One of the most significant composers in Swedish music of the Baroque era was Johan Helmich Roman, and his neglected works are undergoing a modest revival, thanks to the efforts of harpsichordist Anna Paradiso and her ensemble, Paradiso Musicale. Paradiso released a hybrid SACD of Roman's solo keyboard sonatas in 2014 on BIS, and for this 2015 audiophile disc, she has joined recorder player Dan Laurin, cellist Mats Olofsson, and guitarist Jonas Nordberg in performances of the flute sonatas Nos. 1-5. Stylistically, Roman was ...
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One of the most significant composers in Swedish music of the Baroque era was Johan Helmich Roman, and his neglected works are undergoing a modest revival, thanks to the efforts of harpsichordist Anna Paradiso and her ensemble, Paradiso Musicale. Paradiso released a hybrid SACD of Roman's solo keyboard sonatas in 2014 on BIS, and for this 2015 audiophile disc, she has joined recorder player Dan Laurin, cellist Mats Olofsson, and guitarist Jonas Nordberg in performances of the flute sonatas Nos. 1-5. Stylistically, Roman was strongly influenced by Handel and Neapolitan music, and the arresting quality of his dramatic gestures and highly embellished and convoluted melodies is characteristic of his work. In these sonatas, any kind of pastoral mood is belied by flashy runs and elaborate ornaments that require virtuosic abilities, which Laurin and the basso continuo have in abundance. Because this is less than half of Roman's published set of 12 flute sonatas, one expects that Laurin and Paradiso Musicale...
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