Francesco Xaverio Geminiani | Concerti Grossi | Selection from Op. 2, 3 and 5 | 1726-1732

Like every other violinist of his generation, at the beginning of his career Geminiani was mainly affected by the influence of Corelli. We can feel in the music of Geminiani a greater freedom in the rhythmic and thematic elaboration, which is joined by an exceptionally developed and imaginative instrumental virtuosity, which made the music difficult to perform by others. With an unusual attention to detail, his violin writing requires an unusual richness of sonority, an extension towards the high note superior to the customs of his time, and the very frequent use of a transcendental chord technique. The lack of a particularly rich melodic vein is compensated for by a harmonic and instrumental fantasy, counterbalanced by a great imagination in the instrumentation. 1. E Minor Op. 3 No. 3: 00:00:00 Op. 3 No. 3 I. Adagio e staccato - Allegro 00:02:29 Op. 3 No. 3 II. Adagio 00:04:10 Op .3 No. 3 III. Allegro 2. D minor Op. 2 No. 3: 00:07:38 Op. 2 No 3. I. Presto 00:09:47 Op. 2 No 3. II. Adagio 00:12:49 Op. 2 No 3. III. Allegro 3. D minor Op. 3 No. 4: 00:14:38 Op. 3 No. 4 I. Largo e staccato 00:17:00 Op. 3 No. 4 II. Allegro 00:18:20 Op. 3 No. 4 III. Largo - Allegro 00:20:11 Op. 3 No. 4 IV. Vivace 4. C minor Op. 2 No. 1: 00:22:17 Op. 2 No. 1 I. Andante 00:23:38 Op. 2 No. 1 II. Allegro 00:25:44 Op. 2 No. 1 III. Adagio 00:26:49 Op. 2 No. 1 IV. Allegro 5. G minor Op. 3 No. 2: 00:28:22 Op. 3 No. 2 I. Largo e staccato 00:30:08 Op. 3 No. 2 II. Allegro 00:32:18 Op. 3 No. 2 III. Adagio 00:35:00 Op. 3 No. 2 IV. Allegro 6. D minor Op. 2 No. 5: 00:38:09 Op. 2 No. 5 I. Adagio 00:39:14 Op. 2 No. 5 II. Allegro 00:42:00 Op. 2 No. 5 III. Andante 00:42:40 Op. 2 No. 5 IV. Allegro 7. G minor after Corelli Op. 5 No. 5: 00:44:54 Op. 5 No. 5 I. Adagio 00:48:01 Op. 5 No. 5 II. Vivace 00:49:49 Op. 5 No. 5 III. Adagio 00:52:08 Op. 5 No. 5 IV. Allegro 8. D minor after Corelli Op. 5 No. 7: 00:53:33 Op. 5 No. 7 I. Preludio 00:55:29 Op. 5 No. 7 II. Corrente 00:57:49 Op. 5 No. 7 III. Sarabanda 00:59:52 Op. 5 No. 7 IV. Giga Francesco Xaverio Geminiani was born in Lucca, Italy in December 1687, to Giuliano and Angela, as can be red from the baptismal certificate dated Dec 5, 1687. The same document allows us to trace the exact spelling of Geminiani middle name (Xaverio, and not Saverio). Geminiani received musical fundamental skills from his father, violinist in the Palatine orchestra of Lucca and later he was a pupil of the Milanese composer, violinist, and singer Carlo A. Lonati. At the age of twenty-seven and one year after the death of his mentor Corelli, he left Italy for good. On February 1st 1725, Geminiani was the first Italian to be initiated into Freemasonry in the “Queen’s Head Lodge” in London. And in the minutes of this lodge a particular devotion to Italian music is revealed, of which Geminiani was the greatest exponent of the time. In the century that goes from the constitution of the Grand Lodge of England in 1717, well over twenty Italian composers joined Freemasonry. Most of them found in the Freemasonry the time as great stimulus for their activity to promote Chamber Music, as opposed to Opera with costs very high inevitably linked to monarchical power, and to Religious Music, the exclusive privilege of the Church. In Paris, he played his concerts for the “Concert Spirituel”, a concert company born within the French Masonic world a platform for other national styles, most notably Italian, that promoted musical activity in the period of Lent and religious holidays when the Opera and other opera houses were closed. The members of the lodge were prominent and respectable lawyers of the city, wealthy merchants, government officials, and members of the lesser nobility. Their love of music was such that they were willing and able to confidently protect some of London’s best musicians, not just Francesco Geminiani, who led the lodge’s musical performances. The presence of Geminiani among this amateur group is surprising since he is generally regarded as the most important violinist then living in London. He was the most requested musician and most respected violin teacher of his time in the aristocratic and emerging houses of the time. In 1726, Geminiani decided to open a “subscription“ formula (one of the first concert seasons in the modern sense) to gain funds to publish the first 6 sonatas from Op.5 by Corelli (tracks# 7, 8), reworked by Geminiani in the form of a Concerti Grosso. La loggia Philomusicae decided to organize its own special events, commissioning it to Geminiani, which obtained so much luck that formula is still today the main source of income for concert halls and opera houses. He also organized a cycle of twenty concerts at “Hickford’s Room”, using subscription proceeds for the publication of the Op.3, printed in 1732 (tracks# 1,3,5), and the Op.2 (tracks# 2,4,6), which appeared two months later. The release of these two collections, have remained the most famous and appreciated works of Geminiani.