This first volume of Jean-Marie LeClair violin concertos features four selections: two each from his Opus 7 (1739) and Opus 10 (1743). LeClair was one of the greatest violinists of his age. He regularly used extended techniques, such as double stops, bariolages, and harmonics. And yet in his concertos, these techniques were always used in […]
Glossa
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Michel-Richard de Lalande Grands Motets Evoke Grandeur
Michel-Richard de Lalande was a contemporary of Jean-Baptiste Lully and François Couperin. Like them, he served at the court of Louis XIV. Lalande’s strength was composing grand motets; elegant, extravagant, grand music suited for the Royal Chapel at Versailles. This release presents three examples. All three require a large orchestra (for the Baroque period, that […]
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Nuevo Mundo: 17th Century music in Latin America – Encore!
I guess you just can’t keep a good recording down. “Nuevo Mundo” was first released on the Italian Symphonia label in 1991. Pan Classics reissued it in 2012, and here it is again on Glossia in 2017. Why does it keep being reissued? Probably because it deserves to be. The Ensemble Elyma delivers spirited, energetic […]
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Biondi Performs Leclair with Clarity
In a recent interview, Fabio Biondi said, “the music is first, the composer is first – and then we [the musicians] follow.” That artistic stance makes this new release of Leclair concertos such a treasure. Jean-Marie Leclair was a virtuoso violinist credited with founding the French violin school. Like many performers, he wrote music primarily […]