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CD reviews
António PEREIRA DA COSTA (c1697 - 1770): "Concerti Grossi"
Ensemble Bonne Corde
Dir: Diana Vinagre
rec: Oct 25 - 28, 2021, Lisbon, Igreja do Menino Deus
Ramée - RAM 2104 (© 2023) (70'39")
Liner-notes: E/D/F
Cover, track-list & booklet
Parts
Spotify
Concerto V in g minor;
Concerto VI in b minor;
Concerto VII in F;
Concerto VIII in c minor;
Concerto X in C;
Concerto IX in A;
Source:
Concertos Grossos com doys Violins, e Violão de Concertinho Obrigados: E outros doys Violins, Viola e Orgão, de Concerto Grosso a Arbitrio q Se poderao dobrar, op. 1, 1741
Sara DeCorso*, Jacek Kurzydło, Diana Lee*, Sue-Ying Koang, violin;
Raquel Massadas, viola;
Diana Vinagre*, Rebecca Rosen, cello;
Christine Sticher, double bass;
Giovanni Bellini, archlute, guitar;
Fernando Miguel Jalôto, harpsichord
(*) concertino
The largest part of the music of the 17th and 18th centuries that is performed in our time has been written in what one could call the centre of Europe. Music written at the edges of the continent - musically speaking - seldom appears on the programmes of concerts and on disc. It is mostly the performers from those countries or regions who take care of their own musical heritage. Portugal is certainly at the edge of the European musical map. Music by Portuguese composers of the Renaissance has been given quite some attention, but the repertoire of later times is still largely unknown. Most music lovers may never have heard of composers active in Portugal during the 17th and 18th centuries. António Pereira da Costa is certainly one of them.
Talking about the edges of Europe: that is definitely a good description of the island of Madeira. That is where the disc under review brings us. Very little is known about Pereira da Costa, and only twelve concerti grossi from his pen have come down to us. It is not known whether he was born at Madeira; as the death certificate refers to a brother living in Lisbon, he may have been born in Portugal. However, it seems that for most of his life he worked at Madeira, where he acted as mestre de capella at the Cathedral in Funchal, the main town on the island. As he was called 'abbot' and 'reverend Father', we may conclude that he was an ordained priest.
It is certain that he has written more than the concerti grossi which are the subject of the present disc. In June 1750 the Gazeta de Lisboa mentions the "excellent cantatas and sonatas composed by the Chapel Master António Pereira da Costa" for the festivities of Nossa Senhora do Monte in Funchal. None of these have been preserved. That also goes for a collection of Serenatas for the Guitar, which were published in London around 1755. There his concerti grossi were also printed. They were dedicated to João José de Vasconcelos Bettencourt (1703 - 1766), a member of an influential Madeiran family, who may also have made the publication financially possible.
In the course of the 18th century music life in Portugal came under the spell of the Italian style. It was embraced by Portuguese composers, and at the same time Italians, especially from Naples, settled in Portugal and played a major role in music life. No wonder, then, that Pereira da Costa's concerti grossi show the influence of the Italian style. However, at the time they were published, in 1741, the genre was already pretty old-fashioned. These pieces indeed bear some old-fashioned traits, especially as they are strongly influenced by the concerti grossi of Arcangelo Corelli. The title of the set is almost exactly the same as Corelli's. That does not mean that he slavishly follows his model. Unlike Corelli, Pereira da Costa does not make a distinction between concerti da chiesa and concerti da camera. Each concerto includes one or several dance movements. Notable is also that the viola sometimes participates in the concertino. Listening to these concertos one is regularly reminded of Corelli's concertos, but there are also movements which sound more modern. I noted them especially in the Concerto IX in A; in particular the two allegros are not Corellian at all. A remarkable piece is Concerto X in C, which closes with a marcia, which fits into the tradition of the battaglia, a popular genre across Europe in the 17th century.
This same concerto opens with a movement with the description adagio - vivace - allegro. In fact, the latter two are separated by another short episode in slow tempo. Several movements in these concertos have the tempo description allegro - adagio. This does not indicate that a fast section is followed by a slow one, but rather that fast and slow sections alternate.
In order to be suitable for performance some reconstruction had to be undertaken. The only extant set of parts, preserved in the British Library, omits the part of the concertino cello. Moreover, the edition is riddled with errors, "suggesting that the printer was incompetent and/or that there was no effective proofreading", Fernando Miguel Jalôto writes in his liner-notes. For this recording the missing part has been reconstructed. That was not an easy task, as in some places "the idiosyncrasies of Pereira da Costa's highly individual style left us with serious doubts about his intentions." Obviously, any reconstruction is always a 'proposal'; often other solutions are possible. Fortunately, the inevitable insecurity about the reconstruction has not withheld the Ensemble Bonne Corde from recording six of the concerti grossi. I am quite impressed by what we get here. These concertos are very good stuff, and I hope that some day we may get the remaining six. There is not a dull moment here.
That is also due to the excellent performance by this Portuguese ensemble. The dance rhythms are perfectly executed, making the listener feel them. The corrente from the Concerto VII in F is a good example; others are the closing movements of Concerto V in g minor (a minuetto) and Concerto VI in b minor (a giga). The slow movements have quite some intensity. Overall, the tempi are well-chosen, and the contrasts between them - between movements but also within movements - are perfectly realized.
In short, I have very much enjoyed both the music and the performances. These concertos are a substantal addition to the corpus of baroque instrumental music, and this disc a fine contribution to our knowledge of the Portuguese music scene of the 18th century.
Johan van Veen (© 2024)
Relevant links:
Ensemble Bonne Corde