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Recording

Vivaldi: Concerti per due violini

Giuliano Carmignola, Amandine Beyer, Gli Incogniti
70:01
harmonia mundi HMC 902249
RV505, 507, 510, 513, 527 & 529 (+127)

[dropcap]R[/dropcap]egular readers of these pages (and the printed ones before EMR moved online a few years ago) will know that I’ve been hankering for a good period-instrument account of these concertos for years. I first became aware of them (I think!) on a Deutsche Grammophon LP (remember them?) with Igor and David Oistrakh; brilliant violinists of their type, they made the music sparkle with excitement, the sequences being tossed back and forth between the two of them, often in the musical stratosphere. Here, Carmignola and Beyer, both outstanding violinists of their type, bring the same energy and élan to this effervescent repertoire. If Vivaldi’s solo concertos are showpieces, his concertos for two violins are like play-offs, with each of the soloists seemingly trying to out-do the other. Gli Incogniti feature two pairs of ripieno violins, and one each of viola, cello, violone, plucker and keyboard. (For RV127, a “ripieno concerto”, an extra violinist – coincidentally, the author of the booklet notes – is brought in to balance the sections, so presumably Beyer leads from the front.) These are finely paced and delivered accounts of some sparkling music – bravi!

Brian Clark

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Recording

C. P. E. Bach: Voyage sentimental

Mathieu Dupouy, 1791 Gräbner pianoforte
66:32
Label-Hérisson LH17

[dropcap]F[/dropcap]or this second CD of music by C. P. E. Bach, Mathieu Dupouy has chosen two sonatas, three fantasias, and five rondos from the years 1783-87 (the composer died in 1788). I have always had “a thing” for Bach’s keyboard music; as Dupouy’s rather literary booklet notes seek to explain, there is an undeniable ability to suspend time, to linger on an unusual chord, as if the composer is thinking, “which way next?” Even if he goes the way you expect the majority of the time, it is the frisson of excitement on those occasions when he doesn’t that really brings a piece to life, and Dupouy – with an impressive range of touch – exploits those very moments, lingering almost too long… That ability to draw one into a performance (even a recorded one!) is something quite magical. Although Bach was clearly a virtuoso on the instrument, it is the ever-changing proto-Romantic textures that are most interesting here and I wish his music were more widely appreciated – not just on review sites like this one.

Brian Clark

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Recording

Tartini: Sonate, op. 1

Evgeny Sviridov violin, Davit Melkonyan cello, Stanislav Gres harpsichord
65:00
Ricercar RIC391

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]s well as three sonatas from Tartini’s op. 1 (nos. 5, 10 and 12), this excellent recording features two of the sonate picciole that survive in manuscript and a Pastorale for scordatura violin, all of which clearly demonstrate the composer’s (and Sviridov’s!) prowess as an exponent of the instrument. Indeed, the disc was part of Sviridov’s prize for winning the International Competition Musica Antiqua at the Bruges Festival in 2017. He (and his colleagues) take all of Tartini’s demands in their stride. I particularly enjoyed the sonatas from the manuscript – either unaccompanied (as Tartini notes that he normally played the,) or sometimes with cello (having supplied a bass line to conform with expectations…), but not just a simple bass line; Melkonyan plays chords and ornaments, so these are true duos. Throughout Sviridov is compelling and exciting.

Brian Clark

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Recording

Misterio

Julia Schröder, Lautten Compagney
70:49
deutsche harmonia mundi 8 89853 44082 5
Biber + Piazzola

[dropcap]F[/dropcap]inding suitable bedfellows for Biber’s amazing set of Rosary Sonatas is a real challenge. Julia Schröder and her colleagues have gone about as far as it is possible to go in pairing them with music by the Argentine tango king, Astor Piazzolla. (They also include a funky, violin-free version of the Passacaglia from Biber’s Harmonia Artificiosa no. 5). I confess that my eyebrows did arch when I opened the envelope that brought the disc; after a good few listens, though, this fine quartet had drawn me into their soundworld and, if I’m honest, I didn’t even notice the move from one composer to another on a couple of occasions. For those who like to know such things, Schröder performs sonatas 1-3, 9, 10 and 14. I’m not sure that I would want a second such disc, nor do I think I want a set of all of the Biber which had been given the same treatment, but I cannot deny enjoying (a lot!) what I heard.

