Dresden Ensemble Zefiro, Alfredo Bernardini

• Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688 - 1758): Quadro in B-flat major, FWV N:B2 (post 1727):
• 1Sonata for 2 Oboes, Bassoon and Continuo in B-Flat Major, FaWV N:B2: I. Andante02:12
• 2Sonata for 2 Oboes, Bassoon and Continuo in B-Flat Major, FaWV N:B2: II. Allegro02:20
• 3Sonata for 2 Oboes, Bassoon and Continuo in B-Flat Major, FaWV N:B2: III. Largo01:43
• 4Sonata for 2 Oboes, Bassoon and Continuo in B-Flat Major, FaWV N:B2: IV. Allegro03:18
• Johann Joachim Quantz (1697 - 1773): Sonata in G minor, QV 2:41a/b:
• 5Sonata in A Minor, QV 2:41a/b: I. Andante01:50
• 6Sonata in A Minor, QV 2:41a/b: II. Allegro02:47
• 7Sonata in A Minor, QV 2:41a/b: III. Largo01:56
• 8Sonata in A Minor, QV 2:41a/b: IV. Allegro02:13
• Johann David Heinichen (1683 - 1729): Sonata in B-flat major, SeiH 257 (1726):
• 9Sonata in B-Flat Major, SeiH 257: I. Affectuoso02:42
• 10Sonata in B-Flat Major, SeiH 257: II. Allegro02:20
• 11Sonata in B-Flat Major, SeiH 257: III. [Largo]02:42
• 12Sonata in B-Flat Major, SeiH 257: IV. Allegro02:27
• Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741): Sonata a quattro in C major, RV 801:
• 13Sonata a quattro in C Major, RV 801: I. Largo03:09
• 14Sonata a quattro in C Major, RV 801: II. Allegro02:21
• 15Sonata a quattro in C Major, RV 801: III. Largo02:43
• 16Sonata a quattro in C Major, RV 801: IV. Allegro02:34
• Georg Philipp Telemann (1681 - 1767): Sonata in C minor, TWV 42:c4:
• 17Trio Sonata in C Minor, TWV 42:c4: I. Lentement02:03
• 18Trio Sonata in C Minor, TWV 42:c4: II. Viste02:44
• 19Trio Sonata in C Minor, TWV 42:c4: III. Lentement avec douceur04:15
• 20Trio Sonata in C Minor, TWV 42:c4: IV. Gay02:21
• Arcangelo Califano (1733 -1756): Sonata a quattro in C major:
• 21Sonata a quattro in C Major: I. Vivace02:42
• 22Sonata a quattro in C Major: II. Siciliano02:47
• 23Sonata a quattro in C Major: III. Allegro02:47
• Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688 - 1758): Quadro in G minor, FWV N:g1 (post 1727):
• 24Sonata for 2 Oboes, Bassoon and Continuo in G Minor, FaWV N:g1: I. Largo02:08
• 25Sonata for 2 Oboes, Bassoon and Continuo in G Minor, FaWV N:g1: II. Allegro02:33
• 26Sonata for 2 Oboes, Bassoon and Continuo in G Minor, FaWV N:g1: III. Largo01:52
• 27Sonata for 2 Oboes, Bassoon and Continuo in G Minor, FaWV N:g1: IV. Allegro02:26
• Antonio Lotti (1667 - 1740): Echo in F major (1717-1719):
• 28Echo in F Major: I. [Allegro]04:19
• 29Echo in F Major: II. Adagio02:48
• 30Echo in F Major: III. Allegro02:56
• Total Runtime01:17:58

Info for Dresden

An ensemble selected from the excellent Capelle of Friedrich August I in Dresden, the Cammer-Musique and its leader, the phenomenal oboist Johann Christian Richter, inspired some of the leading German composers and Italian guests at the court around 1720 to write sonatas in which oboes and bassoon are challenged with extremely expressive and virtuosic parts. This was the time and place in which the largest amount of impressive music with oboe and bassoon as soloists in history was written. German composers such as Heinichen, Zelenka (to be heard by Zefiro on ARCANA A394), Fasch and Quantz wrote these pieces in the Italian style, with the typical alternation between singing adagios and brilliant allegros. Telemann composed a sonata with ornamentation and affects inspired by the French style. Lotti, who resided in Dresden between 1717 and 1719, also noticed the outstanding skills of the court’s wind players and wrote his only solo pieces for these instruments there. Vivaldi met Richter during the latter’s visit to Venice in 1716, when he accompanied the Elector to the city, and he too dedicated some remarkable oboe and bassoon solos to the German musician.

