1. Work(s): Sinfonia in G major 
2. Concerto for recorder & orchestra in F major 
3. Symphony for 2 violins, viola & bass in D major, J-C 14   play
4. Concerti grossi (6), Op. 2, No. 2 in E minor, Op. 2/2 
5. Quintet No.3 for 3 violins, viola & double-bass 
6. Concerto grosso in G minor ('di Natale'), Op. 5/6

Ensemble 415
Chiara Bianchini – violin & direction

This is a very well played selection from the Sammartini brothers' music with a nice contrast in alternating between Guiseppe's deft concertos and Giovanni's more delicate sinfonias. Ensemble 415 give a gutsy satisfying perfomance. This is the best disc I know of from the HM Music D'Abord series.

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Symphony in A Major, J-C 62
1.   		I. Presto 00:02:26
2.   		II. Andante e pianissimo 00:02:15
3.   		IIIa. Presto assai 00:03:15
4.   		IIIb. Allegro (alternative finale) 00:02:09
Symphony in C Minor, J-C 9
5.   		I. Allegro 00:02:24
6.   		II. Affettuoso 00:04:02
7.   		III. Allegro 00:02:09
Symphony in D Major, J-C 16
8.   		I. Alla breve 00:02:15
9.   		II. Andante sempre piano 00:02:55
10.   		III. Presto 00:01:23
Symphony in F Major, J-C 36
11.   		I. Presto 00:02:17
12.   		II. Andante 00:05:00
13.   		III. Allegro assai 00:01:35
Symphony in D Minor, J-C 23
14.   		I. Allegro 00:03:30
15.   		II. Grave 00:06:42
16.   		III. Presto 00:03:40
Symphony in C Major, J-C 4
17.   		I. Allegrissimo 00:05:09
18.   		II. Andante e affettuoso 00:03:30
19.   		III. Allegrissimo 00:03:48

Aradia Ensemble
Kevin Mallon – Conductor

Giovanni Battista Sammartini (St. Martini, San Martini, etc.) is another of those almost countless composers whose names have more or less fallen into the cracks in the floor of music history. Born in late 1700 or early 1701 in Milan, Sammartini ,an oboist, spent all his life in the city. He was the seventh of eight children born to a French father, Alexis St. Martin, an oboist who emigrated to Italy, and an Italian mother.

Sammartini was well established in his hometown by the time he was 25. His Christmas oratorio, Gesu bambino adorato dall’ pastori , was composed in 1726 and performed to unanimous critical and public acclaim, although the German flutist and composer J. J. Quantz wrote in less than complimentary terms of Sammartini’s musical gifts; apparently Quantz had been possessed by the proverbial Green-Eyed Monster.

The 1730s saw a steady stream of well-written symphonies, concertos, sonatas, and dramatic works from Sammartini’s pen. His music also began to receive recognition outside of Italy; his initial foray into the genre of opera, Memet , was performed in Lodi in 1732 and possibly in Vienna the same year. It wasn’t long before Sammartini had become the leading figure in the earliest symphonic school in Europe. It included such now-obscure names as Brioschi, Galimberti, Giulini, Lampugnani, and Chiesa.

In spite of his reputation in Italy, Sammartini’s music was better known beyond its borders. Publishers such as Leclerc (Paris) and Walsh (London) engraved Sammartini’s music, and one of his symphonies was performed in Amsterdam in 1738. In Paris, the Concert Spirituel performed a Sammartini symphony in 1751; his music was equally popular in England, being admired and praised by the Duke of Cumberland, brother of George III.

Sammartini’s 67 surviving symphonies exhibit the gradual but dramatic stylistic shift from the Baroque to the Classical idiom; the six recorded here stem from his early period (1724-39) to around 1750. In addition to the obvious and expected stylistic progression, Sammartini also increased and strengthened the orchestra in his later symphonies by adding parts for oboes, horns, and trumpets. Most of the early symphonies omit violas; the middle symphonies employ trumpets and horns, and the late symphonies, none of which are offered here, include independent parts for oboes.

