Categories
Recording

Le coeur & l’oreille – Manuscpit Bauyn

Giulia Nuti, Louis Denis harpsichord 1658
74:24
Arcana A 434
Music by d’Anglebert, de Chambonnières, L. Couperin, Froberger, Hardel, Mesangeau & Pinel

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Bauyn Manuscript is a major source of French harpsichord music from the 17th century, containing the music of all the main clavecinistes  active in and around Paris at the time. Represented on the CD are a couple of big names, Louis Couperin and Johann Jacob Froberger, and many less familiar composers, such as Jacques Champion de Chambonnières, Jacques Hardel, Jean Henry d’Anglebert, René Mesangeau and Germain Pinel. What is remarkable is that the ‘lesser’ composers sound every bit as talented as the household names, perhaps a function of the fact that a performer would naturally choose ‘the best of the rest’, or perhaps suggesting that many of them deserve closer scrutiny. The wonderful harpsichord Giulia Nuti plays, ‘Le Haneton’ by Louis Denis made in Paris in 1658, couldn’t be more appropriate; it has a rich and varied selection of tones which are superbly captured by the sound engineers. This venerable instrument is tuned to 1/4-comma meantone a=392, which seems perfect for the repertoire, becoming suitably sourer as the composers err into remoter keys and sweetening as they come back home. The virtuosic Ms Nuti clearly has a profound knowledge of ornamentation, and her performances are suitably encrusted with the appropriate decoration. This is a wonderfully evocative CD, redolent of a bygone age of mannered elegance and rhetorical expressiveness.

D. James Ross

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Categories
Recording

A pleasing melancholy

Cheyls Consort of Viols, Emma Kirkby soprano, James Akers lute
72:13
BIS-2283 SACD

[dropcap]L[/dropcap]ike Mary Berry or Judi Dench,  Emma Kirkby has become something of a national treasure, and it is wonderful to hear her in fine voice for these songs by Dowland, Tobias Hume, Robert Jones, John Danyell, and Anthony Holborne. Soon to be celebrating her 70th birthday, she brings a lifetime of early music performance experience to this haunting music. While youthful freshness has been replaced with a more mature vocal quality, she has chosen her repertoire wisely and these readings are technically sound but – more importantly – resonant with wisdom. Filled with memories of Emma Kirkby’s rich and varied career, I found these accounts deeply moving and, indeed, almost unbearably poignant. James Akers provides a beautifully sympathetic lute accompaniment to the voice, while also blending elegantly into the consort. The viols, too, are wonderfully responsive, both as accompanists in the songs and also to one another in the accounts of the Lachrimae Pavans  and the other consort music. This CD is a must for all the many loyal Kirkby fans.

D. James Ross

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Categories
Recording

Edinburgh 1742 : Barsanti and Handel

Ensemble Marsyas, dir. Peter Whelan
68:00
Linn CKD 576

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his excellent CD takes advantage of two sets of circumstances nearly three centuries apart: firstly, that in 1742 Edinburgh was a burgeoning centre of the arts and of Baroque music in particular, and, secondly, that nowadays the ‘The Athens of the North’ is enjoying a second golden age of Baroque performance. In a programme designed to celebrate concerts given by the Edinburgh Musical Society in the mid-18th century, Peter Whelan and his ensemble give us five of Francesco Barsanti’s ten op.3 Concerti Grossi  along with a set of his charming Scots song settings, together with a march, an aria and a horn concerto by Handel, an arrangement by the composer of two movements from his Water Music. The horn was still a relative orchestral novelty, having been first introduced by Handel in his Water Music some twenty years earlier, and would have been a considerable attraction in Edinburgh. Whelan’s two excellent horn players, Alex Frank-Gemmill and Joseph Walters, also feature prominently in the Barsanti Concerti, which turn out to be works of superlative quality, in which the standard high Baroque pomp is regularly shot through with a poignant melancholy or enlivened by quirky folk rhythms in a style which is both masterly and distinctively individual. The crystal-voiced Emilie Renard, whom I heard recently singing Handel to wonderful effect at the Lammermuir Festival, gives a splendidly dramatic account of “Sta nel’Iscana” from Handel’s Alcina, while violinist Colin Scobie provides infectiously lilting accounts of four of Barsanti’s Old Scots Tunes. This terrific CD, bustling with energy and creativity, gives a vivid impression of Edinburgh in 1742 and at the same time conveys a marvellously upbeat picture of the current state of early music performance in Scotland.

