Luogo e data di registrazione		Waalse Kerk, Amsterdam (The Netherlands) - 28/31 January 2002
	Registrazione: live / studio		studio
	Producer / Recording supervisor		Wolf Erichson
	Recording Engineer		Stephan Schellmann
	Prima Edizione LP		-
	Prima Edizione CD		Sony / Vivarte - SK 89 926 - (1 CD) - durata 73' 10" - (p) 2003 - DDD
	Cover Art		Pietà by Giovanni Battista Gaulli (Baciccia) (1639-1709) - Galleria Nazionale, Rome
	Note		-

When one speaks of Luigi Boccherini, one thinks immediately of the famous yet infamous Minuet, a perfect Rococo miniature, given out for publication by the composer, or of the Cello Concerto which adds to the relatively small bulk of repertoire for great cello virtuosos. Boccherini, born in Lucca on the 19th of february 1743 and died in Madrid on the 28th of May 1805, wrote 125 string quintets, 91 string quartets, 42 string trios, between 30 and 40 sonatas for the violin, violoncello and piano, 30 symphonies and a number of religious works. This is something which is recognized by musicologists, but in our ordinary music circles, not common knowledge. Certainly, in recent years the works have been recorded, but they seldom reach the concert stage. The whole musicological branch has tended to overlook Boccherini.In 1936 when the private library of the Boccherini family in Madrid went up in flames, only then did they take note of the forgotten treasures which were, at that point, lost forever. As a result, there remain many missing pieces from Boccherini's colourful life story. The reasons for the general neglect are various: On one hand, the virtuoso cellist and composer worked in Spain for the greater portion of his life, cut off from the late 18th century European musical centers. Otn the other hand, he stood in the shadow of the great figure of Joseph Haydn. Even before his big London success, Haydn was considered to be the leading musical light in Europe. Then, Boccherini's musical style seemed “old-fashioned” in comparison to that of Haydn and Mozart. The so-called Vienna Classicists, Haydn, in particular, applied rules for music composition in which thematic material for chamber music was governed by the same standards as symphonic music. This model for writing instrumental music and this ordering of musical movements prevailed throughout the entire 19th century, from Beethoven to Brahms, spreading into modernity. When held up to this standard, Boccherini's artful way of writing music was totally different. What earmarks his musical style, is the play with contrasting tonal colours, total freedom from the classical order of movements, a supple melody line which he characterically pulls into a swirl of converging themes. In this way, cello virtuoso Boccherini, exparids the idiomatic opportunities, colouring them richly - an art form in which the listening experience itself takes on the lyricsm of a bygone era. All things considered, it is really immaterial whether it was Boccherini or Haydn who was the first “inventor” of the string quartet. Boccherini came from a family of musicians. His father was a double bass player in “Cappella Palatina”, the municipal orchestra of Lucca. It is a subject of scholarly dispute, whether or not it was his father who gave the boy his first musical instruction. In 1753 the young cellist went to Rome where he was taught by Giovanni Battista Costanzi, choirmaster of St. Peters, and also a distinguished cellist. Boccherini toured through Northern Italy as a cello virtuoso and he met great success. Around 1760 he began to prove himself as a composer. Cello virtuosi at the time were expected to play not only standard works, but also their own compositions. One year after the death of his father in 1767, Boccherini travelled through Nice to Paris, where he already enjoyed a reputation as a composer. On the advice of an influential Spaniard, possibly the Duke of Fuentes, who was the Spanish Ambassador in Paris, Boccherini travelled on to Madrid in 1768 where he was cellist in the court of King Carlos III. Financially secure, in 1771 he married Clementina Pellicia, a singer from Rome. Possibly it was then the tempting offer of 30.000 Reales which induced him to leave King Carlos III`s court in favour of the court of Infantc Don Luis Antonio Jaime de Borbón in Aranjuez. Here he composed the majority of his chamber music works. In 1776 the Infante fell from grace, due to his marriage to a commoner, and Boccherini followed him to his country residence in the Sierra de Gredos. It was from this time, 1781, that his Stabat Mater, for soprano and string quintet was composed. In 1785, both Don Luis and Boccherini's wife died, and Boccherini returned to Madrid. In 1786, the Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm, who was soon to become King of Prussia, and who was also a cello enthusiast, took notice of Boccherini. He commissioned works from him and gave him a salaried position as Court Composer without Boccherini`s ever having set foot in Prussia. In 1787 Boccherini married for the second time. After the death of the King in 1797 this source of income was cut off. The last years of Boccherini`s life were marked by health and financial problems. Legend has it, that at the time of his death, he was destitute. In 1927, his remains were transported from the crypt in the church at San Justo in Madrid on to Lucca, where