A Due – Sonate à violino e violone
Rebecca Raimondi (violin)
Sylvia Demgenski (cello)
rec. 2021/22, Evangelische Dornbuschkirche, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
Reviewed as a download
Da Vinci Classics C01048 [71]

The Baroque period is sometimes called the ‘basso continuo era’. This technique was one of the innovations of a time which started around 1600 and ended somewhere in the mid-18th century (although the technique continued to be used for some decades). When the interest in the music from this period emerged and performances began to be based on historical sources, a kind of tradition developed with regard to the way the basso continuo part was performed. One of its aspects was the line-up, which usually consisted of a string bass – cello or viola da gamba – and a chordal instrument, mostly the harpsichord, sometimes the organ. With the growing popularity of the lute and other plucked instruments such as the theorbo and the guitar, such an instrument was often added. Nowadays, the basso continuo group in performances of baroque orchestral and chamber music usually consists of one instrument of each category.

If one looks at the title-pages of collections of such music from the 17th century and the first half of the 18th century, one often reads that the basso continuo part is scored for violoncello ò cimbalo or variants (violone, organo). If scholars or authors of liner-notes pay attention to this, they often state that these indications should not be taken literally. If the harpsichord is mentioned, this does not mean that the organ is no legitimate option (or vice versa). And the word ò (or) should also not been interpreted as if the performers need to choose between one of them; it is fully legitimate to use both of them at the same time.

These comments are certainly right. We should not forget that composers were basically rather pragmatic, especially when they published music, as this was intended for a wider circle of users, sometimes including amateurs. Commercially it was useful to offer different options, depending on which instrument(s) the performers had at their disposal. Therefore the variety in the line-up of the basso continuo group in modern performances very likely reflects the differences in the time the music was written.

However, there is a kind of one-sidedness. Too often the combination of, for instance, cello, theorbo and harpsichord is taken for granted. It is questionable, for instance, whether the lute was part of the basso continuo group in Bach’s music, such as his cantatas. It seems quite possible that the basso continuo part was played on a single chordal instrument, either a keyboard or a plucked instrument. Whereas such a line-up is not unusual, performances and recordings of baroque instrumental music in which the bass part is played on a single string bass, are rather rare. In the course of many years of reviewing, I have not that often encountered such performances – and if this practice was applied, it was mostly in one or a few items in the programme.

From that perspective, the disc under review offers a welcome addition to the most common performance practice of baroque music in our time. Here, all the pieces are played with the cello as the only instrument to realise the basso continuo. 

Chiara Bertoglio, in her liner-notes, discusses the main objection against this practice. “The melodic instrument(s) play the bass line, while the others “realize” the continuo, i.e. perform the chords which are normally indicated through a special system of ciphering called “figured bass” – for instance, in one system a triad in the root position is indicated as “5 3”. The question is, then, how a single string bass can produce harmony. Bertoglio argues that “the human mind (particularly if it is familiar with the processes of European tonal harmony) tends to “fill” the gaps in the harmony, just as happens with optical phenomena (…). Given a bass and a soprano line, it is easy to imagine the harmonic filling, and this in fact happens quite unconsciously.”

The practice of playing the bass part on a single instrument is documented from the time the music was written. Several violin virtuosos, which we still know as composers, such as Francesco Maria Veracini and Giuseppe Tartini, performed across Europe with the support of cellists. The liner-notes mention Tartini and his friend Vandini as well as Veracini and Lanzetti. Bertoglio quotes Charles Burney: “Being called upon, [Veracini] would not play a concerto, but desired [to] play a solo at the bottom of the choir, desiring Lanzetti, the violoncellist of Turin to accompany him (…)”.

It is important to notice that cellists don’t need to confine themselves to playing the notes that are written down. The liner-notes mention that cello players trained in the tradition known as partimento, exercises in figured-bass playing. They learnt to enrich the bass line with embellishments and diminutions. “[The] study of the partimento technique and of its teaching in the Neapolitan Conservatories suggests that all instrumentalists of that time were educated to be capable of improvising and composing over a bass line.” That is a way to fill in the ‘gaps’ between the melody line and the bass.

