The Europadisc Review
Tartini - Diavolo: 6 Violin Sonatas
Adrian Chandler (violin), La Serenissima
£9.52
Born in Pirano (present-day Piran in Slovenia), Giuseppe Tartini spent most of his life – apart from a three-year sojourn in Prague – in north-eastern Italy, in the lands surrounding the northern Adriatic. He was originally destined by his parents for the church, which involved studies in both the law and music. This did not prevent him from becoming an expert at fencing (which he took part in while in priestly garb!), and his character was an intriguing mixture of fieriness and mystical introspection.In 1710, against his parents’ wishes, he married Elisabetta Premazore, a woman of lower social standing and moreover mistress of Cardinal Giorg... read more
Born in Pirano (present-day Piran in Slovenia), Giuseppe Tartini spent most of his life – apart from a three-year sojourn in Prague – in north-eastern Italy, in the lands surrounding the northern Adriatic. He was originally destined by his parents for the church, which involved studies in both the l... read more
Tartini - Diavolo: 6 Violin Sonatas
Adrian Chandler (violin), La Serenissima
The Spin Doctor Europadisc's Weekly Column
The Resurrection of Stainer’s ‘Crucifixion’ 20th March 2024
20th March 2024
Widely vilified as the epitome of mawkish late-Victorian religious sentimentality, John Stainer’s The Crucifixion was first performed in St Marylebone Parish Church on 24 February 1887 at the beginning of Lent. Composed as a Passion-themed work within the capabilities of parish choirs as part of the Anglo-Catholic revival, its publication by Novello led to its phenomenal success as churches throughout England quickly took it up. It also spawned many imitations – such as John Henry Maunder’s Olivet to Calvary – which lacked its blend of sincerity, melodic simplicity and harmonic sophistication. Stainer himself is reported to have come to regard the work as ‘rubbish’, no doubt finding its ubiquity irksome when compared to many of his more challenging and original works.
Yet The Crucifixion was born of Stainer’s own exposure, while a chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral, to... read more