Brian Clark

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Recording

Sebastiani: Matthäus Passion

Colin Balzer, Christian Immler, Ina Siedlaczek, Boston Early Music Festival Chamber Ensemble, Paul O’Dette, Stephen Stubbs
65:38
cpo 555 204-2

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his is an important recording of an important work. Sebastiani’s telling of the passion according to St Matthew is punctuated with judiciously chosen Lutheran chorales which would have been known to the congregation in the Königsburg church where it was presumably first performed, though the score stipulates performance by a solo soprano and viol consort. Elsewhere in the work, singers are joined by a pair of violins. The success of any performance rests on the casting of the two principle voice parts – in this case, Colin Balzer’s reading of the Evangelist balances a rhetorical reading of the narrative with just enough colouring of the voice to bring it to life, while Christian Immler’s Christus is very much a real person, turning Sebastiani’s lines into real believable dialogue. The other parts are taken well and the whole is well paced and nicely recorded.

Brian Clark

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Recording

A German Christmas

17th-Century Music for the Time of Advent and Christmas
Margaretha Consort, Marit Broekroelofs
78:15
Naxos 8.551398

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his recording follows a pattern familiar from several other recent releases, presenting various settings of the same text within single tracks. Thus, for example, we have the Lord’s Prayer (Vater Unser…) by Hans Leo Hassler, Johann Steigleder and Jacob Praetorius. The performances are given by nine solo singers (SSSAATTBB), a congregation and a group of instrumentalists playing viols, a cornetto, drums and bells, a chamber organ and the church organ. Taking the aforementioned track as an example, the Lord’s Prayer is performed instrumentally, but the first version (Hassler) is noticeably quicker than the second (viol consort) and the third (bass viol playing the melody under organ ornamentation) is at another speed; then comes a mysterious “Part 4” which appears to be an arrangement (of what?) featuring some beautifully executed, incredibly intricate ornamentation on the cornetto. All of this is wonderful and provides a rich, varied and valuable insight into the world of musicians of the time, but ultimately it is artificial since no 17th-century performance could ever have actually been like this. The booklet notes explain this away convincingly enough, but they do not mention the (to me, at least) unnecessary and unnecessarily polyrhythmic percussion parts added at various junctures – they’re just a needless distraction (again, my opinion). In short, this is a nice recording of fine performances in a variety of styles of popular music for the festive period.

Brian Clark

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Recording

Handel: Abbandonata – Italian Cantatas

Carolyn Sampson, The King’s Consort, Robert King, director
75:08
Vivat 117

[dropcap]M[/dropcap]y last encounter with Carolyn Sampson was at the Saintes Festival, where she gave a fine recital of 20th c English song (interested readers will find a report in the ‘Festival-conference’ section). Here she is on more familiar ground, singing the kind of repertoire with which she is more usually associated. The results are variable, or to borrow a sporting metaphor, something of a game of two halves.

As with the vast majority of Handel’s chamber cantatas, the four works included all date from the composer’s Italian sojourn (1706-10). The best known is Armida abbandonata, which addresses one of the most familiar topics of the genre, the woman (usually) abandoned by her lover, a conceit that allows for the expression of widely varied emotional responses. The affecting opening aria of Armida, for example, is an expression of the sorceress’ grief at the loss of Rinaldo, the emotion not without a sensual element. Not that you would know that in this performance. The excessively slow tempo adopted, coupled with Robert King’s ill-advised use of chamber organ rather than harpsichord gives the aria a pseudo-religious sentimentality closer to the English oratorios than the youthful Handel’s Italianate spirit and passion. And while nothing can detract from the familiar tonal beauty and the musicality of Sampson’s phrasing and ability to float a line, there is now too much vibrato for the voice to sustain such a funereal tempo. Throughout the CD I am disappointed, too, by the lack of ornamentation (especially trills) at cadence points, leaving far too many ‘blunt’ endings, while ornamentation in da capo repeats is not always judicious, as some ill-advised leaps above the stave testify. To return to Emanuela Galli’s beautifully fresh and committed performance of Armida in the outstanding Fabio Bonizzoni’s traversal of the Italian cantatas (Glossa) – that opening aria taken at only two thirds of King’s timing – is to enter the Ruspoli palace in Rome after a visit to the oratorios at Covent Garden some 30 years later.

