Categories
Recording

Barthold Kuijken – French Flute Music: The Accent Recordings 1979-2003

With Robert Cohen, Wieland Kuijken, Marc Hantai, Frank Theuns, Serge Saitta, Sigiswald Kuijken, Ryo Terakado, Sara Kuijken
642’ (11 CDs in a box)
Accent ACC 24312

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n my review of The Artistry of Barthold Kuijken, an anthology of highlights from his recordings on the Accent label released in 2008, I said that listening to it made me want to hear the complete CDs from which the tracks were taken. That wish certainly came home to roost when I was given the rather daunting task of reviewing this boxed set of eleven CDs which brings together Kuijken’s recordings of French music made on the Accent label between 1979 and 2003. In fact listening to them has been a most pleasurable experience. The first CD, issued in 1979 and also entitled French Flute Music, gives an overview of music from the reign of Louis XV with one piece each by Montéclair, Blavet, Guignon, Boismortier and Leclair. Each of the other ten CDs is devoted to a single composer. Hotteterre’s Premier et Deuxième Livre de Pièces pour la Flûte Traversière avec la Basse occupy two CDs, as do François Couperin’s Les Nations and Leclair’s Complete Flute Sonatas, originally for violin. The single CDs are of Couperin’s Concerts Royaux, Rameau’s Pièces de clavecin en concerts, Boismortier’s Concertos for Five Flutes Op. 15 and Devienne’s Flute quartets. I really enjoyed this last CD when I reviewed it when it first appeared, but French musical style had certainly changed by 1784 and after ten CDs of baroque music it sounded strangely out of place. I’d certainly recommend listening to it on a different day if you buy this set. Two of my surprise favourites were the Boismortier concertos for five flutes without continuo which are interspersed with pieces for one, two or three flutes, and the Hotteterre Pièces. Hotteterre supplied detailed instructions for ornamentation which can make them sound rather laboured in performance but Kuijken really brings them to life on a copy of a Hotteterre flute of about 1710, five years before this elegant music was published. This splendid set works out at less than £3 a CD if you buy it online.

Victoria Helby

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Recording

Johann Crüger: Wach auff mein Hertz und singe

Musikalische Compagney, Holger Eichhorn
69:38
Querstand VKJK1527

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he 21 tracks of this documentary CD are divided into five sections: hymns for “morning and evening”, Christmas, Easter, Whitsun and “psalms and Gloria”, separated by organ music (three pieces by Crüger’s Berlin contemporary Wilhelm Karges, and a fourth anonymous work). For each hymn, Holger Eichhorn (whose comprehensive booklet notes are full of valuable information) has chosen which verses and which versions will be performed, so different combinations of voices and instruments are heard within single tracks as well as through the sequence. While the four other sections have three hymns each (not all to texts by Paul Gerhardt, although he was Crüger’s most famous collaborator), Christmas has six (“because everyone loves singing them”, as Eichhorn puts it!) The CD consists of chorale tracks laid down in 1984 and others from 2015, while the organ music was recorded on an original instrument elsewhere in 2014. With solo voices (including boy sopranos) throughout, and “world premiere of the original scoring” printed everywhere, it seems Eichhorn believes that chorale singing was the reserve of professional singers and not congregations. While it is interesting to hear the music with the obbligato instruments, I am not convinced that that necessarily procludes proper choral singing, or indeed adults singing the melody in octaves while the “choir” sang the multi-voice settings; nor am I actually persuaded that this is how Crüger intended it to be performed/heard. Surely his books were printed and reprinted because they were used; at least some of the tracks should have explored other performance approaches. Perhaps a second disc is already in the making?