Turning to the programme recorded by Rebecca Raimondi and Sylvia Demgenski, most of the composers are well-known and don’t need comment. Notable, is that in the case of Veracini the performers have created a ‘new’ sonata by bringing together movements of two different sonatas from the Op. 2. At least, that is what the liner-notes and the track-list say. In fact, all three movements are from the Sonata No. 5; the confusion may stem from the title of the second movement, called Capriccio VI, which suggests that it is part of the 6th sonata. The Sonata in C by Tartini comprises three movements in the order slow-fast-fast. However, the second movement, marked allegro, closes with a section which has the traces of a recitative, in an irregular rhythm.

The least-known composer is Giovanni Mossi. He added romano to his name, suggesting he was from Rome, but there is no firm evidence of this. Apparently Mossi was a child prodigy as he played the violin in public concerts, together with his father, at the age of just fourteen. In Rome he met Corelli, and as his own compositions show his influence it has been assumed he was Corelli’s pupil, but this is not confirmed. After Corelli’s death he became one of the leading violinist in Rome. His Sonatas Op. 1 made great impression and were mentioned by the German composer and theorist Johann Mattheson in one of his books. The Sonata in C minor is taken from the Op. 5, which is interesting for its title, mentioning violin and cello, without referring to a chordal instrument.

Michele Mascitti has received quite some interest in recent years. He started his career in the royal chapel in Naples, but soon settled in Paris, where he came under the patronage of the Duke of Orléans. He made such an impression that in 1714 he was granted a King’s privilege to print for fifteen years “collections of sonatas and other musical pieces, vocal as well as instrumental”. This privilege was twice extended, in 1731 and 1740, and, as a sign of the appreciation of Mascitti, he was given French citizenship in 1739. His oeuvre is thoroughly Italian in style, but the Op. 5 closes with an unusual ‘French’ work, which is still called a sonata, with the addition divertissement, but it is in fact a suite, or, rather, a kind of mini-opera without words. It is about the Greek myth of Eros and Psyche, which is illustrated in ten movements. The second movement is an imitation of the winds, the fifth is called Du sommeil (Of a dream); such a movement also appeared in operas, and is marked here appropriately largo e piano. The last three movements depict the wedding of the two characters.

The two artists founded a duo in 2020, and this disc seems to be their debut. It could hardly have been any better. The approach to the repertoire, which is their raison d’être, is original, historically founded, but seldom practised. They convincingly demonstrate the value of a performance of the basso continuo with a single cello. A precondition is that it is played in a creative manner, in the way described above. Sylvia Demgenski does everything that is needed to make the listener forget that there is no chordal instrument involved. She delivers creative and engaging performances of the bass lines. Rebecca Raimondi is an excellent violinist, whose phrasing, dynamic shading, choice of tempo and ornamentation bring these pieces to life. I have thoroughly enjoyed these performances, which are rhetorical in nature, and also don’t miss the theatrical elements in these works. I wish them much success, and hope to hear more from them in the years to come.

Johan van Veen
www.musica-dei-donum.org
twitter.com/johanvanveen
https://bsky.app/profile/musicadeidonum.bsky.social

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Contents
Giovanni Battista Fontana (1589-1630)
Sonata I à violino solo
Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713)
Sonata in F, op. 5,4
Élisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre (1665-1729)
Sonata No. 2 in D
Francesco Maria Veracini (1690-1768)
Sonata in G minor, op. 2,5:
adagio assai
capriccio VI con due soggetti
giga
Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770)
Sonata in C, op. 1,3
Giovanni Mossi (1680-1742)
Sonata in C minor, op. 5,11
Michele Mascitti (1664-1760)
Sonata XII, op. 5,12 ‘Psiché – Divertissement’