I’ve concentrated in some detail on Armida and its opening aria in particular since much of what I have written applies equally to the two succeeding cantatas, Tra le fiamme and the least known on the disc, Figlio d’alte speranze, which has a moralizing text on the trope of the shepherd king and the beauties of the simple life. To be fair, no subsequent aria is treated to quite such an extreme tempo as ‘Ah, crudele’, but throughout King’s choice of a richly-textured continuo has to my mind resulted in performances that are too often plodding and wanting in rhythmic lift. Sampson does capture something of the playful spirit of Tre le fiamme, while the aria ‘Sia guida sia stella’ from Figlio is one of the joys of the CD, the simple sentiment conveyed without affectation, the slightly veiled tone utterly exquisite.

Then in Agrippina condotto a morire everything changes. Although listed as one of the chamber cantatas, it is in fact a work that is sui generis. This is not only because it has string orchestral accompaniment, but because the taut, flexible and dramatically potent alternation of recitative, aria and arioso gives an impression of an extended operatic scena more than anything else. The performance is on a different level to anything that precedes it, with Sampson especially effective in Agrippina’s often bloodthirsty outpouring of bile against her son, Nero, yet quietly heroic in the empress’ final acceptance of death. The expanded forces of the King’s Consort seem freshly energised, with playing of a vitality and rhythmic élan seldom evident elsewhere.

So, as made clear earlier, an oddly mixed bag, probably more of a draw to committed Carolyn Sampson fans than the general listener, who will find better all-round performances of most of these cantatas elsewhere.

Brian Robins

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Festival-conference

Ambronay Festival 2018

Jordi Savall, members of Hesperion XXI and La Capella Reial de Catalunya - ©CCR Ambronay
Jordi Savall, members of Hesperion XXI and La Capella Reial de Catalunya – © CCR Ambronay

[dropcap]R[/dropcap]egular readers of EMR will be familiar with my reports from this most engaging of early music festivals, both online and formerly in print. The 2018 edition indeed represented something of a personal milestone, it marking my tenth visit to the small town of Ambronay, nestling beneath the pre-Alpine foothills of the Haut Bugey. At its heart lies the mainly 13th-century Abattiale (abbey) with its extensive attendant buildings, today the home of a centre cultural rencontre and venue of the principal concerts of the annual festival held over four autumn weekends.

The 2018 festival adopted the theme ‘Vibrations Cosmos’, as usual with such appendages a sufficiently vague umbrella to be open to fairly flexible interpretation. Obvious standout events included Handel’s Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno under René Jacobs and Acis and Galatea with Le Banquet Céleste; Gesualdo’s Tenebrae Responses sung by Les Arts Florissants; and the first modern performance of Destouches’ tragédie en musique Sémiramis, given by Les Ombres under the direction of Margaux Blanchard and Sylvain Sartre.

This year we attended the second weekend of the festival (21-23 September), the first concert of which brought renewed acquaintance with Vox Luminis, who we’d heard at the Saintes Festival only weeks before (a report of that festival can be found on this site). Indeed this vocal ensemble, directed from within the group by bass Lionel Meunier, has in recent years become ubiquitous in French early music circles. The reasons are not hard to determine. The ensemble appears settled on three singers to a part, all soloists in their own right but also capable of producing a well balanced ensemble and well-focussed singing. On this occasion these qualities were particularly in evidence in the youthful vitality and brilliance of Handel’s Dixit Dominus, a work it is virtually impossible not to succeed with. If the opening has been given with more verve – there was a slightly tentative entry at ‘donec ponem’ in the opening ‘Dixit’ – this was from both orchestra and chorus an exciting performance, with a thrilling climax to the first part of ‘Dominus a dextris’, for example. As at Saintes, however, both here and in the Bach Magnificat that followed I found Meunier’s habit of taking his vocal ensemble off-stage during solo numbers both an affectation and distracting. The Bach was not quite as satisfying. Whatever feelings you may have about one-per-part Bach choirs, three strikes me as an unsatisfactory compromise since it leads almost inevitably to untidy moments, especially when the conductor is one of the singers, the magnificent opening ‘Magnificat’ itself lacking incisiveness. But elsewhere there was some sensitive singing at ‘Quia respexit’ and an impressively committed ‘Deposuit’ from the tenor soloist. The orchestra was excellent throughout.

