Chicago Classical Music

This week, the ensemble Trio Settecento will make its second recording for Cedille Records — and its first actually under the name “Trio Settecento.” The sessions will take place at the Music Institute of Chicago’s Nichols Hall in Evanston.

The Trio — which consists of Rachel Barton Pine, violin; David Schrader, keyboard; and John Mark Rozendaal, bowed bass — provides an example of how a community-based record label can bring artists together in a lasting way.

Rachel Barton Pine credits David Schrader and John Mark Rozendaal as her mentors in “historically informed” baroque performance dating back to her early teenage years. The impetus to begin performing with them came as the result of a recording proposal in 1996. At the time, Rachel and the Chicago Youth Symphony’s Encore Chamber Orchestra had approached me with an idea that became our Violin Concertos by Black Composers of the 18th and 19th Centuries.

That project would take a while to come to fruition, however, and Rachel and I agreed we should come up with a smaller-scale project to begin her recording relationship with Cedille Records right away. When Rachel asked me for a suggestion, I noted her Gold Medal in the 1992 Quadrennial J.S. Bach competition in Leipzig and recommended baroque repertoire.

While Bach’s violin music was widely recorded, I observed that Handel’s was surprisingly and unjustifiably little represented on CD. Rachel loved the idea and pointed out that a good, well-recorded version of the Handel sonatas would have educational benefits, since Handel’s pieces are included in the later Suzuki books.

What made this project especially valuable, however, was Rachel’s special interpretive approach. At the time, the few available recordings offered two very different schools of interpretation: 1. A completely romanticized approach with modern piano accompaniment, or 2. A strict “original instrument” reading devoid of vibrato that left little room for personal interpretation. Putting the concept of “historically informed performance” into practice, Rachel opted to record the Sonatas with “basso continuo” accompaniment of cello and harpsichord, to use a baroque bow, and to employ baroque ornamentation. On the other hand, she used her concert violin of the time — a “modernized” 1617 Amati (e.g., with steel strings) — and her playing exudes personal feeling just as it would in other concert repertory.

Handel: The Sonatas for Violin and Continuo proved a total success, earning critical comments like “Some of the most refreshing and life-enhancing Baroque playing heard in years” (Chicago Tribune), and emerging as Cedille Records’ best-selling CD.

Rachel reports that after releasing this recording, she kept getting asked when the trio of her, David, and John would perform again. She also says they enjoyed working together on the disc so much that they already wanted to find a way to continue. So Trio Settecento was officially formed. The ensemble has gone on to perform extensively including, most recently, a sold out concert at the Frick Museum in New York City this August (which was very favorably reviewed in the New York Times).

As mentioned at the beginning of this post, the group will record its first album as an official Trio — An Italian Sojourn, featuring music of Biagio Marini (1594–1663), Dario Castello (fl. 1621–1636), Alessandro Stradella (1644–1682), Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1713), Francesco Veracini (1690–1750), Giuseppe Tartini (1692–1770), Pietro Antonio Locatelli (1695 – 1764), and George Frideric Handel (1685–1756) — this week.

I should note one change of instrumentation: for pre-classical repertory, Rachel now uses a 1770 Nicola Gagliano in unaltered baroque condition with gut strings. Rachel writes, “I chose this violin partly from a desire for greater authenticity, but mainly because this instrument and setup bring me closest to the concept of sound that I envision for my interpretations of this repertoire.” The instrument is featured on her recent Cedille album Solo Baroque.

It is personally gratifying to me to know that Cedille Records had a hand in the formation of this trio of superb Chicago musicians, all three of whom have recorded many times for the label individually and/or in other combinations. Again, I believe this is a testament to what the presence of a community-based classical recording company can do.

I had planned to relate other examples of musicians brought together by Cedille Records, but this post has already exceeded my usual length, so I will leave those stories for another day.

I hope this time of year brings you and your loved ones together and wish everyone happy holidays and a joyous New Year, filled with bright notes.

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