Notari & Fontana (Early Baroque Music from the Basilica di Santa Barbara, Mantua) Julia Fritz & Johannes Hämmerle

• Giovanni Battista Fontana (1589 - 1630):
• 1 Fontana: Sonata seconda 06:19
• Angelo Notari (1566 - 1663):
• 2 Notari: Aria sopra il Ruggiero 08:14
• 3 Notari: Aria sopra la Monica (Modi 8-10) 04:42
• Giovanni Battista Fontana:
• 4 Fontana: Sonata sesta 06:15
• 5 Fontana: Sonata terza 04:19
• Angelo Notari:
• 6 Notari: Ciaccona 03:07
• Giovanni Battista Fontana:
• 7 Fontana: Sonata quinta 04:51
• Angelo Notari:
• 8 Notari: Aria sopra la Romanesca 06:39
• 9 Notari: Ancor che col partire 03:41
• 10 Notari: Canzone passaggiata 05:31
• Giovanni Battista Fontana:
• 11 Fontana: Sonata prima 03:41
• Angelo Notari:
• 12 Notari: Aria sopra la Monica (Modi 1-7) 06:17
• 13 Notari: Gagliarda (Digital Bonus Track) 00:51
• Giovanni Battista Fontana:
• 14 Fontana: Sonata quarta 04:34
• Francesco Rovigo (1541 - 1597):
• 15 Rovigo: Toccata 03:26
• Total Runtime 01:12:27

Info for Notari & Fontana (Early Baroque Music from the Basilica di Santa Barbara, Mantua)

Mantua – cultural centre of the 17th century: Claudio Monteverdi created his first operas and madrigals here, preparing the ground for the works of Giovanni Battista Fontana and Angelo Notari. Julia Fritz and her ensemble have reinterpreted their pieces in the church of Santa Barbara in Mantua, presenting an exciting panorama of musical practices at the time.

​Compared to the Italian centres of power - Milan, Florence and Rome - the Lombardian city of Mantua in the Po Valley is small in size. All the more prestigious was the commitment to the arts by the ruling Gonzaga dynasty: artists such as Andrea Mantegna, Giulio Romano and Leon Battista Alberti created lasting master­pieces in their paintings and architecture for them, whilst musicians such as Giaches de Wert and Claudio Monteverdi consolidated Mantua's reputation throughout Europe. Their stage was within the grand complex of the ducal palace and the adjoining church of Santa Barbara: an impressive synthesis of the arts consisting of Mannerist architecture and painting - and an ideal space for music.

This magical place was chosen by recorder player Julia Fritz together with organist Johannes Hämmerle, soprano Magdalene Harer and harpist Reinhild Waldek to record works by Giovanni Battista Fontana and Angelo Notari, two contemporaries of Monteverdi. Fontana's solo sonatas for violin and continuo, which Julia Fritz interprets on various recorders, belong to the canon of early baroque violin music, while the pieces by Notari, some of which are recorded here for the first time, hail from a British Library manuscript which the composer presumably produced for English music lovers in the circle of King Charles I. They are variations and arrangements of songs that demonstrate the high standard of solo and ornamental art of the time, which were as popular in Italy as in the rest of Europe.

A special feature of this recording is the interplay between a chamber music formation and the famous organ of Santa Barbara. Graziadio Antegnati, one of the great Italian organ builders of the sixteenth century, equipped the instrument with special stops and the meantone tuning of the time; following extensive restoration, it can now be admired once again in its original sound, perfectly suited not only for solo pieces but also for accompanying mixed vocal-instrumental ensembles.

Julia Fritz, recorder
Magdalene Harer, soprano
Reinhild Waldek, triple harp
Johannes Hämmerle, organ

Julia Fritz
was a prize winner at the 8th International Telemann Competition in 2015 and the International 2006 ERTA- Competition for solo recorder. In 2007 she was selected to play as a member of the European Union Baroque Orchestra, and was chosen to assist in the masterclass of Han Tol at the International Summer Academy Salzburg in the summer of 2010 and 2012. 2014 till 2016 she was teaching at the "Hochschule für Musik Trossingen", since February 2017 she holds the position as a professor of recorder at the "Vorarlberger Landeskonservatorium" in Feldkirch, Austria.

She graduated summa cum laude in 2008 as a student of Han Tol at the "Hochschule für Künste" in Bremen, studying recorder. Consequently, the institute offered her the opportunity to do a Prix d'Excellence, a highly selective advanced performance course, which she finished with distinction in 2011. She began her studies in Salzburg with Dorothee Oberlinger before moving to Bremen.

As recorder and cornett player, Julia Fritz has recorded with the Bremer Barock Consort for the CPO label (Classic Production Osnabrück), and performed with numerous ensembles including Oltremontano and Weser-Renaissance Bremen at the Utrecht Early Music Festival, the Musikfest Bremen, Musica Viva Osnabrück and the International Recorder Festival in Taiwan.

Magdalene Harer
German-born Soprano Magdelene Harer excels in a variety of music styles. She appears on the international stage performing repertoire spanning seven centuries, in oratorio, song and chamber music.

Under the baton of Konrad Junghänel, Jarosław Thiel, Raphaël Pichon, Alexander Liebreich, Paul van Nevel, Philippe Herreweghe, Peter Neumann, Hermann Max and Jörg Straube, she has given concerts in many of Europe’s most prestigious venues, including Koelner Philharmonie, International House of Music (Moscow), National Forum of Music (Wroclaw), Tchaikovsky Concert Hall (Moscow), and National Theatre (Sarajevo).

Magdalene’s current focus is ensemble and consort singing and she regularly appears with some of Europe’s most celebrated period ensembles, such as Cantus Coelln, Collegium Vocale Gent, Huelgas Ensemble, Ensemble Pygmalion and ensemble polyharmonique.

Equally at home on the solo platform, she has appeared with numerous orchestras, among them Concerto Köln, Lautten Compagney Berlin, Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Göttinger Symphonieorchestrer, Neue Philharmonie Westfalen, Neue Düsseldorfer Hofmusik, Münchener Kammerorchester and others.

Booklet for Notari & Fontana (Early Baroque Music from the Basilica di Santa Barbara, Mantua)