D. James Ross

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Categories
Recording

Vivaldi: The Folk Seasons

Barocco Boreale, Kreeta-Maria Kentala (+Siiri Virkkala) violin
79:31
Alba ABCD 402
+ RV 114, 511, 522

[dropcap]W[/dropcap]ell… – where do I begin? I suppose with a positive comment – somewhere under all of this there is probably a rather attractive account of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. However, in the modern compulsion to ‘bring something new’ to Vivaldi, we have many of the natural sounds subtly alluded to in the original, ‘realized’ by bird whistles, regal, psaltery and a host of other inappropriate instruments, while Vivaldi’s original score is practically deconstructed in a series of ridiculous exaggerations and distortions. All good fun, you might say, and clearly eminent early harpist and professor Andrew Lawrence King, who plays several of the added instruments, would seem to agree. Well I don’t. Having heard Vivaldi’s Four Seasons  horribly mangled by a number of ensembles over the years, I haven’t become in any way hardened to it, let alone more sympathetic to such treatments. By all means, write new pieces commenting on Vivaldi, as several composers have done, but don’t impose your own eccentric performance ideas which he would never have countenanced himself and which make a nonsense of his music. Surely the whole point of Vivaldi’s allusions to natural/folk sounds is that they are just that – allusions – and the minute you spell them out with literal renditions, shoe-horned into the original score, you have ruined his intentions. I have a secret inkling that all these attempts to ‘improve upon’ Vivaldi ultimately result from the chronic over-exposure of his music, particularly the Four Seasons. The answer is simple – give this played-out repertoire a rest and either turn instead to the other 95 percent of Vivaldi’s output that nobody looks near, or devote your time to one of the plethora of excellent and entirely neglected Baroque composers. It would be good to hear this clearly excellent Baroque ensemble turn their attentions to a more worthwhile project – meanwhile, slapped legs all round for this self-indulgent nonsense…

D. James Ross

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Categories
Recording

Bis an der Welt ihr Ende

Deutsche Lieder der Reformationszeit
Ensemble PER-SONAT
68:49
Christophorus CHR 77410
Music by Hassler, Lassus, Lechner, Luther, Neusiedler, Schein, Senfl & anon

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his CD of songs from the German Reformation, timed to come out on its 500th anniversary, is a four-part programme charting the early development of Protestant music in Germany. It begins with some disarmingly direct accounts of two songs by Martin Luther himself, followed by music by his contemporary Ludwig Senfl. Here and elsewhere the mezzo-soprano and bass voices are accompanied gamba/lirone, Renaissance violin and lute to produce a wonderfully simple and stable account of this rather plain music. Protestant song acquires a new degree of inventiveness and flair when it passes into the hands of Lassus, while further complexity is introduced by Hans Leo Hassler and Leonhard Lechner. Finally, with Johann Hermann Schein, we have complete confidence with larger textures and, at the same time, the introduction of charmingly folksy elements, preparing the ground perfectly for Michael Praetorius and even Heinrich Schütz. These fresh performances are beautifully blended and balanced, with unobtrusive ornamentation and superlative musicianship, and the chronological approach provides an informative tour this rich period of German musical history, while the alternation and combination of voices and instruments provide delightful variety and illustrates the versatility of approach which would have characterized the original performances.

D. James Ross

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Recording

Alfonso X El Sabio: Cantigas de Santa Maria, Strela do dia

La Capella Reial de Catalunya, HESPÈRION XX, Jordi Savall
76:06
Alia Vox Heritage vol. 20, AVSA9923 (c) 1993/2008

