Ariosti: 6 Lessons for Viola d'Amore and Continuo Mauro Righini, Elena Bertuzzi, Ugo Nastrucci & Danilo Costantini

• Attilio Ariosti (1666 - 1729): Lesson I in E-Flat Major:
• 1 Ariosti: Lesson I in E-Flat Major: I. Allegro 03:31
• 2 Ariosti: Lesson I in E-Flat Major: II. Largo 02:58
• 3 Ariosti: Lesson I in E-Flat Major: III. Andante 01:35
• Lesson II in A Major:
• 4 Ariosti: Lesson II in A Major: I. Cantabile 01:26
• 5 Ariosti: Lesson II in A Major: II. Vivace 02:22
• 6 Ariosti: Lesson II in A Major: III. Adagio 03:13
• 7 Ariosti: Lesson II in A Major: IV. Minuet 02:09
• Lesson III in E Minor:
• 8 Ariosti: Lesson III in E Minor: I. Adagio 02:16
• 9 Ariosti: Lesson III in E Minor: II. Alemanda 02:40
• 10 Ariosti: Lesson III in E Minor: III. Adagio 03:56
• 11 Ariosti: Lesson III in E Minor: IV. Giga 03:06
• Lesson IV in F Major:
• 12 Ariosti: Lesson IV in F Major: I. Adagio 02:43
• 13 Ariosti: Lesson IV in F Major: II. Andante 02:22
• 14 Ariosti: Lesson IV in F Major: III. Corente 01:49
• 15 Ariosti: Lesson IV in F Major: IV. Giga 02:16
• Lesson V in E Minor:
• 16 Ariosti: Lesson V in E Minor: I. Vivace 02:19
• 17 Ariosti: Lesson V in E Minor: II. Largo 02:24
• 18 Ariosti: Lesson V in E Minor: III. Giga 02:44
• Lesson VI in D Major:
• 19 Ariosti: Lesson VI in D Major: I. A tempo Giusto 01:15
• 20 Ariosti: Lesson VI in D Major: II. Corrente 01:42
• 21 Ariosti: Lesson VI in D Major: III. Giga 01:14
• 22 Ariosti: Lesson VI in D Major: IV. Rondeaux 02:47
• Pur alfin gentil viola Cantata for solo Voice and Viola D'amore:
• 23 Ariosti: Pur alfin gentil viola Cantata for solo Voice and Viola D'amore: I. Pur alfin gentil viola Aria 07:27
• 24 Ariosti: Pur alfin gentil viola Cantata for solo Voice and Viola D'amore: II. Non fu saggio il consiglio Recitativo 01:23
• 25 Ariosti: Pur alfin gentil viola Cantata for solo Voice and Viola D'amore: III. Beltà che col rigor Aria 06:01
• Total Runtime 01:07:38

Info for Ariosti: 6 Lessons for Viola d'Amore and Continuo

The violinist, organist, composer and librettist Attilio Malachia Ariosti was born in Bologna in 1666. His career took him to Mantua and Venice, the most enlightened musical and artistic centers of northern Italy at the time, then to Berlin and finally Vienna in 1703. Expelled from the Papal State for moral reasons, by 1716 he was living in London where, together with Bononcini and Handel, he became a permanent composer of the Royal Academy.

His Six Lessons for Viola d’Amore, published in London in 1724 and dedicated to King George, were as the name implies composed expressly to teach violinists to play the viola d’amore. They are written in scordatura with a system of movable keys to indicate the different positions and fingerings of the left hand up to the fourth position.

Ariosti’s Cantata for solo voice with the Viola d’amore Pur al fin gentil Viola was probably composed around 1690.

The viola d’amore has six or seven strings and (almost always) the same number of resonance strings placed under the bridge, which strongly characterize its timbre. Tunings were variable and, although from the second half of the 18th century the tuning in D became standard, it is not always straightforward to know which to use. For this reason, viola d’amore parts are written in scordatura, a sort of tablature in which the written note indicates the finger position according to standard tuning, but not the sounding pitch on a ‘detuned’

string. This fascinating and somewhat mysterious instrument is played by both violinists and violists; for violists in particular it offers access to a new, though unfortunately not very vast, repertoire, with works by Biber, Bach, Ariosti and Vivaldi, and more recently Hindemith, Martin, Ghedini and many others.

Attilio Malachia Ariosti (1666-1730) was born in Bologna, Italy. Violinist, organist, composer and librettist. He took vows at the order of the Serviti as Frate Ottavio in 1688 and was appointed organist in the church of S. Maria dei Servi in Bologna in 1693. He travelled to Mantua and Venice, the most enlightened musical and artistic centers of northern Italy and then moved to Berlin and lately to Vienna in 1703.

Expelled from the Papal State for moral reasons, in 1716 he lived in London where, together with Bononcini and Handel, he became a permanent composer of the Royal Academy. At the King's Theater he played with the viola d'amore in the intervals between the acts, "... a new symphony composed by the famous Mr. Attilio Ariosti in which he will play a new instrument called viola d'amore".

The Six Lessons for Viola d'Amore, published in London in 1724 and dedicated to King George, are harmonically and melodically very appealing and were composed expressly to teach violinists to play the viola d'amore. The viola d’amore has six or seven strings and the same number of resonance strings placed under the bridge, that strongly characterize its timbre.

Beautifully performed by Mauro Righini (viola d’amore), Ugo Nastrucci (theorbo), Danilo Costantini (organ & harpsichord) and Elena Bertuzzi (soprano), who sings in a Cantata for solo voice, viola d’amore and b.c.

Mauro Righini, viola d'amore
Elena Bertuzzi, soprano
Ugo Nastrucci, theorbo
Danilo Costantini, organ, harpsichord

Elena Bertuzzi
Graduate of the C.N.S.M.D. of Paris in 1997, she studied dance in Italy, in France and in the USA, along with the studies of Political Sciences at the University of Turin. In 2011, she graduated with a Master’s degree in the Research in General Ethnology and Ethnomusicology at the University Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense. Since 1996, she teaches the analysis of movement, Kinetography Laban and Dance Ethnology at the University Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense and at the University Pascal Blaise of Clermont-Ferrand. Since 1980, she participates as a performer, choreographer and choreographer’s assistant in many productions in Italy and in France. In 1988, together with Cie Timdomè she is an award-winner at the Contest of The Festival d’Orléans. She transcribed in scores and reconstructed many pieces of the repertoire. She leads educational projects about the use of Kinetography Laban in teaching dance for different audiences. She uses the Kinetography in ethnographic research of dance. Her passion for documentary films and her studies.

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