The Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (PBO) is an American orchestra based in San Francisco. PBO is dedicated to historically informed performance of Baroque, Classical and Romantic music on original instruments. The orchestra performs its subscription series in the following cities and venues:
San Francisco: Herbst Theatre
Berkeley: First Congregational Church of Berkeley
Stanford: Bing Concert Hall
Palo Alto: First United Methodist Church
Laurette Goldberg, a harpsichordist, teacher, and pupil of Gustav Leonhardt, founded the PBO in 1981. She stood down as the ensemble’s music director in 1985 and chose Nicholas McGegan as her successor. McGegan served as PBO music director from 1985 through 2020. During McGegan’s tenure, the Philharmonia Chorale was established in 1995 as the affiliated chorus with the PBO, under the direction of Bruce Lamott. McGegan now has the title of music director laureate with the PBO.
In 2012, Richard Egarr first guest-conducted the PBO. Following two additional guest appearances, in January 2019, the PBO announced the appointment of Egarr as its next Music Director, with an initial contract of 5 years. The original intention was for Egarr to serve as music director designate for the 2020-2021 season, and then to take the title of music director with the 2021-2022 season.[3] In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the PBO reconfigured its 2020-2021 season into a virtual season, and announced the advent of Egarr as its music director effective 1 July 2020, one season earlier than originally planned.
The PBO has collaborated with such arts organisations as Cal Performances, the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, and the New York Baroque Dance Company in the fully staged, modern-day premiere of Rameau’s Le Temple de la Gloire in April 2017. PBO regularly partners with the Mark Morris Dance Group.
The PBO has commercially recorded for such labels as Harmonia Mundi, Reference Recordings and BMG and Avie. The ensemble initiated its own label, Philharmonia Baroque Productions, in 2011. On radio, the PBO has been regularly featured on KDFC-FM. (wikipedia)
And here they perform an important concert work by Arcangelo Corelli
Arcangelo Corelli (17 February 1653 – 8 January 1713) was an Italian composer and violinist of the Baroque era. His music was key in the development of the modern genres of sonata and concerto, in establishing the preeminence of the violin, and as the first coalescing of modern tonality and functional harmony.
Engraving of a bust of Corelli from the title page of
his Twelve Concerti Grossi, Op.6 (pub. 1714):
He was trained in Bologna and Rome, and in this city he developed most of his career, due also to the protection of great patrons. Even if his entire production is limited to just six collections of published works — five of which are composed of Trio Sonatas or solo and one by Concerti grossi — he achieved great fame and success throughout Europe, also crystallizing models of wide influence.
His writing was admired for its balance, refinement, sumptuous and original harmonies, for the richness of the textures, for the majestic effect of the theatricality and for its clear, expressive and melodious polyphony, a perfect quality of classical ideals, although belonging to the baroque epoch and often employing resources typical of this school, such as the exploration of dynamic and expressive contrasts, but always tempered by a great sense of moderation. He was the first to fully apply, with an expressive and structuring purpose, the new tonal system, consolidated after at least two hundred years of experimentation.
As a virtuoso violinist he was considered one of the greatest of his generation and contributed, thanks to the development of modern playing techniques and to his many disciples scattered throughout Europe, to place the violin among the most prestigious solo instruments and was also a significant figure in the evolution of the traditional orchestra.
A dominant figure in Roman musical life and internationally highly regarded, he was desired by many courts and was included in the most prestigious artistic and intellectual society of his time, the Pontifical Academy of Arcadia. He was known in his time as “the new Orpheus”, “the prince of musicians” and other similar adjectives, great folklore was generated around his figure and his fame did not diminish after his death. Even today his work is the subject of a voluminous critical bibliography and his sonatas are still widely used in musical academies as didactic material as well as pieces capable of affirming themselves in today’s concert repertoire. His position in the history of Western music is considered crucial, being recognized as one of the greatest masters at the turn of the XVII and XVIII century, as well as one of the earliest and greatest classicists. (wikipedia)
Twelve concerti grossi, Op. 6, is a collection of twelve concerti written by Arcangelo Corelli probably in the 1680s but not prepared for publication until 1714. They are among the finest and first examples of concerti grossi: concertos for a concertino group (here a 1st violin, a 2nd violin and a cello) and a ripieno group of strings with continuo.
Their publication – decades after their composition and after Italian composers had moved to favor the ritornello concerto form associated with Vivaldi – caused waves of concerto grosso writing in Germany and England, where in 1739 Georg Frideric Handel honored Corelli directly with his own “Opus 6” collection of twelve. (wikipedia)
This album is really fantastic. The performance, the sound, the music is really beautiful. The Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra conducted by Nicholas McGegan is magnific. Simply bravo! (Manuel Carranza Cueto)
Personnel:
Tracklist:
Concerto No. VII In D Major:
01 Vivace-Allegro-Adagio 1.56
02 Allegro 1.57
03 Andante Largo 1.54
04 Allegro 1.02
05 Vivace 1.02
Concerto No. VIII In G Minor (“Christmas Concerto”);
06 Vivace-Grave. Arcate sostenuto e come stà 1.12
07 Allegro 2.13
08 Adagio-Allegro-Adagio 2.43
09. Vivace 0.54
10. Allegro 2.13
11. Pastorale ad libitum: Lagro 2.47
Concerto No. IX In F Major:
12 Preludio: Largo 1.12
13 Allemanda: Allegro 2.28
14 Corrente: Vivace 1.30
15 Gavotta: Allegro 0.45
16 Adagio 0.26
17 Minuetto: Vivace 1.37
Concerto No. X In C Major:
18 Preludio: Andante Largo 1.42
19 Allemanda: Allegro 2.08
20 Adagio 0.36
21 Corrente: Vivace 2.27
22 Allegro 2.29
23 Minuetto: Vivace 1.40
Concerto No. XI In B flat Major:
24 Preludio: Andante Largo 2.04
25 Allemanda: Allegro 2.17
26 Adagio-Andante Largo 1.37
27 Sarabana: Largo 0.50
28 Giga: Vivace 1.11
Concerto No. XII In F Major:
29 Preludio: Adagio 1.42
30 Allegro 2.20
31 Adagio 1.14
32 Sarabanda: Vivace 0.53
33 Giga: Allegro 2.54
Music: Arcangelo Corelli
The official website:
Maurice André (born 21 May 1933 – 25 February 2012) was a French trumpeter, active in the classical music field.
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