"Thüringer Bach Collegium". Pietro Antonio Locatelli - CD Review, April 27th, 2023

On April 11th, 2023, a new album was released at the German label Audite in Detmold: a disc recorded by the Thüringer Bach Collegium ensemble, at the Oberkirche in Arnstadt, the city where Johann Sebastian Bach was active in his youth, more than3 Centuries ago. The Thüringer Bach Collegium band is currently established in the same locality, which established itself in the German space with a rich concert and recording activity. The ensemble founded in 2018 has so far recorded six discs dedicated to the baroque repertoire, the most recent album of the band comprising a set of concerts composed by Pietro Antonio Locatelli - "Introduzioniteatrali" op. 4 - an exceptional collection of pre-classical music, unfortunately too little known. Listening to these orchestral pieces we can enjoy the Italian late baroque style, with singable melodies, vigorous rhythms, ingenious thematic chains and contrasting structures in tempo and character. The set includes six works for orchestra and basso continuo made up of 3 three parts and six concerti grossi. Pietro Antonio Locatelli was born in 1695 in Bergamo; was one of the most famous Italian composers and violinists in the first part of the 18th Century. He started his career in Rome, then he was admired in prestigious musical centers throughout Europe, finally settling, in 1729, in Amsterdam, the city where he died in 1764. There he published several collections of chamber and concert pieces, some of which were conceived in earlier stages, when Locatelli was active in Frankfurt and Kassel. The set numbered opus 4 was published in 1735 in Amsterdam, the city where most of the scores published at that time were published. The Thüringer Bach Collegium ensemble is led by the violinist Gernot Süßmuth, an experienced musician who until 2010 was artistic director of the Chamber Orchestra of the European Union, and since 2004 has been an honorary professor at the HochschlefürMusik "Franz Liszt" and concertmaster of the Weimar State Chapel. The ensemble that he currently leads as artistic director, the Thüringer Bach Collegium, enjoys a special reputation in Germany, has a well-documented approach to baroque music that he successfully promotes on concert stages, playing historical instruments. The band has a consistent repertoire - reflected in its discography, including both creations by Johann Sebastian Bach and scores of pre-classical composers discovered by the ensemble members - absolute premiere recordings with works signed by Anton Schweitzer and Prince Johann Ernst IV of Sachsen-Weimar.