Caldara: Complete Cello Sonatas

Caldara: Complete Cello Sonatas
Composer Antonio Caldara
Artist Francesco Galligioni cello
Alberto Gallligioni cello
Paolo Zuccheri violone
Lorenzo Feder organ
Roberto Lorregian organ & harpsichord
Format 3 CD
Cat. number 96168
EAN code 5028421961682
Release August 2025

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About this release

A new and complete survey of the attractive body of cello sonatas which, in his day, helped to make Antonio Caldara a Viennese rival to the fame of Antonio Vivaldi in Venice.

Born in Venice as the son of a violinist, Caldara grew up as a chorister at the Basilica di San Marco, and won important posts in Mantua, Rome and Barcelona, as a maestro di capella to royal courts. But it was his move to Vienna during the 1710s which secured his name and his fortune. Becoming Vice-Kapellmeister to the Imperial Court in 1716, Caldara introduced the late Venetian style to Central Europe, and its influence remained a determining factor in both church music and opera as well as instrumental music until long after his death in 1736.

Through sacred works such as the oratorio Maddalena al piedi di Cristo, Caldara has won a following on record in the modern era. However, his surviving output of instrumental music has remained largely unexplored. Publishing his Op.1 Trio Sonatas in 1688, Caldara refers to himself as a ‘musico di violoncello’, and there can be no doubt from this collection that he knew his way around the instrument. They were composed between 22 April and 26 July 1735: Caldara’s sheer facility has perhaps told against him, with a total output of over three thousand separate works. But he knew his craft, and melody seems to have come readily to him.

A few Lezioni (Nos. 43, 23 & 1) from Caldara’s published instruction method for learning the cello are included as preludes to Sonatas Nos. 8, 10 and 12. Most of the sonatas belong to the four-movement ‘sonata da chiesa’ form, but Caldara also used the three-movement archetype which became increasingly standard. There is no shortage of opportunities for virtuosic display, as well as for lyricism.

These recordings are made by musicians immersed in the Italian late-Baroque world. In its expanded form, L’Arte dell’ Arco has made much praised recordings of Haydn and Vivaldi for Brilliant Classics, including a comprehensive box of Vivaldi’s Concertos Opp. 1-12. These Italian musicians speak and sing Caldara’s music with unforced fluency.

- Antonio Caldara (1670-1736), an Italian Baroque composer, was born in Venice, where he was a chorister in the famous San Marco, with Legrenzi as his teacher. He soon spread his wings across Europe and held several important posts in Mantua, the Spanish court in Barcelona, Rome and eventually the post of Kapellmeister at the Imperial Court in Vienna. Caldara left a substantial oeuvre, consisting of instrumental music in the tradition of Corelli, sacred music and operas.
- Caldara’s sonatas for cello and basso continuo exemplify the transition from the late Baroque style toward the emerging galant aesthetic. These works are clearly written by a master of the instrument, as Caldara evidently was. The sonatas typically follow a four-movement structure, alternating slow and fast tempos, in the tradition of the sonata da chiesa. They blend lyrical, cantabile lines with virtuosic passages, showing the cello’s agility and warm tone.
- Played by one of Italy’s foremost “Early Music” cellists, Francesco Galligioni, playing with fellow members of the ensemble L’Arte dell’Arco. He successfully recorded the complete cello concertos by Vivaldi, works by Dall’Abaco, sonatas by Lanzetti and others.

Track list

Disk 1

  1. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 1 in A Major: I. Andante
  2. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 1 in A Major: II. Allegro
  3. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 1 in A Major: III. Larghetto
  4. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 1 in A Major: IV. Allegro
  5. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 2 in D Major: I. Allegro
  6. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 2 in D Major: II. Largo
  7. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 2 in D Major: III. Allegro
  8. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 3 in B Major: I. Largo
  9. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 3 in B Major: II. Allegro
  10. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 3 in B Major: III. Aria andante
  11. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 3 in B Major: IV. Allegro assai
  12. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 4 in D Minor: I. Allegro
  13. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 4 in D Minor: II. Largo
  14. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 4 in D Minor: III. Allegro assai
  15. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 5 in F Major: I. Adagio
  16. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 5 in F Major: II. Allegro
  17. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 5 in F Major: III. Aria largo
  18. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 5 in F Major: IV. Allegro stil di minuet
  19. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 6 in A Minor: I. Allegro
  20. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 6 in A Minor: II. Largo
  21. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 6 in A Minor: III. Allegro assai
  22. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 6 in A Minor: IV. Aria allegro

Disk 2

  1. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 7 in C Minor: I. Largo
  2. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 7 in C Minor: II. Allegro
  3. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 7 in C Minor: III. Adagio
  4. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 7 in C Minor: IV. Allegro
  5. Antonio Caldara: Lezione 43
  6. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 8 in E-Flat Major: I. Largo
  7. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 8 in E-Flat Major: II. Allegro
  8. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 8 in E-Flat Major: III. Adagio
  9. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 8 in E-Flat Major: IV. Allegro e spiritoso
  10. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 9 in G Major: I. Allegro
  11. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 9 in G Major: II. Adagio
  12. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 9 in G Major: III. Allegro e vivace
  13. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 9 in G Major: IV. Allegro
  14. Antonio Caldara: Lezione 23
  15. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 10 in E Minor: I. Allegro assai
  16. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 10 in E Minor: II. Largo
  17. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 10 in E Minor: III. Allegro e spiritoso
  18. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 11 in G Minor: I. Andante
  19. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 11 in G Minor: II. Allegro e spiritoso
  20. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 11 in G Minor: III. Larghetto
  21. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 11 in G Minor: IV. Allegro assai
  22. Antonio Caldara: Lezione 1
  23. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 12 in D Minor: I. Allegro
  24. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 12 in D Minor: II. Allegro
  25. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 12 in D Minor: III. Largo
  26. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 12 in D Minor: IV. Allegro

Disk 3

  1. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 13 in F Minor: I. Presto
  2. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 13 in F Minor: II. Largo
  3. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 13 in F Minor: III. Allegro
  4. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 13 in F Minor: IV. Allegretto stil di Minuet
  5. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 14 in A Minor: I. Largo
  6. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 14 in A Minor: II. Allegro
  7. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 14 in A Minor: III. Aria Larghetto
  8. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 14 in A Minor: IV. Allegro e spiritoso
  9. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 15 in A Major: I. Largo
  10. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 15 in A Major: II. Allegro
  11. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 15 in A Major: III. Aria non molto allegro
  12. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 15 in A Major: IV. Allegro
  13. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 16 in G Major: I. Adagio
  14. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 16 in G Major: II. Allegro
  15. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 16 in G Major: III. Largo
  16. Antonio Caldara: Sonata No. 16 in G Major: IV. Allegro
  17. Antonio Caldara: Sinfonia in D Major: I. Adagio
  18. Antonio Caldara: Sinfonia in D Major: II. Allegro
  19. Antonio Caldara: Sinfonia in D Major: III. Grave
  20. Antonio Caldara: Sinfonia in D Major: IV. Presto
  21. Antonio Caldara: Concerto in D Minor: I. Allegro
  22. Antonio Caldara: Concerto in D Minor: II. Larghetto
  23. Antonio Caldara: Concerto in D Minor: III. Allegro assai