Ensemble Zefiro Alfredo Bernardini, Oboe

Zefiro
According to Greek mythology, ZEFIRO was the tender and kind God of the Western Wind. In 1989, the oboists Alfredo Bernardini and Paolo Grazzi, and the bassoonist Alberto Grazzi, members of the most outstanding baroque orchestras, founded ZEFIRO, a versatile music group specialising in the eighteenth-century repertoire that gives particular prominence to wind instruments. Since then, ZEFIRO has performed at many major European festivals, including those of Amsterdam, Aranjuez, Barcelona, Bonn, Geneva, Graz, Helsinki, Innsbruck, London, Liege, Lyons, London, Malmö, Manchester, Milan, Munich, Palma de Mallorca, Paris, Potsdam, Prague, Ravenna, Regensburg, Rome, Salzburg, Stuttgart, Stresa, Utrecht and Vienna. They have also played in Israel, Egypt, Japan, Korea, USA, Canada, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Brazil and have always received enthusiastic responses from both audiences and the press. In 1999 ZEFIRO has realized a documentary-film on Antonio Vivaldi for the Belgian broadcasting company RTBF. ZEFIRO’s recordings include the six Sonatas for two oboes and bassoon by Jan Dismas Zelenka, the complete works for wind ensemble of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and their own arrangements for 12 winds and a double bass of excerpts from the three Mozart operas to librettos by Lorenzo da Ponte, Concertos for oboe, bassoon and strings and Concerti per vari strumenti by Antonio Vivaldi as part of the project by Opus/Naïve for the complete recording of Music by this composer from the University Library of Turin. The ensemble has also rehabilitated two remarkable composers of the late eighteenth century, Georg Druschetzky and Luigi Gatti, and its recording of Handel’s Water Music and Telemann’s Wassermusik has established ZEFIRO’s reputation also as a Baroque orchestra. More recent recordings include wind music by L.v.Beethoven, the Divertimenti for winds and strings by W.A.Mozart, “The Musick for the Royal Fireworks” by G.F.Handel and “Concerti & Ouverture” by J.F.Fasch all published to the Deutsche Harmonia Mundi/Sony Music label. All these CDs have received several international awards, including the coveted Grand Prix du Disque, the “Premio Nazionale Classic Voice”, the Editor’s Choice by Gramophone, the “Choc du Monde de la Musique de l’année 2007” and the “Diapason d’Or de l’année 2009”; ZEFIRO is now a reference worldwide, famed for its virtuoso performances of the wind repertoire on period instruments. ZEFIRO’s activity is divided into three formations: chamber ensemble, wind group (“Harmonie”) and baroque orchestra to cover a vast part of the baroque repertoire from vivaldi Concertos to Handel Operas, from Bach Cantatas and Haydn Masses to wind music by Mozart, Rossini and Beethoven.

Alfredo Bernardini
Born in Rome in 1961, Alfredo Bernardini moved to The Netherlands in 1981 to specialize in baroque oboe and early music with, among others, Bruce Haynes and Ku Ebbinge. In 1987 he received his soloist diploma from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. He has performed all over Europe, in Russia, U.S.A., Canada, Japan, China, Korea, Malaysia, Egypt, Israel, South America and Australia as a member of prestigious baroque ensembles such as Hesperion XX, Le Concert des Nations, La Petite Bande, The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Das Freiburger Barockorchester, The English Concert, Bach Collegium Japan, Balthasar Neumann Ensemble and others. He has played in more than 100 recordings. In 1989 he founded the ensemble Zefiro together with the brothers Paolo and Alberto Grazzi. His recordings with Zefiro have won important prizes such as the Cannes Classical Award and the Diapason d’Or de l’Année 2009. As a director, he has worked with orchestras in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Norway, Poland, the UK, Sweden, Canada, Australia, Israel and with the European Union Baroque Orchestra. His research on the history of woodwind musical instruments has resulted in several articles published by important international magazines. Since 1992 he teaches baroque oboe at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and also taught from 2002 to 2009 at the Escola Superior de Musica de Cataluña in Barcelona. Ha has also been guest teacher in music academies and summer courses in Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Israel and the U.S.A.

Booklet for Dresden