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Cantiga s have been core repertoire for Jordi Savall and his ensembles over many years, and the present recordings date from 1993 and 2008. This means that the distinctive voice of Savall’s late wife, Montserrat Figueras, features prominently on several of the tracks, adding its unique timbre to proceedings. Savall was one of the first and most successful exponents of an improvisatory approach to this early material, providing extensive renditions of the music to give it time to unfold; this is very much in evidence in these performances. If the sound quality doesn’t have quite the gloss of his more recent recordings, these are beautiful and involving accounts of this haunting music. I still have vivid memories of Savall’s performances of this music in Glasgow Cathedral as part of the late lamented Glasgow Early Music Festival, and these recordings capture something of the magic he has brought to this repertoire over the years. Perhaps most importantly, the CD receives the full Alia Vox treatment, with extensive scholarly essays and lavish illustrations to enhance the listening experience. I have sometimes been critical of Savall’s slightly fanciful approach to early music, but he brings an undeniable religiosity to these Cantigas, adding a suitably metaphysical dimension to our appreciation of them. I think it was in his notes to the Glasgow performances that he wrote about the need for ‘southern voices’ fully to realize the potential of this distinctively Iberian repertoire, and Savall’s Catalunyan singers and instrumentalists certainly add an indefinable something to their presentation here.

D. James Ross

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Categories
Sheet music

New editions from Henle: Beethoven & Rossini

Beethoven: Klaviersonate Nr. 27 e-moll, Opus 90

Urtext edition by Norbert Gertsch · Murray Perahia
Fingering by Murray Perahia
G. Henle Verlag, 2017. HN1124
ix+16+6pp.
ISMN 979-0-2018-1124-6
€8.50

[dropcap]D[/dropcap]edicated to Moritz von Lichnowsky, the E minor sonata – described as a contemporary as “aside from two passages, one of Beethoven’s easiest” – consists of two movements, the first a troubled piece in sonata form whose innocent opening gives no hint of the searching doubt to be explored as the composer’s imagination takes flight, and a rondo in the major key which, though not without drama, is far more tuneful, the calm after the storm, as it were. After the introduction which details the work’s history and hidden story (which explains the opening movement’s tumultuous character), a separate text by Perahia discusses its structure (both are given in three languages); as seems to be the norm for Henle, the critical notes after the edition itself are restricted to German and English. The score is beautifully laid out, with footnotes drawing attention to aspects of performance practice and possible variant readings in the autograph source. Even if you have the complete sonatas on your shelves, this pristine version will be a valuable addition to your collection.

Rossini: Une larme

Urtext Edition by Tobias Glöckler
G. Henle Verlag, 2017. HN571
Score (v+4+2pp) and part (Urtext and fingered/bowed).
ISMN 979-0-2018-0571-9
€9.00

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]obias Glöckler’s edition of this short lament from 1858 was inspired by the discovery of a second autograph manuscript in St Petersburg, which helped to date its composition. His informative introduction is given in French and German, as well as English, but there are no critical notes in French. The musical text is given twice, once in A minor (for bass in standard orchestral tuning) and again a tone higher for the brighter solo tuning. The solo part (a single sheet) has the clean Urtext version on one side and the editor’s minimal additions on the reverse; in other words, help where it might be needed without unnecessary interference. From a practical point of view, this consists of fingering and bowing marks, one suggested extra slur (Rossini already marks the phrasing), and the replacement of the original’s tenor (C4) clef with the treble (G2) clef expected nowadays when the music goes beyond ledger lines. Footnotes offer further performance advice. All in all, an excellent little edition, worth every cent.

Brian Clark

Categories
Recording

Un Opéra pour trois rois

A Versailles entertainment for Louis XIV, Louis XV & Louis XVI
Chantal Santon-Jeffrey, Emőke Baráth, Thomas Dolié, Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, György Vashegyi
93:46 (2 CDs in a card folder)
Glossa GCD 924002

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his is quite the daftest (musical) idea I have come across in quite some time, a pretentious conceit that simply does not work. It is surprising to find the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles cited as co-producers. Its objective can be found in the subtitle: ‘A Versailles entertainment for Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI’. So what we have is a pastiche that amounts to a huge divertissement with music drawn from composers ranging from Lully through to Gluck and Piccinni and arranged in roughly chronological order. Given that the work is stitched together to form a continuous whole divided into two parts, it, of course, makes little musical sense given the considerable stylistic differences to be encountered during a period spanning over 100 years.

