Ariosti: Cantata 'Pur al fin gentil Viola'

This disc concludes the journey by Thomas Georgi through the works for viola d’amore by Attilio Ariosti. The 79 movements, falling into groups and forming 21 ‘sonatas’, stem from two different sources – a ‘Collection of Lessons for the Viol d‘Amour’ published in London in 1724, and a manuscript copy made by the Swedish composer Johan Helmich Roman during his student years in London in the late 1710s.

The present programme also includes a final flourish: a guest appearance by Emma Kirkby in Pur alfin gentil viola, a cantata for solo voice and viola d‘amore. Here the humble and constant violet prevails over the proud and haughty rose. To Georgi, and possibly to Ariosti himself, the violet by association comes to represent the viola d’amore, and all the greater is the joy as the cantata text proclaims it ‘Regina del Prato’ – Queen of the Meadow!

Emma Kirkby has enchanted audiences with her almost supernaturally clear and agile soprano ever since she first appeared on the Early Music scene in the 1970s. As the art of historically informed performance has become more and more widely appreciated, so has her style of singing to the extent that she was included in a listing of ‘the 20 greatest sopranos ever’ made by the BBC Music Magazine in 2007.

Released on the occasion of her 60th birthday, the present collection celebrates her collaboration with BIS and includes highly acclaimed performances of works from her repertoire such as Handel solo cantatas (with London Baroque) and Dowland songs (with Anthony Rooley and Jakob Lindberg) as well as pieces by less familiar composers, such as Ariosti and Amodei, de Lalande and Schimmelpfennig. This collection provides an opportunity to sample the work of an exceptional singer in all its variety.

The accompanying booklet includes a personal appreciation of the performer by music critic Brian Robins, as well as the texts – in the original languages with English translations where applicable – of all the works featured.