Entrez, le Diable! - The Virtuoso Cello at the Concert Spirituel —Juliana Soltis, cello; Adaiha MacAdam-Somer, gamba; Lucas Harris, theorbo; Justin Murphy-Mancini, harpsichord (Acis 72276)
Juliana Soltis is an Oberlin alum and when she reached out to us about her new CD Entrez, le Diable, she wrote, “The album explores the meteoric rise of the cello as a solo instrument in France in the early 1700s, with music by Lanzetti, Berteau, Martin, and Barrière. These works were wildly experimental and intensely provocative for their time (one piece actually required me to play with my chin!).” The Concert Spirituel was one of the first public concert series, begun in Paris in 1725 to provide entertainment during the Easter season when opera and other stage entertainment were closed. The programs featured a mixture of sacred choral works and virtuosic instrumental pieces. This album celebrates the appearance in May 1736 of the Neapolitan virtuoso Salvatore Lanzetti, who created a sensation (and scandal) by playing his own compositions featuring the violoncello. Scandal? The cello had been invented in Italy and was not considered—in polite French circles—as an appropriate solo instrument! That honor went to the viola da gamba. Unapologetic cellist Juliana Solts says the 18 th century cellist/composers “…so scandalized the audiences of the Concert Spirituel that some came to see the cello as a devil in their midst – hence the album's title.”