his grave can be found today at the Church of San Francesco. Composers, as early as Palestrina, and as late as Penderecki, have written musical settings of the Stabat Mater, a cycle which commemorates the seven sorrows of the Virgin Mary. This work of poetry believed to have been written by Jacopone da Todi (died 1306) is one of the most moving examples of medieval spiritual poetry. The sorrowing mother under the cross, as a symbol of Franciscan devoutness, an illumination that has shone throughout the centiiries. Boccherini wrote this music for his patron Don Luis in 1781. Before this time, sacred compositions had played a smaller role in his work. For years, the first version for solo soprano and string quintet was lost to the world and in fact was only edited in 1987. Up until then, only the second version for three voices was known. This was brought out in 1801 and 1803 in Paris and Naples, possibly published on demand. There is no doubt that the famous Stabat Mater composed in the 18th century by Pergolesi was an influencing factor, the two editions share the same key of F minor. Nevertheless, Boccherini goes his own way. The reserved expressivity of this work makes less of a dramatic affectation, than of sustained lament. The operatic style sometimes adopted by Boccherini in the form of da capo arias and coloratura ornamentation does not change this. The distinctive sorrowful motif at the beginning, lays down a consistent groundwork and the accompanying tempo marking Adagio flebile in the first movement “Stabat Mater” establishes the mood. The second movement continues in F minor with “Cuius animam” in a flowing 3/8 tempo. An utterly unusual construction in terms of form is the “O quam tristis”composed in the shape of a recitative containing the expansive C minor aria “Quae moerebat”, although a dramatic creation rich in coloratura style, in its scope, never distorts the framework of the lament, but lends musical diversion. The work now switches from the minor to the major mode. “Pro peccatis”, played after a long instrumental introduction, an allegretto movement in A flat major, leads to “Eia mater”, in E flat major, the wonderful prelude driven by muted strings, imitates the phrasing of the vocal line, the lyrical almost staggered lines enhanced with tasteful embellishments. In strong contrast to this is the “Tui nati”, a da capo aria in E major, an intense and animated piece with subdued internal movement. “Virgo virginum”, in B major iomes as a surprise with sordino and pizzicato effects lrom the instruments, like a serenade. “Fac ut poriem” in F major, is a softly moving Pastorale in a Siciliano rhythm. With “Fac me plagis”, Boccherini returns to the C minor tonality with an energetic fugato and sweeps through with a counterpoint which composers (such as Pergolesi) usually reserve lor the close of their works. The piece creates an eflect of a final, impassioned outcry of grief and suffering, sets up a rich, contrasting accent between what has already taken place and what is still to come. The final movement “Quando corpus” returns to the principal key F minor, a gripping piece of music, which seems to penetrate the realms of still transcendence. And so are the last words “Paradisi gloriam”, not a jubilant statement, as in later settings of the cycle, but rather an expression of hope, symbolized hy the final key change to F major. Boccherini's string quintets represent the central creative core of his work. This is true both qualitatively and quantitively. It is possible that the parts for the two cellos - something never again adopted, except for Schubert's late quintet - were coincidental. His patron Don Luis in Aranjuez already had a string quartet and the famous cellist Boccherini became the fifth member of it. It is hardly possible to ascertain the dates on which the individual quintets were composed but both quintets Opus 42 originate in the years between 1785 and 1795, when Boccherini was composing for the Prussian Crown Prince, also a keen cellist, later to become King Friedrich Wilhelm III. This is indicated by the importance given to the 1st cello part compared to that of the 1st violin. In both quintets, the classical rules of composition do not apply, rather a dialogue of the parts, running parallel lines, and a light and expertly written counterpoint. Occasional bursts of virtuosity in the 1st violin and an elegant balance of sounds in Opus42, No. 1, open up the main movement that runs headlong, introducing several themes one after the orher, which in the middle section and the freely constructed reprise are newly arranged and culminate in a most original resolution. The following minuet and trio are full of charm, with swirls of major-minor and witty rhythmic high points. The slow movement, also featuring the 1st cello, leads straight into an agitated, finely-crafted rondo, where the couplets are more precise than in the slightly murky rondo theme. The order of movements in Opus 42, No. 2 is absolutely unconventional. A deeply expressive adagio at the beginning is followed by the delightful whirling minuet and trio, and once again, a very freely composed sonata movement. Here, as in the closing rondo, the 1st cello part is extra virtuosic, a hint that the work was probably commissioned by the royal Prussian patron, Friedrich Wilhelm III. Alfred Beaujean