Kevin Mallon and his exceptional little band have a string of fine recordings on Naxos, including instrumental music by Boyce, Wassenaer, and Boismortier; there are also recordings of choral and vocal music by Caldara and Wanhal. Furthermore, they have begun a cycle of Vivaldi’s sacred music. Mallon’s musicians are well tuned to the repertoire they have recorded, and in each and every CD from Naxos they demonstrate an exceptional command of their period instruments. Stylistic idiosyncrasies are bypassed; instead, Mallon opts for sound musical judgment, resulting in a release that is leisurely paced, but never lacking in vitality, excitement, or commitment. The running time of the disc, just over an hour, is somewhat stingy and could have allowed for the inclusion of one of the later symphonies and a broader picture of Sammartini’s work in the genre, but I won’t complain in excess, for what is here has delighted this auditor repeatedly. --- Michael Carter, Fanfare

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1	Harpsichord Concerto in A major: Andante spiritoso			
2	Harpsichord Concerto in A major: Allegro assai			
3	Harpsichord Concerto in A major: Andante			
4	Harpsichord Concerto in A major: Allegro assai			
5	Concerto for flute and strings in D major: Allegro			
6	Concerto for flute and strings in D major: Siciliano			
7	Concerto for flute and strings in D major: Vivace			
8	Concerto for flute and strings in A major: Allegro			
9	Concerto for flute and strings in A major: Andante			
10	Concerto for flute and strings in A major: Allegro			
11	Oboe Concerto No. 9 in B flat major: Allegro assai			
12	Oboe Concerto No. 9 in B flat major: Adagio ma non tanto			
13	Oboe Concerto No. 9 in B flat major: Tempo di Minuetto			
14	Concerto for oboe and strings, No. 12 in C major: Allegro			
15	Concerto for oboe and strings, No. 12 in C major: Andante			
16	Concerto for oboe and strings, No. 12 in C major: Allegro assai

Donatella Bianchi  - harpsichord, basso continuo
Paolo Ferrigato – flute
Francesco Quaranta - oboe
I Musici Ambrosiani
Paolo Suppa – conductor

The elder Sammartini, Giuseppe (1695–1750), is the featured composer on this disc. His younger brother, Giovanni Battista (1700–75), today tends to get most of the credit for the influential role he played in the development of the early Classical symphony. But Milan-born Giuseppe also made important contributions to the fledgling form. His main claim to fame during his lifetime, however, was less as a composer than as a virtuoso oboist. Only in hindsight has he been recognized for the prolific composer he was. It’s believed he wrote some 450 works, including three operas, 68 symphonies, a dozen concertos, and a number of chamber works, though many have been lost and others misattributed to his brother. Like many another Italian composer and musician of his day, Sammartini followed the money trail to London in 1728, remaining there for the last 22 years of his life. There he played in the opera orchestras of Handel and Bononcini and rubbed elbows with J. C. Bach and no doubt some of his other native Italians, such as Geminiani, who had also established themselves in England.

According to the booklet note, only the four-movement harpsichord concerto on this disc has been recorded before; the other four works are claimed to be world premiere recordings. That may have been true at the time these pieces were recorded—more on that below—but I find listed on an Atma CD (22273) what I believe is the D-Major Flute Concerto contained on the present disc, albeit played on recorder rather than transverse flute.

With regard to the A-Major Harpsichord Concerto, set aside all of your expectations as to what such a piece written by an Italian Baroque composer might sound like, for the model here is clearly Handel. Sammartini didn’t spend all those years playing in the opera pit for naught. His concerto could easily pass for one of the keyboard concertos Handel wrote to be played during intermissions at performances of his oratorios. Imagine one of Handel’s organ concertos transferred to harpsichord and you’ll have a perfect idea of where Sammartini’s concerto is coming from.

The flute concertos are almost certainly earlier works dating from Sammartini’s Italian years. They are found in the same collection that contains the composer’s most famous work, the Recorder Concerto in F Major. Sammartini was not a flutist, and while the two flute works here contain some lovely music, they’re careful not to push the soloist too far into virtuoso territory. The contemporaneous German flutist and composer J. J. Quantz filled that void quite nicely with his more than 300 flute concertos. Sammartini’s style is typical of much music of the Italian Baroque, which is to say, as one writer did, that it echoes with the eternity of the Tuscan hills.

