On “In Sara Levy’s Salon - chamber Music for Viola- Christophorus
"In addition to her exceptional musicological expertise, Venturi Ferriolo can play like few others, and her performances recorded here exhibit a virtuosity that the average listener would only associate with the violin or cello."
Carlo Centemeri on Musica n. 355, April 2024
"... how joyfully the ensemble Salon violet passes the balls to each other musically, harmonising excellently, playing with balance and transparency! This brings out the intimate and warm sound of the viola and that is what makes this album of rarities so appealing. It is a successful mixture of colourful music and a lot of musical esprit."
Elisabeth Richter on WDR 3 Hörstoff – neue Klassik-Alben · 19.03.2024
Sara Levys Musikbibliothek
Sendung von
Bettina Winkler- So. 24.3.2024 16:05 Uhr, SWR2 Alte Musik
On “More than a dull ripieno!-
baroque sonatas for viola”- Da Vinci Classics
“Listening to the CD encourages to be more than a filling voice in the society.”
Doris Kösterke on Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 9.04.2021
“An album that not only impresses with an excellent choice of pieces and finest historical performance, but also stands out exceptionally with his technically perfect sampling frequency of 44.1 kHz”
Christian Rupp on “Klassik Top Five Cds” - Frankfurt Journal , Mai 2021
“Nowadays there is a clear feeling that a growing number of violists, for technical preparation and musical sensitivity, has all the credentials to face a career as a soloist, as well as chamber and orchestral. Francesca Venturi Ferriolo is certainly part of the group…”
“…Valuable and philologically accurate is the performance by both the good soloist and the two musicians who finely accompany her. In conclusion, this is a record of enjoyable eighteenth-century rarities which confirms the full vitality of the «world of the viola» in recent years.”
Marco Bizzarini on MUSICA n. 322 - December 2020-January 2021
“So practice and theory come together here in a happy coincidence. One strong plea for an often neglected instrument with competent playing and such background knowledge.”
Bettina Winkler, SWR2 Alte Musik - 19.11. 2020
"An interpretation, which denotes care, attention, enthusiasm, the desire to reveal an unknown world to most people through a precise philological project, which however does not detract from the brilliance of the result obtained."
Andrea Bedetti on Musicvoice.it - 24.6.2021
The performances could not have been any better. Francesca Venturi Ferriolo produces a strong but beautiful tone, and her performances are engaged, lively and differentiated.
Johan van Veen on MusicWeb International, 21.2.2023
“Ripieno is a term used in particular in the Concerto Grosso, as opposed to the Concertino. It signals the moment in which the entire orchestra intervenes, including the baroque violas. Like that of Francesca Venturi Ferriolo, who faces a repertoire that demonstrates how the instrument has always been of great importance (it's not just a silly stuffing!).”
Luigi Fertonani on Brescia Oggi, 20.10.2020
“This imaginative recording by viola player Francesca Venturi Ferriolo is an important contribution to recognising the importance of the viola, in particular during the transitional period towards the end of the Baroque era, when a wide variety of styles developed in Europe including the Galant style, the Empfindsamer Stil centred on Berlin, and the emerging Mannheim and Viennese styles.
The three performers play sensitively and musically, with an understanding of historical performance techniques, using instruments chosen to reflect the possible sound of the original performances.”
Andrew Benson Wilson on Early Music Review+, 16.03.2021
“The interpreters Francesca Venturi Ferriolo (baroque viola), the Bremen-born Johannes Berger (baroque cello) and Edoardo Valorz from The Hague (harpsichord) proved to be true masters in their field and delighted the audience not only with their very sensitive sonatas and trios, but also drew admiring glances with their extraordinary instruments. Partly originating from the Baroque period, partly based on old models, the cello, viola and harpsichord sounded in noble purity - but this was also due to the virtuoso playing of the three masters of their craft.”
“Not quite as "prominent" as with the name "Bach" - but therefore no less demanding and worth listening to - it continued with compositions by Christoph Schaffrath (1709–1763), William Flackton (1709–1798) and Felice Giardini (1716–1796) . All held in major, they expressed joy in life and in music, which thanks to Ferriolo, Valorz and the cellist Berger and the joint, fresh play lay like a wonderful carpet over the entire nave.”
Edelgard Halaczinsky on Wetterauer Zeitung, 15.03.2019
“The pieces were performed in a finely tuned and soulful manner and came into their own with the impressive acoustics in the Martinskirche. The three musicians perfectly mastered their special instruments, which are based on the time. "
“The last piece of the evening was by the Italian composer Felice Giardini. Here the soloist Francesca Venturi Ferriolo convinced; the Italian impact was clearly visible”
“After the two-hour concert, the visitors to the Martinskirche were enthusiastic about this little-known music from the 18th century, which was performed on suitable instruments”
Klaus May on Schwarzwälder bote, 23.06.2019
“They are Il Quadro Animato and the name says it all. Seldom has an ensemble played Baroque and Pre-Classical music with such stimulating liveliness, tenderness, extraordinary transparence and richness of colors. Il Quadro Animato remains equally distant from old-fashioned gravity and newfangled hustle and bustle.”
Violinist and violist (Rebecca Raimondi and Francesca Venturi Ferriolo) develop a fascinating, silvery shine of strings”
Martin Möller on Trierischer Volksfreund, 8. Dezember 2019