FRANK MORELLI

• Baroque Fireworks / Frank Morelli

"...sparkling...the ensemble sets a tone of warmth and good humor...This reading of [Zelenka] is already my favorite recording of this work...the performances are characterized by an operatic lyricism and interpretive freedom...Morelli has set a new standard of playing that will undoubtedly influence generations to come."
THE DOUBLE REED, WINTER 2005
"Many recordings have been made of concertos and sonatas from this period, but none have been as appealing to me as this one. This is a perfect marriage of 18th Century composition, scholarship and musicianship. [The recording] is sure to sparkle for years to come."
AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE, JANUARY FEBRUARY 2005
"an attractive program of sonatas...Morelli swings through a 69-minute program in which you cease to be aware of the passage of time while the gorgeous music pours into your ears. Kudos also for the recorded sonics...They have a nice spatial quality that allows us to hear all the instruments in true perspective..."
ATLANTA AUDIO SOCIETY, DECEMBER 2004 At the dawn of the Baroque era, Venetian composer Giovanni Gabrieli and his followers developed the concertato style of composition. One result of this innovation was to encourage composers throughout Europe to explore the expressive and technical solo possibilities of instruments like the bassoon, which had traditionally been relegated to non-solo roles. More than a century later, late Baroque masters Antonio Vivaldi, Georg Philipp Telemann and Jan Dismas Zelenka, all born within a three-year span, composed some of the finest and most challenging music ever written for the bassoon in this vein.
Introduced to the bassoon while in public school, Frank Morelli studied at the Manhattan and Juilliard Schools of Music, and was the first bassoonist to be awarded a doctorate by Juilliard. He has more than 140 recordings for major labels to his credit, including an acclaimed Mozart Bassoon Concerto on Deutsche Grammophon and "Shadow Dances" which won a 2001 Grammy. Morelli has made eight appearances as a soloist in Carnegie Hall and has appeared with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center on numerous occasions, including at the Whitehouse for the final state dinner of the Clinton presidency. A member of the renowned quintet, Windscape, he also serves on the faculties of the Juilliard, Yale and SUNY Stony Brook, and is principal bassoonist of the New York City Opera Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the American Composers Orchestra.

For this recording, a bassoon rather than the cello was employed as the basso continuo instrument in combination with the harpsichord, except in the Zelenka Trio, where  the composer specified a violone as one of the instruments of choice. Accordingly, the modern double bass was employed. Jan Dismas ZELENKA (1679-1745)
Sonata V in F for 2 oboes, bassoon & basso continuo, ZWV.181
Antonio VIVALDI (1678-1741)
Sonata No.6 in B-flat for bassoon & basso continuo, F.XIV
Sonata No.3 in A minor for bassoon & basso continuo, F.XIV
Georg Philipp TELEMANN (1681-1767)
Sonata in F minor for bassoon & basso continuo
Tafelmusik II: Quartet in D minor
for 2 flutes, bassoon & basso continuo



MSR Classics