The flute may not have been Sammartini’s instrument, but the oboe was, and here we have two beautiful examples of oboe concertos in the Italian manner to augment those by Albinoni and Vivaldi. A bit closer in style to the former than the latter, Sammartini’s writing is, like Albinoni’s, rather more feminine and voluptuous than the more masculine and athletic Vivaldi’s. Rhythmic drive is not quite as forceful and ritornellos are not quite as short and repetitive. Slow movements also tend to be more extended with almost romanticized drawing-out of the solo cantilena line. If you’re familiar with Albinoni’s op. 9 oboe concertos, these two Sammartini concertos from a set of 12 in London’s British Library are close enough in content and style to be Albinoni sisters.

It’s increasingly rare these days for recordings of 17th- and 18th-century music made within the last 10 years or so to be performed on modern instruments. But the recording at hand was made in 1998, and I Musici Ambrosiani is a modern-instrument chamber ensemble in the tradition of groups such as I Musici, I Solisti Veneti, and I Solisti di Zagreb.

A Google search turned up no information on I Musici Ambrosiani, and I found no other recordings by the ensemble listed. Nor does the booklet note provide any background on the band, but it does name the individual players, who number a total of 14. So, while these are definitely more than one-to-a-part performances, they’re not philharmonic-sized realizations. Playing is alert and stylish, and for fans of Italian Baroque-styled concertos, the music will be irresistible.

A final note on the CD itself: The booklet cover, adorned with a photo of a fruit plate filled with strawberries, orange slices, and kiwis, is emblazoned with a series designation, Delizie Musicali , and the disc itself is imprinted with a “Vol. 3.” I don’t know what’s on Volume 2, but Volume 1, a disc of works by Biber, and Volume 4, a disc of works by Michel Pignolet de Montéclair, were also sent to me for review. Based on these three albums it would seem a safe assumption that the CDs in this Delizie Musicali series, which initially appeared (and are still available) on Dynamic’s full-priced label, are now being rereleased in this mid-priced line devoted to the music of the Baroque period. ---FANFARE: Jerry Dubins

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Concerto secondo (F major)
1 Allegro
2 Andante
3 Allegro

Concerto primo (A major)
4 Andante spiritoso
5 Allegro assai
6 Andante
7 Allegro assai

8 Sonata in C major 3:18
[Giovanni Battista Sammartini]

Concerto quarto (B flat major)
9 Allegro
10 Sostenuto
11 Andante
12 Allegro

Concerto terzo (G major)
13 Spiritoso
14 Andante
15 Allegro

16 Sonata in G major

La Risonanza
David Plantier, violin
Olivia Centurioni, violin
Olaf Reimers, cello
Giorgio Sanvito, double bass

Fabio Bonizzoni, organ & direction

The many successes of La Risonanza, the ensemble led from the keyboard by Fabio Bonizzoni (notably with its survey of Handel secular cantatas), can often lead to Bonizzoni’s great talent as a harpsichordist and organist being overlooked. Here, in the delightful Op 9 concertos by Giuseppe Sammartini, we are able to enjoy Bonizzoni’s skill in the latter role, assisted by a small – but decidedly elegant – ensemble of all-stars in which feature the violin playing of David Plantier and Olivia Centurioni. --- glossamusic.com

Giuseppe was the elder brother of the better known Giovanni Battista. Born in 1695, he left Milan for London in 1728, where he stayed until his death in 1750, making quite a name for himself. These concertos, published after his death for “Harpsichord or Organ”, are domestic in scale, with just two violins, cello and bass alongside the organ. It is not clear when they were composed, but they have more of a Rococo than Baroque feel to them, rather enhanced by the playing style on this CD. The spiky solo registrations are not in keeping with the English organ of the period, and nor is the over-articulated performance style. Bonizzoni keeps to the two-part structure of most of the organ solos (without infilling the harmonies, a debatable point for this repertoire), but it is a shame that he doesn’t make more of the organ when in its continuo role – it is more-or-less inaudible. The notes give no information on the organ, but I have a feeling it is later than this repertoire. It is certainly not in any English or Italian early to mid 18th-century style. Two lively little Sonatas by Giovanni Battista Sammartini complete the disc. --- Andrew Benson-Wilson, earlymusicreview.com

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Sonate op.2 n°3 en mi mineur / E minor / e-moll

