Concertos 1 and 2 from op. 7

Ordinary violin sonatas formed the backbone of the series of ten collections that the Italian violinist Michel Mascitti (1663/4–1760), born in southern Italy but permanently resident in Paris from 1703, committed to print between 1704 and 1738. His Op. 7 (1727) opens with eight such sonatas but ends with four concertos for strings in six parts that, alongside a collection of concertos for five flutes (!) by J.B. de Boismortier published in the same year, inaugurate the proud tradition of concertos created on French soil.

Amazingly, Mascitti’s concertos have been neglected not merely by publishers and performers but also by commentators. In particular, the first two concertos display great musical merit in an original idiom that combines Italian and French influences in a very personal way. Further, their Italianate elements juxtapose features familiar from the concertos of Corelli, Mascitti’s reputed teacher, with ones more usually associated with Vivaldi. Both concertos are laden with emotion, albeit never at the expense of the polish and attention to detail that are the hallmark of Mascitti’s craft.