Vox Luminis under the direction of Lionel Meunier (second from right) - © CCR Ambronay
Vox Luminis under the direction of Lionel Meunier (second from right) – © CCR Ambronay

An unscheduled tumble that required patching up repairs meant that I unfortunately missed the following afternoon’s concert devoted to 18th-century Scottish music performed by tenor Robert Getchell and Les Musiciens de Saint –Julien. I heard good reports of it.

The evening brought a concert that did unquestionably tie in with the theme of the festival, a superbly devised programme based around the life and times of the Renaissance mathematician and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543). It was given by the inimitable Jordi Savall and a substantial Hespèrion XXI instrumental ensemble of viols, wind, keyboard and percussion, along with a six-voice Capella Reial de Catalunya vocal ensemble. Given that Copernicus was born and died in Poland, La Capella Reial appropriately on this occasion consisted mainly of Polish singers, including the soprano Aldona Bartnik and mezzo Ewa Puchalska, both outstanding singers who contributed significantly. From the outset, a rousing, noisy celebration of the Peace of Torun (Copernicus’ birthplace) in 1466, the concert was nothing less than an utterly absorbing European history lesson in music, taking in such events as the 1515 Congress of Vienna, illustrated by Senfl’s take on the famous song ‘Fortuna desperata’, Luther’s 95 theses (a wonderful performance of Heinrich Isaac’s ‘Christ ist erstunden’) and climaxing with the publication in the year of his death of Copernicus’ De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres). This was represented by ‘Omnus mundus jocundetur’, an irresistible Polish Christamas song so beguiling it was repeated as an encore. It is a measure of Savall’s genius as musician and communicator that the version heard in the encore differed completely. But doing full justice to this enthralling evening without testing the patience of anyone simply reading about it would be nigh on impossible.

The final day of our visit again included afternoon and (early) evening concerts. The latter took the form of what turned out to be a glorious performance of Acis and Galatea given by another of France’s outstanding early music ensembles. But that I’ve written about elsewhere (Opera), I’m afraid, so that just leaves the earlier event, given in the Salle Monteverdi, the abbey’s smaller concert room. Given by Ensemble La Vaghezza, one of the groups participating in the eeemerging programme supported by Ambronay, it consisted of 17th Italian works by composers such Biagio Marini and Dario Castello for one or (mostly) two violins and continuo. Sadly, here was another group of technically accomplished young players whose performances make no attempt to distinguish between 17th- and 18th-century styles, playing instruments neither set up nor bowed correctly for earlier Baroque string music. The result was heavily-textured performances begging for a lighter, airier touch and some recognition of the sprezzatura, or element of careless fantasy, that brings this music to life. In short, what should have been soufflé was more like suet pudding and as such became wearisome to the ear long before the concert came to an end. This is not the first time I have felt the necessity to write in this vein on this topic; it continues to puzzle me why young performers who feel drawn to this repertoire do not investigate a more appropriate, historically informed style of performance. But this report must not be allowed to conclude in discord. The Ambronay Festival remains one the most hospitable and vibrant of early music festivals; may it continue to be so long after my much-anticipated visits finally come to an end.

Brian Robins

Categories
Recording

Cappus – Le Dijonnais oublié

(The forgotten Composer from Dijon)
Premier Livre de Pieces de Viole (1730)
97:50 (2 CDs in a wallet)
Astres Records As1