1 I. Allegro   3'43
2 II. Andante   3'32
3 III. Minuet   3'09

Sonate n°21 (Sibley Mus. Lib.) en Si bémol majeur / B flat major /B-dur

4 I. [Allegro]   2'33
5 II. Adagio   2'26
6 III. Allegro   2'55

Sonate op.2 n°4 en Sol majeur / G major / G-dur

7 I. Andante   3'17
8 II. Allegro   2'50
9 III. Affettuoso   2'22
10 IV. Allegro assai   2'25

Sonate n°23 (Sibley Mus. Lib.) en Fa majeur / F major / F-dur

11 I. Andante   5'15
12 II. Allegro - Adagio - Allegro - Adagio - Allegro   4'09
13 III. Adagio   2'08
14 IV. Andante   3'32

Sonate op.13 n°5 en sol mineur / G minor / g-moll

15 I. Andante   3'48
16 II. Presto   1'30
17 III. Minuetto 1 - Minuetto 2   2'39

Sonate op.13 n°1 en Sol majeur / G major / G-dur

18 I. Andante   2'41
19 II. Allegro assai   3'40
20 III. Adagio 0'45
21 IV. Allegro assai   2'02

Sonate op.13 n°4 en Sol majeur / G major / G-dur

22 I. Andante   5'05
23 II. Allegro   3'15
24 III. Adagio   1'22
25 IV. Minuet   2'20

Maurice Steger - Recorder	
Sergio Ciomei - Harpsichord	
Sergio Ciomei - Organ	
Margret Köll - Harp	
Mauro Valli - Cello	
Christian Beuse - Bassoon	
Eduardo Egüez - Theorbo	
Naoki Kitaya - Organ	

According to the spotty historical record, Giuseppe Sammartini was, along with Antonio Vivaldi and Vivaldi's pupil Luigi Madonis, one of the three great 18th century instrumental musicians in northern Italy. Sammartini was a woodwind virtuoso, a fact affirmed by the seven mellifluous recorder sonatas on this disc. While there are run-happy patches of notes for notes' sake, the happy news for the listener discovering Sammartini is how engaging he can be in different veins. The Allegro in Sonata No. 21 is full of chirping good humor. The Adagio of Sonata No. 23, by contrast, has an exotic, improvisatory cast bordering on chaos. Maurice Steger, who also has a suave Telemann disc to his credit on Harmonia Mundi, finds much more than a pretty tone in his recorder. He's accompanied variously by organ, harp, bassoon and string continuo. --- sfgate.com

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A1 	Symphony In A Major For Strings: Spiritoso 	
A2 	Symphony In A Major For Strings: Andante 	
A3 	Symphony In A Major For Strings: Allegro 	
A4 	Sonata G Major 2 Horns And Strings:Allegro 	
A5 	Sonata G Major 2 Horns And Strings:Andante 	
A6 	Sonata G Major 2 Horns And Strings: Allegro 	
A7 	Symphony In A Major 2 Horns And Strings:Allegro 	
A8 	Symphony In A Major 2 Horns And Strings: Andante 	
A9 	Symphony In A Major 2 Horns And Strings: Presto 	
B1 	Sinfonia Dell Academia No.2 In C Major:Tempo Giusto 	
B2 	Sinfonia Dell Academia No.2 In C Major: Minuetto Graziosa 	
B3 	Symphony in G Major for Trumpets and Strings: Presto 	
B4 	Symphony in G Major for Trumpets and Strings: Affetuoso 	
B5 	Symphony in G Major for Trumpets and Strings: Spiritoso

Orchestre Academia dell’Orso
Newell Jenkins – conductor

The symphony is one of the most important genres in the repertoire of today's orchestras. In descriptions of the history of this genre the name of Giovanni Battista Sammartini is often referred to as someone who played an important role in the development of the classical symphony. No less than Joseph Haydn, the first composer of symphonies which have come to be very much part of today's orchestral repertoire, acknowledged his debt to Sammartini in his own development as a symphonist. In the light of this it is remarkable that Sammartini's own contributions are almost completely ignored. One reason for this is that relatively few them are available in modern editions. But thanks to Bathia Churgin and Newell Jenkins we at least know which orchestral works Sammartini wrote. --- Johan van Veen, musicweb-international.com

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