Marco Fornaciari, Fone Ensemble – Vivaldi: Il Canto, dallo Strumento alla Voce (2008) SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

Marco Fornaciari, Fone Ensemble – Vivaldi: Il Canto, dallo Strumento alla Voce (2008)
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 48:45 minutes | F/B Covers + PDF Booklet | 1,4 GB
or DSD64 Stereo (from SACD-ISO to Tracks.dsf) > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | F/B Covers + PDF Booklet | 1,31 GB
or FLAC 2.0 (carefully converted & encoded to tracks) 24bit/48 kHz | F/B Covers + PDF Booklet | 535 MB

Of the two Vivaldi Gloria stored in the first volume of the Sacred Works of the collection of the Jordan National Library of Turin , in D major, this is undoubtedly the most significant and must be registered with the Creed, the Magnificat and the Stabat Mater in the group of the best compositions.

Review by John Miller:
Although not stated in the recording details, this mixed programme of Vivaldi instrumental and sacred choral works proves to be from a live concert, with applause. The venue was appropriately a church in a suburb of Pisa, which gives an useful amount of ambience to the proceedings, recorded in stereo only.

The disc has been mastered at an unusually high level, causing me to scramble for the volume control to subdue it at once. It really doesn’t sound like a DSD recording made with a basic set of Neumann valve microphones; above modest volume levels it is very fatiguing and high strings glare. Most of my CDs sound better. Even at lower volumes some high violin notes seem to jump out momentarily, a disconcerting feature. Overall, the sound is monochrome, and I had to turn for comparison to Channel Classic’s La Stravaganza disc with a similar period string orchestra (Vivaldi: La Stravaganza – Podger/Arte Dei Suonatori) to find another world of thrilling instrumental colour and rich sonorities.

The opening two Vivaldi concertos for violin and strings are played by the Fonè Ensemble, a small period instrument group, with the director/soloist Marco Fornaciari. The “Grosso Mogul” RV 208 and Op. 3 no. 9 (RV 230, used by Bach in his organ concerto BWV972) have plenty of lengthy and difficult virtuoso parts for the soloist. Fornaciari plays them well, except for some moments of questionable intonation. The ripieno group have good vitality, but the playing is not exceptionally characterful, although the use of a delightfully piping chamber organ as continuo was a sweet feature of the recitative in RV 208. When the applause comes in after the performances, it is sparse and certainly more polite rather than enthusiastic.

Things go down hill rapidly when the chorus appears. A mixed-voice regional chorus numbering around 50, the Corale Valdera clearly has the potential to overpower the very small orchestra, which its very dense tone frequently proceeds to do. The choice of works is eccentric, to say the least. Rather than complete performances of three Vivaldi sacred works, a few single movements are sung, except for the Credo RV 591 which is complete. Only 3 movements each are given from the famous Gloria Rv 589 (from 12 movements) and the Magnificat RV 610 (from 9 movements, and not even including the crucial opening Magnificat!).

The joyous first movement of the Gloria opens with a pacey string introduction, but as soon as the chorus enters they start to drag, singing with little care for vocal colour and meaning, at a generalised forte which seems to be their preferred volume level throughout the choral pieces. There is no light and shade in the voices, evidence of commitment is fleeting and rhythms are obstinately four-square. Several of the slower movements simply sound weary and drag terribly. Pitching between choir and orchestra is sometimes in dispute, and also within the choir – the tenors in particular, straining their voices, are often well off pitch and tend to slide down scales rather than articulating. In short, I have heard many amateur choirs give far better performances than this. The audience applause tells it all; it is even thinner than for the instrumental music, except for a few isolated enthusiasts who are probably relatives of the singers. If you want to hear a fine period performance of “The” Vivaldi Gloria, then go to Pearlman (Vivaldi: Gloria, Bach: Magnificat – Pearlman).

In total, this is a record of a local church performance which was probably quite entertaining at the time, but simply does not merit international distribution.

Tracklist:

01. Concerto per violino e archi “Grosso Mogul” – I. Allegro
02. Concerto per violino e archi “Grosso Mogul” – II. Recitativo
03. Concerto per violino e archi “Grosso Mogul” – III. Allegro
04. Concerto in La min op.3 n.9 per violino e archi – I. Allegro
05. Concerto in La min op.3 n.9 per violino e archi – II. Largo
06. Concerto in La min op.3 n.9 per violino e archi – III. Presto
07. Dal Gloria RV 589 – Gloria in Excelsis Deo
08. Dal Gloria RV 589 – Domine Fili Unigenite
09. Dal Gloria RV 589 – Laetatus sum RV 607
10. Magnificat RV 610a – Et misericordia
11. Magnificat RV 610a – Fecit potentiam
12. Magnificat RV 610a – Deposuit potentes
13. Credo RV 591 – Credo
14. Credo RV 591 – Et incarnatus est
15. Credo RV 591 – Crucifixus
16. Credo RV 591 – Et ressurrexit

Personnel:
Marco Fornaciari – violin
Fonè Ensemble
Corale Valdera, conducted by Simone Valeri

Note:
Conceived, Produced & Engineered by Giulio Cesare Ricci. Digital DSD Edited by Antonio Verderi.
Recorded on July 18-19, 2007 at Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta, Fabbrica di Peccioli, Peccioli (PI)
Pure DSD Recording – Audiophile Productions / Fonè Records # 057 SACD

SACD ISO

https://xubster.com/xebef6dgwyae/Marc0F0rnaciariF0neEnsembleVivaldi.IlCant0dall0Strument0allaV0ce2008SACDIS0.part1.rar.html
https://xubster.com/gstd3k3emgr9/Marc0F0rnaciariF0neEnsembleVivaldi.IlCant0dall0Strument0allaV0ce2008SACDIS0.part2.rar.html

https://hexload.com/rnjc9zyugdgh/Marc0F0rnaciariF0neEnsembleVivaldi.IlCant0dall0Strument0allaV0ce2008SACDIS0.part1.rar
https://hexload.com/h6x7v8ahkkgk/Marc0F0rnaciariF0neEnsembleVivaldi.IlCant0dall0Strument0allaV0ce2008SACDIS0.part2.rar

DSF

https://xubster.com/42yvxiawkjjz/Marc0F0rnaciariF0neEnsembleVivaldi.IlCant0dall0Strument0allaV0ce2008DSD64.part1.rar.html
https://xubster.com/fqldsoy5gqyp/Marc0F0rnaciariF0neEnsembleVivaldi.IlCant0dall0Strument0allaV0ce2008DSD64.part2.rar.html

https://hexload.com/p1rb1vjuwst4/Marc0F0rnaciariF0neEnsembleVivaldi.IlCant0dall0Strument0allaV0ce2008DSD64.part1.rar
https://hexload.com/w2ytdrxxhma5/Marc0F0rnaciariF0neEnsembleVivaldi.IlCant0dall0Strument0allaV0ce2008DSD64.part2.rar

Hi-Res FLAC

https://xubster.com/bkb4o46bw4c9/Marc0F0rnaciariF0neEnsembleVivaldi.IlCant0dall0Strument0allaV0ce2008FLAC2448.rar.html

https://hexload.com/rj310d5beemm/Marc0F0rnaciariF0neEnsembleVivaldi.IlCant0dall0Strument0allaV0ce2008FLAC2448.rar