Corelli’s colleagues

Abstract

If the activities of the recording industry are any guide, Corelli is currently riding the crest of a very substantial wave which shows no sign of breaking. He is also benefiting by association other composers whose own music is a testimony to the powerful influence which his small but perfectly formed output enjoyed right across Europe—and who are now building interesting discographies of their own. A recent review of recordings of music both by his own pupils, and by devoted disciples who had no direct contact with him (‘In the shadow of Corelli’, Early Music xliv/2 (2016), pp.354–6), brought to light some unfamiliar but most enjoyable music, including Antonio Caldara’s two sets of exceptionally fine trio sonatas, which certainly merit a place in every Baroque chamber ensemble’s repertory. The group of recordings being considered here performs a similar function by providing a showcase for composers who are today probably even less well known than Caldara, and who were not pupils or far-flung disciples but professional colleagues working alongside him in Rome. Antonio Maria Montanari (1676–1737), Giovanni Mossi (c.1680–1742) and Giuseppe Valentini (1681–1753) were Roman violinists who regularly played for Corelli in the ensembles which he assembled for the plethora of grand musical occasions over which he presided. All three are known to have taken part in the first performance of Handel’s new oratorio La Resurrezione di Nostro Signor Gesù Christo, which took place at the palace of Handel’s patron the Marchese Ruspoli on Easter Sunday 1708.