Brian Clark

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Recording

Exquisite Noyse

Music of the 16th century for violin consort
la voce del violino
55:07
Perfect Noise PN1501
Music by Arcadelt, Janequin, Josquin, Verdelot + anon & improvisations

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]here have been several attempts to explore the repertoire of the early violin consort, most notably Peter Holman with the Parley of Instruments and David Douglass with The King’s Noyse. Where they played primarily instrumental music, la voca del violino explore chansons and madrigals which sometimes survive in contemporary copies without texts. Using violin, two violas (the lower of which speaks particularly freely – and I mean that in a nice way!) and bass violin, sometimes with harp accompaniment, the make a most eloquent case for this approach to such music. I especially enjoyed rediscovering an old, old favourite, Josquin’s Ave Maria… virgo serena (which I first encountered on an epic tape recording – remember them? – by The Hilliard Ensemble). The booklet notes, as well as a stimulating essay on the early history of the violin, prints the texts with German and English translations; since the whole point is that the music does not require the words to work, I wonder how much this says about the way la voce del violino approached the project – did they, for instance, play from parts that showed the words, thereby helping them shape the lines? Or are the printed texts purely for the listeners’ benefit? Either way, I hope this is the start of a voyage of discovery that brings many a revelation; let us hear more liturgical music next time?

Brian Clark

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Categories
Recording

Biber: Harmonia Artificiosa-Ariosa

La Tempesta, Patrick Bismuth
86:32 (2 CDs in a wallet)
NoMadMusic NMM024

[dropcap]E[/dropcap]ach of the seven suites that make up Biber’s HAA has its own character, largely dictated by the composer’s chosen scordatura for the two treble instruments. They are joined throughout on this new recording by theorbo and harpsichord or organ with extra contributions from cello, viola da gamba, violone and harp; sometimes there are harmonic realisations of the continuo line, sometimes these are merely played as supporting melodies. I largely enjoyed the performances, though the acoustic was a little too vast for the group, and I found some of the continuo playing slightly invasive (with Biber’s already complicated multi-stopping lines dialoguing, there is no need to have the accompanists vying for attention, too.) Compared to the booklet note, though, that is as nothing; quite apart from the most awkward translations (“For everyone’s listening pleasure, the ensemble offers a transfiguration of academic music without denaturing it”), I could have done entirely without Patrick Bismuth’s four pages relating the seven sonatas to the Creation or his likening Biber’s thought processes to the Mandala (“a sound environment, a set, made, however, of right angles, dots and circles”.) It is just as well the performances are so persuasive, though I am sure to remain faithful to The Purcell Quartet’s version for the time being.

Brian Clark

Categories
Recording

Violon solo | Patrick Cohën-Akenine

Biber, Baltzar, Telemann, Bach
59:58
NoMadMusic NMM018

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his recital begins and ends with descending tetrachords; Biber’s “Passacaille”, which Cohën-Akenine says, “served as the benchmark before Bach composed his Chaconne”, opens proceedings in fine style, if slightly too closely miked for my tastes – it is one thing to be aware of the performer’s presence, quite another to hear his every inhalation. I do wonder, though, for whom it was a benchmark? A quick check of the RISM online catalogue reveals not a single manuscript source of the work at all, which would suggest that only those wealthy enough to own a copy of the print or fortunate enough to encounter Biber himself would have known of its existence; the suggestion that this solo repertoire was widely available, known and played is surely untenable. Be that as it may, it is clear that virtuoso players with financial means (or contacts) did produce a wealth of music for their instrument and the two pieces by Thomas Baltzar are particularly welcome. Likewise, unmannered renditions of two of Telemann’s fantasias (no. 1 in B flat major, and no. 3 in F minor) confirm his rightful place among the masters of the medium. There is no arguing, though, that the Bach D minor Partita is one of the masterpieces of Western music, and Cohën-Akenine shifts up a gear for the immense challenges. It is particularly impressive that, in spite of all the extraneous noises, the bow strokes all come off without harshness, and the open strings ring pure throughout. I’m not going to say that I stopped hearing the breathing, but the musician’s communion with Bach was so intense that everything else was transcended. Next time, though, please do move the mikes!

Brian Clark

Categories
Recording

The Young Vivaldi – RV820 and Other Rare Early Works

Modo Antiquo, Federico Maria Sardelli
69:00
deutsche harmonia mundi 8-88751-27852-3
RV52, 60, 552a*, 779, 813, 820*, Anh. 107a*

