The last movement of Gluck's ballet Don Juan (1761), which the composer recycled 13 years later in Orphée et Eurydice, evidently made a deep impression on Mozart: the D minor tonality and the octave drops of the Commendatore's music in Don Giovanni show the extent of his indebtedness. Less well known is the symphony by Boccherini from which this recording takes its name. Here we have not only the same tonality but a chaconne which is a parody (in the technical sense) 'representing Hell and written in imitation of the one by Mr Gluck in his Stone Guest'.
Gluck and Boccherini are the bookends of a fascinating survey of music written between the 1740s and '80s to which the word 'Sensibility' can be applied. One exemplar of this style was CPE Bach: the symphony recorded here is full of passionate outbursts and swooning appoggiaturas. Similarly, the harpsichord concerto by his elder brother, Wilhelm Friedemann, contrasts fierce tuttis with gentle solos in the first movement and in the Andante, while the finale is a Prestissimo with whirlwind triplets for the soloist.
The concerto by Locatelli comprises a sequence of mostly short movements reflecting the emotions of Ariadne, abandoned on Naxos by Theseus. In his booklet-note, Giovanni Antonini provides a convincing descriptive programme (and oddly seems to imply that Bacchus and Dionysus were different gods). Locatelli uses recitative, echo effects and dramatic pauses to convey Ariadne's plight.
The performances can't be faulted: Antonini gets all the fire and fury of the music out of his players without being afraid of relaxing where appropriate. The only drawback is the excessively wide dynamic range, which forces you to choose between near-inaudibility in the soft passages and unneighbourly fortissimo in the loud ones. Heaven knows where you would find this unfashionably mixed programme in a record shop; but seek it out and you will be well rewarded. --Richard Lawrence, Gramophone
The concerto by Locatelli comprises a sequence of mostly short movements reflecting the emotions of Ariadne, abandoned on Naxos by Theseus. In his booklet-note, Giovanni Antonini provides a convincing descriptive programme (and oddly seems to imply that Bacchus and Dionysus were different gods). Locatelli uses recitative, echo effects and dramatic pauses to convey Ariadne's plight.
The performances can't be faulted: Antonini gets all the fire and fury of the music out of his players without being afraid of relaxing where appropriate. The only drawback is the excessively wide dynamic range, which forces you to choose between near-inaudibility in the soft passages and unneighbourly fortissimo in the loud ones. Heaven knows where you would find this unfashionably mixed programme in a record shop; but seek it out and you will be well rewarded. --Richard Lawrence, Gramophone
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