Three characters are involved in this ‘opera’, Apollo (the bass Thomas Dolié), La Renommée (Fame) and La Gloire (Glory), sung by the sopranos Chantal Santon-Jeffery and Emőke Baráth. The text employed is unchanged from its place in the work from which it has been unceremoniously ripped, there thus being not only no dramatic sense or logical continuity, only confusing references to characters that play no part in the present entertainment. In a desperate search for positives, there is quite a lot of music that you won’t find anywhere else on records. I was, for example, delighted to make the acquaintance of the noble récitative  and chorus ‘La volonté du ciel’ from Dauvergne’s ballet Le Retour du printemps  (Versailles, 1765), while, if the chorus from Piccinni’s Atys  (Fontainebleau, 1780) is anything to go by, this tragédie lyrique  might be well worth an airing. But it has to be admitted that there’s some fairly mundane stuff here too, and, by and large, it is the familiar extracts that are the most satisfying. Indeed, in this company, the great opening chorus of lamentation for the dead Castor and aria for Telaire, ‘Tristes apprêts’, from Rameau’s Castor et Pollux  stand out like a shining beacon, though employing the ‘Air sauvage’, the hit number from the same composer’s Les Indes galantes, as the finale smacks of gratuitous opportunism rather than considered judgment.

‘Tristes apprêts’ is beautifully sung by Baráth, who is by some margin the best of the three soloists. As in the past, I find Santon-Jeffery one of the less appealing of the plethora of sopranos (and mezzos) France seems to produce so readily in the early music field. While the voice is not unattractive, it is not steady enough and she uses too much vibrato. Dolié is a bass I’ve greatly admired in the past, especially in György Vashegyi’s splendid recording of Mondonville’s Isbé, but he doesn’t seem at his best here. Similar reservations might be applied to Vashegyi’s direction, which – while never less than idiomatic – is a little earthbound, compared to earlier work in French Baroque repertoire. His period instrument orchestra plays well enough, but without the élan and finish of an ensemble like Les Talens Lyriques, who I’ve probably heard too much recently to avoid invidious comparisons. The choir, a sizable body, is capable but at times too opaque for this music.

Not then, I think, an essential recording and, having proved himself adept in this repertoire, I hope Vashegyi will another time give us something rather more substantial.

Brian Robins

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Recording

Mozart: Freimaurermusiken

Jan Kobow, Maximilian Kiener, David Steffens TTB, Salzburger Hofmusik, Wolfgang Brunner
62:58
cpo 777 917-2

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n recording all of Mozart’s music for Freemasonry, even reconstructing two fragmentary sources, Salzburger Hofmusik have helped fill out an aspect of Mozart’s life which was very important to him. While none of the music here strikes me as a masterpiece – and why would we expect such functional music to aspire to this status? – it is fascinating to hear the basic musical stock onto which Mozart would elsewhere graft his genius. The best of the bunch are the Masonic pieces for clarinets and basset horns – Mozart’s clarinettist of choice and friend Anton Stadler was also a freemason; the beautifully crafted Adagio for two clarinets and three basset horns is certainly memorable. I have heard Salzburger Hofmusik sound fresher and more convincing in other repertoire, and felt that they had perhaps succumbed to the fact that some of this music is simply a bit dull. Better to hear the genre magically transformed in the likes of The Magic Flute than to listen to what is in effect occasional music.

D. James Ross

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Categories
Recording

Ararat: France-Arménie, un dialogue musical

Canticum novum, Emmanuel Bardon
58:00
Ambronay AMY 040

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n a fashion which has been growing over recent years, encouraged by the example of Jordi Savall and others, this CD blends an ensemble of traditional Armenian and early instruments with voices in accounts of sacred and secular music associated with Armenia. I have got past grumping about the lack of rigorous scholarship behind such projects and now just enjoy the sounds of melodies, passed down through indeterminate generations, played on evocative instruments which suit them very well.

Indeed, it would be a cold listener who is not transported by the plaintive sounds of duduk  and kanun, even though the ancestry of both these instruments in their modern form is doubtful, and the technology of the kanun  as we know it could hardly predate the 18th century. The pleasing “give and take”, as the traditional melodies are developed and passed around the ensemble, are enhanced by the vocal contributions of Barbara Kusa and Emmanuel Bardon, the former with a hauntingly poignant voice, the latter slightly too operatic for my taste with an indulgent inclination to vibrato and portamento. The overall effect is narcotically beautiful and very evocative, although a health warning would need to be attached to any suggestion that this is the authentic sound of ancient Armenia.

D. James Ross

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[The video is in French!]