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]here is no greater musicological frisson than to be able to present something brand new to the world of Barqoue music, from a completely unknown source, or by an unknown composer, expanding both our knowledge and the specific repertoire. This is the intended mission of Jonathan Dunford and his highly capable and expressive entourage of musicians in revealing the works of Jean (Baptiste) Cappus. He was born in Dijon on the 6th October 1689, in the parish of St Medard, which six years later saw the birth of a one Jean-Philippe Rameau. His father, François, was a singing master, said to have been a good organist, and sang at Dijon cathedral; he died in 1716 after a full life. His mother, Anne Hervelin, passed away when Jean was three years old in 1692. Some of the early collections of “ Livres d’Airs” and Airs à boire” from 1690-1700 were most likely by his father; however, due to the context and location, the 1722 cantata, “Le Temple de la gloire”, given in honour of the illustrious house of the Counts of Saulx, at the Jesuit College in Dijon, seems to be the work of the son, following in his father’s footsteps. In 1728 we see the divertissement mis en musique, “Le retour de Zéphire”, published in Dijon and given at the same Jesuit College. In 1729 his divertissement, “Les Plaisirs d’hiver”, was performed before the queen at Versailles. The following year we see the publication of the “Premier livre de Pièces de Viole”, divided into four suites: the two major key suites are performed on CD1 and the two minor key suites on CD2 (D, G, d, a). They each open with a fantasie or prelude, moving through the common dance forms, yet sprinkled with some movements imitative of hurdy-gurdy or musette, and delightful character vignettes, plus topographical references all firmly seated in the Burgundy region. The Duke and Duchess feature, too, this collection being dedicated to Charles Henry Gaspard, Duke de Saulx, Lieutenant Commander of Duchy of Burgundy, Brigadier-General of the king’s army. The musicians on this recording embrace and deliver the requisite French elegance with deeply resonant “tawny” tones on their period gambas. We hear a comparable musical filigree and approach to that of a Ste. Colombe, and adhering especially to that of a Marais. The transition through the movements admirably displays the compositional prowess of Cappus, and perhaps belies sometimes a flowing violinistic agility. These special qualities obviously struck the right noble spheres and ears of music making, as these Suites received a mention in the November Mercure de France 1730. The well-rounded and responsive musicians on these discs have opened up the trail to this neglected composer and his works from Dijon, who deserves to join the bright constellation of the famous, as a most accomplished master in his own right. CD pull-out pamphlet only in French, tant pis! (See an article on Cappus by Jonathan Dunford by clicking HERE). One hopes, too, to hear more of this composer’s noteworthy works, perhaps his 1732 cantata, Sémélé  (also known as “La naissance de Bacchus”), to further attest to the merits of this Dijon based composer, who rubbed shoulders with Rameau, and may have had lessons with Marais.

David Bellinger

To buy the CDs and find out more about Jonathan Dunford and Cappus, visit the website.

Categories
Recording

G.P.Telemann: Concerti da Camera, Vol.1

Camerata Köln
68:03
cpo 555 131-2
TWV43: a3, h3, g2, G12, g4, d3, G11

[dropcap]T[dropcap]his is a genuine Smorgasbord of delights from this section of Telemann’s oeuvre, filled with subtle tonal, and timbral blends and shades, superbly nuanced throughout the various movements with these specifically paired instruments. To the seasoned Telemannophile, these are indeed old friends, found previously on various recordings down the years. Yet here, we have a wonderful gathering of works, which would easily grace any baroque programme; played here by musicians with an intimate understanding of this richly contoured music; not a single accent is out of place in this bright treasury of works. From the opening lilting “Adagio” to the animated final “Allegro assai”, we are taken through a ravishing interplay of well-balanced instrumental colours by a consummate master of this genre, displaying an elegant concision and euphonic pleasure, never musically prolix or overstated. The musicians respond accordingly, with an unforced beauty that simply lets the music speak and breathe for itself; from the slightly spectral “Adagio” of TWV43:h3, to the stately bounce at the opening of TWV43:d3 (here in full Telemann markings, sometimes ascribed to Handel by dint of similarities to the opening of the G minor Oboe Concerto HWV 287, overlooking the Darmstadt source in the former’s name). Some of these qualities are already familiar to us from the range of wonderfully crafted and vibrant works within the famous collection, Musique de Table of 1733. The beguiling magic of every single movement is perfectly caught by this sensitive and responsive band of musicians, without any breakneck tempi, or over-egging of the already rich puddings! An exceptionally fine recording to adorn any inveterate Baroquophile’s shelves. Another listening treasure and pleasure on board the CPO flagship!

David Bellinger

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