Duos

An extraordinary acoustic frames extraordinary music: Ruth Wilkinson (recorders and bass viola da gamba) and Cynthia O’Brien (baroque violin), the duo known as Capella Corelli, in late Baroque two-part repertoire.

Capella Corelli ensemble
Cynthia O'Brien baroque violin
Ruth Wilkinson recorders, bass viola da gamba

Joseph Bodin de Boismortier composer
Georg Philipp Telemann composer
Michel Blavet composer
Giovanni Battista Patoni composer

Exploring two-part music from the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Capella Corelli recorded this long-awaited programme of duets in the marvellous acoustic of Santa Maria Nuova, the 16th-century church designed by Giorgio Vasari on a Tuscan hill just outside the walls of Cortona, Italy. High ceilings and thick stone walls and floors hold a living memory of the past, while the challenging acoustic asks for tempi and articulation that suit the church’s reverent, reverberant air. Not for the meek – Wilkinson and O’Brien meet the setting with grace and aplomb.

The music, duets by Blavet, Boismortier, Patoni and Telemann, needs the craft of two-part writing played as a shared conversation between old friends – which O’Brien and Wilkinson surely are. Beauty, humour and disagreement, respect, melancholy, dancing and sheer joy run through the set. The album is full of variety and surprises.

Artists

Capella Corelli

Capella Corelli, one of Australia's foremost baroque chamber ensembles, was formed 21 years ago. The violin works of the great Italian virtuoso Arcangelo Corelli and of his Italian predecessors were the initial inspiration for the group.

Joseph Bodin de Boismortier

Georg Philipp Telemann

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught, he became a composer against his family's wishes and ranked among the leading German musicians of his age.

Michel Blavet

Giovanni Battista Patoni

Cynthia O'Brien

The emphasis of baroque violinist Cynthia O'Brien's artistic work today lies in the interpretation of solo and chamber music of the Baroque and Classical periods performed on historical instruments.

Ruth Wilkinson

Ruth Wilkinson is a recorder and viol player devoted to music from the twelfth to the eighteenth century. Her performances are praised for their musical integrity, imagination and brilliance.

Tracks

Sonata in A major, Op. 51 No. 5 Joseph Bodin de Boismortier

Larghetto [Pour un flûte (flûte de voix) e un violon par accords] 2:33
Presto [Pour un flûte (flûte de voix) e un violon par accords] 2:02
Sarabanda [Pour un flûte (flûte de voix) e un violon par accords] 1:15
Allegro [Pour un flûte (flûte de voix) e un violon par accords] 2:04

Duetto for alto recorder and violin Georg Philipp Telemann

Vivace 4:25
Allegretto 2:40
Spirituoso 2:46

Sonate in D major, Op. 51 No. 3 Joseph Bodin de Boismortier

Largo [Pour un flûte (flûte de voix et un violin par accords)] 1:53
Allegro, ma non presto [Pour un flûte (flûte de voix et un violin par accords)] 4:21
Adagio [Pour un flûte (flûte de voix et un violin par accords)] 1:05
Allegro [Pour un flûte (flûte de voix et un violin par accords)] 4:04
Prelude de M. Blavet [flûte de voix and violin] Michel Blavet 2:59
Minuet de M. Geminiani, gracieusement [violin and bass de viole] Michel Blavet 2:58
Gavotte de Corelli [violin and bass de viole] Michel Blavet 2:59
Gavotte de M. Handel, gracieusement [soprano recorder and violin] Michel Blavet 3:24

Sonata a due for recorder and violin in G major, Op. 2 No. 3 Giovanni Battista Patoni

Andantino 4:54
Allegro 6:20
Minuetto 1 and 2 3:25

Performers

Capella Corelli
Cynthia O'Brien · baroque violin
Ruth Wilkinson · recorders, bass viola da gamba

Contributors

cover photograph, Santa Maria Nuova

Andrea Migliorati

Move Records

Martin Wright

Recording engineer and director of Move Records, Martin Wright has well over fifty years’ experience in the industry and has been widely recognised for the calibre of his recordings.

Where to listen

Duos is available for streaming through Apple Music. It can also be purchased through the iTunes Music Store.

Duos is available as a CD. It can be purchased online through Buywell Music or the Australian Music Centre which both offer online ordering.

Product details

Catalogue number: MCD 614
List price: $25.00 AUD
Total playing time: 56 minutes 7 seconds
Producer: Alex Stinson
Recording Engineer: Alex Stinson
Venue: Santa Maria Nuova
Credit: Andrea Migliorati
Martin Wright
Release date: 1 Mar 2022
Categories: Classical, Early music
Genres: Baroque, Early Music
Barcode: EAN 9314574061420

Related recordings

Exquisite Harmonies

Exquisite Harmonies features works for viola da gamba and harpsichord, and several harpsichord solos, largely from the French Baroque. The exceptions are Telemann, Abel and Australian composer Troy Russell. A nice treat is an improvised harpsichord fantasia in the style of Telemann.