout Europe of the musical poetics generated by a new “idea” of the cello.
With their usual philological meticulousness and musical sensitivity, Claudio and Emanuela bring back to life one of the most significant (and so far unjustly neglected) stages of the long journey traveled by the cello to the conquest of all its multifaceted technical, timbral, and expressive possibilities.
In the very accurate illustrative notes (to be read with extreme attention), Claudio, making use of his extraordinary ability to combine the rigor of historical research, the breadth of the breath of the narrator, the poet, and the philosopher, sketches a fascinating fresco of the historical context to the inside of which the composer dares to conceive and perform Sonatas of a dramatic and poetic force still foreign to the taste of the time. A context that often forces the composer to consider the taste of the public, to please his powerful protectors, to curb his ambition, to compete with colleagues and rivals, even within his family. A context that encourages musicians to pack their bags and travel, eager to compare their musical language with that of others, to obtain recognition of their merits, but also ready to recognize and appreciate the genius of others, in a continuous process of profitable exchanges.
Two CDs allow you to escape reality and immerse yourself in a distant reassuring world. You will be able to listen to these sonatas with the certainty that, after a happy time, you can rest and dream in a slow time, perhaps a little sad, but that, in the end, the joy will return: wait for the third time. But does this formal rigidity coincide with monotony and boredom? Certainly not: every “allegro” and every “lento” are different from the previous ones and this will allow you to calmly confront a thousand facets of emotions, happy or sad, that are enclosed in a hidden corner inside you, and to see them clearly, reflected in the mirror of music.
Two CDs not to be missed!
CD1
“SIX SONATES / A Violoncelle et Basse / dédiée / A Son Altesse Serenissime ( Monseigneur le Comte / DE CLERMONT / par M rJANNSON / De la Musique de S.A.S. Monseigneur le Prince de Conti / Œuvre I e / Gravées par M lle Vendome Chez Moria/… A PARIS, 1765
– Sonata n.1 in D major: Allegro – Adagio – Presto
– Sonata n.2 in G major: Allegro – Adagio – Allegretto
– Sonata n.3 in C major: Allegro – Adagio – Minuetto con variazioni
– Sonata n.4 in B-Flat major: Allegro – Adagio – Allegro non troppo
– Sonata n.5 in A major: Allegro – Andante – Presto
– Sonata n.6 in D major: Allegro – Adagio – Minuetto con variazioni
CD 2
“SIX SONATES / POUR LE VIOLONCELLE /Qui peuvent s’éxécuter sur le Violon / DEDIEES/ A Messieurs les Prévot Jurés et Echevins de la Ville de Valenciennes / PAR MR JANNSON / De la Musique de son A.S.M.gr le Prince de Conti. / Mis au jour par M. De la Chevardiere … A PARIS /OEuvre II.e …” 1768.
– Sonata n.1 in C major: Allegro – Andante in Rondeau – Minuetto
– Sonata n.2 in D minor: Allegro – Adagio – Presto
– Sonata n.3 in D major: Allegro ma non troppo – Andantino – Allegro assai
– Sonata n.4 in B-flat major: Allegro moderato – Adagio – Allegro
– Sonata n.5 in A major: Allegro comodo – Aria Rondeau – Allegro
– Sonata n.6 in G major: Allegro non tanto – Adagio – Allegro non tanto
Performers: Claudio Ronco – Emanuela Vozza, cellos
Label: Urania Records
Released: September 23, 2020
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