An Englishman Abroad

Name: An Englishman Abroad
SKU: SIGCD751
Availability: InStock

£8.00 – £14.00

The latest release from renowned period ensemble La Serenissima celebrates the life and work of Nicola Matteis the Younger. Born in London to an Italian father and English mother, Matteis was immersed in the style of Henry Purcell before leaving England in 1700 for the Imperial Court in Vienna. All of the music on the album is – rather fortuitously – Carolean; either written for Charles II of England, or for (or in the realm of) Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI. It is all too easy to think that the English style and English musicians were unknown on the continent in the early C18, but this selection of music shows that this wasn’t (always) the case. There are some cracking dances and dance suites featured here as well as a ravishingly beautiful Vivaldi concerto and two superb Chaconnes, one by an Englishman, and one by an Italian.

★★★★★ ALBUM OF THE WEEK “Superb disc…La Serenissima’s playing is perfection, at once courtly and refined” – The Times

★★★★★ Performance ★★★★★ Recording “An entertaining programme…Chaconnes by Purcell and Brescianello frame a programme where the strings of La Serenissima are responsive to nuance and congruent in sound” – BBC Music Magazine

★★★★ “[An] intriguing programme” – Irish Times

SKU: SIGCD751

La Serenissima

Adrian Chandler director/violin

Release date: 05/05/2023

Catalogue number: SIGCD751

Barcode: 635212075128

“A great album with some fabulous dance suites on it. Also, a Vivaldi concerto, and two superb Chaconne’s” – Scala Radio

“La Serenissima on feisty form as they trace Matteis’s network of colleagues and potential admirers. Yes, you may have long loved Chandler’s vivacious Vivaldi, but here with Matteis’ Englishman Abroad—and especially as they kick off the album with Purcell— we’re given a long, continental view through the English lens and you might just see the likes of Telemann, Brescianello and Caldara in a new light” – BBC Radio 3 Record Review

“Telemann’s Chaconne in A is quite a discovery: well-paced, rich with contrast and performed here with great vigour. [The strings] respond with precision and clarity…Listening to this Englishman and his ensemble is always refreshing” – Gramophone

“Chandler, violinist and conductor, with his ensemble of period instruments highlights dramatic contrasts, virtuosic passages and slow movements of prodigious beauty, as well as conveying sensitivity, simplicity and genuineness“ – Sonograma

[1] Chacony for strings & continuo – Henry Purcell

*Ouverture-Suite for strings & continuo in g, TWV 55:g5 – Georg Philipp Telemann
[2] Adagio – Allegro
[3] Loure
[4] Bourée 1 – Bourée 2
[5] Menuet 1 – Menuet 2
[6] Air Angloise

*Concerto for violin, strings & continuo in B flat – Nicola Matteis the Younger
[7] Sinfonia: Allegro
[8] Adagio
[9] Air: Allegro e Presto
[10] Sarabanda
[11] Allegro

*Ouverture & Ballo to La Verità nell Inganno – Antonio Caldara & Nicola Matteis the Younger
[12](Ouverture):Largo–Presto–Adagio–Presto
[13] (Ballo): Aria per li Masacari
[14] Aria per li Sultani
[15] Aria
[16] Tempo di Cicona [sic]

Concerto II: Il favorito for violin, strings & continuo in e, Opus 11, RV 277 – Antonio Vivaldi
[17] Allegro
[18] Andante
[19] Allegro

*Ouverture-Suite in C for strings & continuo – Giuseppe Antonio Brescianello
[20] Ouverture – Fuga
[21] Aria: Allegro
[22] Adagio
[23] Hornpippe [sic]
[24] Bourée
[25] Aria – Adagio
[26] Aria
[27] Aria – Adagio
[28] Aria
[29] Aria
[30] Gigue – Allegro

*[31] Chaconne for strings & continuo in A – Giuseppe Antonio Brescianello