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he programme of this recording consists of a recorder sonata, a trio for two violins and continuo, another for violin, cello and continuo, a quartet for violin, oboe and organ with the “se piace” chalumeau, another for strings, a violin concerto and another for two violins. RV820 is the trio with obbligato cello, only recently added to the Vivaldi catalogue after Sardelli, the director of Modo Antiquo, identified it among downloaded material his wife was working on; he had already been occupied with dating the composer’s works and presenting the world premiere recording of that piece (as well as those of the Leuwen version of RV Anh. 107, and the “reconstructed” RV522a) provided an opportunity to put together an entire recital of early works. Playing one-per-part, Modo Antiquo have one plucker (theorbo and guitar) and keyboardist (harpsichord and organ); in the violin concerto, I would have preferred the double bass to drop out in the solo episodes. While most of the music-making is enjoyable, the booklet lets the enterprise down – Michael Talbot’s booklet note could have done with some proofreading, but the other “English” contributions are terrible; “The Young Vivaldi: a rivelation”??? So ignore the book and enjoy the music.

Brian Clark

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Uncategorized

Luther: Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott

Chorales, Motets and Sacred Concertos
Kammerchor der Frauenkirche Dresden, Instrumenta Musica, Matthias Grünert
69:01
Rondeau Productions ROP6074

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his fine CD presents six of Luther’s most important poetic texts in a variety of settings (organ and choral hymn tunes, motets, sacred concertos, amongst others): Nun komm der Heiden Heiland, Vom Himmel hoch, Gelobet seist du Jesus Christ, Christ lag in Todesbanden, Komm heiliger Geist, Vater unser in Himmelreich and the title piece, Ein feste Burg. Prominent amongst the sources are the Görlitzer Tablaturbuch (organ settings by Scheidt) and Musae Sioniae by Michael Praetorius. Other composers include Schein, Hassler, Pachelbel, Hammerschmidt, Eccard, Franck and Schütz. Each section is rounded off by a dance from Terpsichore.

Most of the 42 tracks are under two minutes, with only three tracks lasting longer than twice that length; many are extracts from larger works, but the prominence of the chorale melody throughout gives the recital a satisfying overall shape. The chamber choir of the Dresden Frauenkirche sing well, and Instrumenta Musica (recorder, cornetto, strings, trumpets, trombones, and continuo) lend stylish support throughout. Two different organs based on historical models are used for the keyboard material. As we approach the anniversary of the Reformation in 2017, this CD is a fine illustration of the widespread musical influence of Luther.

Brian Clark

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Recording

C. P. E. Bach: Concertos & Symphonies II

[Jacques Zoon flute, Bruno Delepelaire cello], Berliner Barock Solisten, Reinhard Goebel
73:29
deutsche harmonia mundi 888750839725
Sinfonias in E flat Wq179, & in G H 667
Concertos for flute in G Wq169 & cello in B flat Wq171

[dropcap]F[/dropcap]ull marks to the Berlin Philharmonic for continuing to explore early repertoire with scaled-down forces and specialist conductors. Here Reinhard Goebel guides them through four excellent pieces by a composer whose music is suited to many different modes of performance. That is not to say that technical improvements in the instruments and playing techniques does not deprive the music of some of its essential characteristics – the absolute evenness of tone across the solo flute’s range, for example, means that there is not audible sense of strong and weak notes, and likewise the orchestral string playing is so well regulated (with not quite enough air between bow and string for my personal tastes) that – with only a very few exceptions (when Goebel coaxes out some long notes at cadences, for example) – the natural variety of HIP sound is replaced by terraced dynamics and bowings/phrasings that sound artificial. Both soloists clearly enjoy playing C. P. E. Bach’s music, and the orchestra is similarly enthusiastic. Personally, though, period instruments and a little more HIP magic would have lifted what is good into a different category.

Brian Clark

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Book

Charles Mackerras

edited by The Boydell Press, 2015.
xxii + 298 pp, £25.00. ISBN 978 1 84383 966 8

[dropcap]F[/dropcap]or the last ten years, two sisters (one my age, the other about nine years younger) used to have a meal with me in Greenwich during the Early Music Exhibition in November. This year, the conversations happened to turn to Charles Mackerras. All three of us were entirely enthusiastic, aware of his power back in the mid-60s. Our links then were with the Dartington Summer School, and the first time I saw him close up (sometime in the mid or late ‘60s), I watched him conduct a students orchestra playing Beethoven’s first symphony. It was a very accurate and helpful rehearsal, but when it was played in the evening concert his conducting was absolutely different: everything was at a different level. The younger sister loved music, but moved into art. Eventually, she finished up at the Coliseum, selling programmes, and heard Mackerras performances long after I’d left London. I was, however, involved with him in that he used my edition of Alcina, and he said that we were joint editors: did he ever used it again?

My initial awareness of him came from Sadlers Wells (the predecessor of The Coliseum) in the 1960s, and I was especially concerned with Janáček. I’d never heard of him before, and very few people outside Czechoslovakia (apart from German translations) will have heard the music. Mackerras has been the leading figure in creating Janáček’s reputation. Charles wasn’t trained as a musical scholar, but he needed to study the scores, restore the composer’s idiosyncratic style, and make some sense when the autograph was confused. He was busy enough in normal repertories, but his work on Janáček could fill the working life of a scholar! The advantage of Charles was his determination to read any score he conducted as well as the usual indications to the performers. The score was essential – even with pieces he knew well, he still managed during a performance to find something he didn’t know. He favoured regular tempi, perhaps as he grew older, it might have varied a little more, but certainly not to excess. His concern was the music, not over-exciting the audience.

He was always concerned in checking the sources when there were problems – especially in the case of Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro. He wanted it to sound like Mozart, and he spent years of research; checking the sources, filling the gaps in cadences (the closing third filling the middle note or adding a cadenza etc.) There’s a nice reproduction in the book (p. 18) with markings on a score but noted at the top “Not at ROH!” In retrospect, I wonder if I’d have bothered to go to the opera if the stagings were from the wrong period! I was particularly impressed by the apparently massive room for Act III. His two-midnight-recording in 1959 for Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks used the full number of players – fortunately, Handel listed the numbers of each stave on the score!

Charles made no particular effort to encourage period instruments, the exception being The Orchestra of the Age of the Enlightenment, mostly in 19th-century repertoire – though his last performance (12 June 2010) was Cosi fan tutti at Glyndebourne. He became Chief Guest Conductor for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, which was a standard chamber orchestra but with early horns, trombones and timps. I don’t think that he was particularly concerned about early strings, etc., but he always made a good sound. Of greater interest to him were in the right speeds, the shaping of the playing and the relationship with the orchestra.

He was often worried about the singers. He seemed happier with those of the 1960s than later ones. Interestingly, he wrote: “I’m always amazed at how much like a modern ‘authentic’ singer Isobel Baillie sounds. If you listen to her singing ‘I know that my Redeemer liveth’, it’s uncannily reminiscent of Emma Kirkby… The trouble with ‘authentic’ people is that they say they are going back to an 18th-century style, but in fact they are playing in a late 20th-century style that is a reaction against the way all 18th-century composers were played between the wars.” I’m not sure that all aspects of the inter-war years were particularly to be copied, but certainly there were disastrous changes in the second half of 20th-century opera. “There used to be an ‘operatic’ style of acting which made sense of the fact that an aria consisted of the repetition of words, or an ensemble repeated the same idea which non-musical directors find quite difficult to cope with. They either have to make everybody rush about the stage, or else make them stand still and not express anything. The older generation found a way of doing that.” (pp. 96-97)

His last appearance was probably September. Charles was clearly at the end, but he conducted Acis and Galatea as an 80th birthday present to an old friend, Pam Munks (who had also worked in Australia). I think the direction was by Peter Holman as much as by Charles, but he was happy to sit in front of the stage and talk to the audience afterwards.

Clifford Bartlett

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Cherubini/Cambini: String Trios

Trio Hegel
64:30
Tactus TC740001

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]hese two composers’ music could scarcely be more different; Giuseppe Maria Cambini’s three trios, op. 2, are easy-going pieces, the first pair consisting of two movements while the third adds a slow movement to the pattern, while Cherubini’s “string trios” are, in fact, nothing of the sort – rather they are instrumental performances of solfeggi  written for the composer’s singing students at the Paris Conservatoire! While the former are aimed at amateur performers (and audiences), the latter must have filled Cherubini’s pupils with dread, such are the demands, in terms of both range and contrapuntal complexity.

The present performers are, let us say, more comfortable in the Cambini than the Cherubini – the String Trio is an unforgiving medium, with even the slightest slip instantly brought to note, and regretfully there are quite a few to endure; these really are extremely virtuoso chamber concertos with the technical demands spread across the board.

Brian Clark

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