Krzysztof Firlus viola da gamba, Anna Firlus harpsichord
53:48
DUX 1471
Sonatas by J. S. & C. P. E. Bach, Christian & Christian Wilhelm Podbielski
[dropcap]O[/dropcap]f the repertoire on this attractive CD EMR readers are likely to know the gamba sonatas by J. S. and C. P. E. Bach, but frankly are unlikely to know the two very pleasant sonatas by Christian Podbielski. It could be argued that this is largely because the latter was born and grew up in Königsberg (now the Russian enclave city of Kaliningrad) which in the 18th century was a hub of artistic activity but which subsequently found itself marginalized culturally and politically. Podbielski published a fairly extensive body of work, and the present sonatas are full of felicitous touches and original textures and melodic ideas. It was around this time in the late 18th century that the gamba was being replaced by the cello, and there are many aspects of these sonatas which suggest the cello rather than the gamba. Pleasantly galante in style rather than intensely Baroque, their full charm and elegance is brought out by the stylish playing of the Firluses, who – in addition to enjoying as husband and wife a special rapport with one another – also clearly have a close rapport with this repertoire. Their performances of the more familiar Bach sonatas show that they are able to cope well with the more musically demanding repertoire of the period just as well. They are to be congratulated for uncovering the music of Podbielski, fine music from a cultural context not yet extensively explored, and which is clearly worthy of attention.
Music of French masters
{oh!} Orkiestra Historyczna, Martyna Pastuszka
64:57
DUX 1382
Music by F. Campra, Corrette, Couperin, Lully & Marais
[dropcap]I[/dropcap] think on reflection the Warsaw Castle bit of the title denotes a series of recordings as no attempt is made to show that any of this music was performed in Warsaw Castle. The burgeoning world of HIP early music performance in Poland is fully in evidence in these energetic and engaging performances of music by Lully, Couperin, Marais, Corrette and Campra. The recording is live and there is a degree of background noise although nothing intrusive, mainly in fact sounds generated by the orchestra, but there is also a pleasing resonance to the acoustic of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra Chamber Hall which enhances the music, if just occasionally we lose a little detail. There is some delicate and appropriate ornamentation and some dramatic operatic sound effects such as a thunder sheet. There is familiar music here, such as Lully’s Suite from Armide and Marais’ Suite from Ariane et Bacchus but also music which was new to me such as Couperin’s Quartet Sonata, La Sultane, and Corrette’s D major Concerto, Le Phénix. The programme is a cleverly constructed concert programme with tutti Suites alternating with the quartet and the gamba concerto in which the considerable skills of Krzysztof Firlus are on dramatic display. What is delightful about all the performances is the freedom with the scores and a fizzing spontaneity which is infectious.
Capella Musicale di Santa Barbara, Umberto Forni
54:42
Tactus TC570701
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his sequence of music for two choirs and instruments by Amante Franzoni was published in 1613 while he was employed as maestro di cappella at the Basilica of Santa Barbara in Mantua and seems to constitute service music for St Barbara. It is recorded live in the cavernous acoustic of the Basilica itself, lending proceedings a certain authority, and indeed the recording begins with an audible tumble-weed moment as the acoustic space is established. There are also a couple of not entirely convincing cross edits, the tuning isn’t always 100% and there are a couple of instrumental fluffs as well as audience coughs and occasional unexplained ‘noises off’, but generally this is a competent performance of music which is receiving its premiere performance. Franzoni proves to be a capable polychoral composer of the post-Gabrieli school and handles his large-scale forces with confidence and creativity. We might have wished that the performers had returned to the Basilica on a later occasion without their audience and placed their microphones more opportunely for a recording, which better reflected their undoubted talents and those of Franzoni, but the present recording gives an adequate impression of what might have been. We would recall that at one time Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers were thought to be associated with the Basilica of St Barbara in Mantua, and although on a more modest scale, Franzoni’s 1613 publication seems to be a similar sort of musical enterprise.
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Federico Del Sordo organ/harpsichord, In Dulci Jubilo, dir. Alberto Turco
128:34 (2 CDs in a case)
Brilliant Classics 95512
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he music on these two CDs is taken from the huge compendium of organ music for liturgical use, the Annuale by Giovanni Battista Fasolo, now thought to have been published before 1635 and so to have influenced a number of similar publications. Sometimes in alternatim with the women’s choir In Dulci Jubilo, Alberto Turco plays the splendid 1589 Antegnati organ in Verona Cathedral and the equally fine 1509 Montefalco organ at Trevi, which survived renovation in the 18th century to be restored in the 20th and is probably the oldest working organ in the world. Both instruments have a striking immediacy and pungency, partly due to their authentic tuning and their extreme age, but they are marvellously evocative in their accounts of Fasolo’s music. Full details of the registrations Father Turco uses are provided, which will be appreciated by organ fans, but these are CDs which will appeal beyond the limited world of organists. The music is tremendously evocative of the age in which it was produced, and by using these venerable instruments Alberto Turco brings it vividly to life. A few of the pieces are played on harpsichord as it is argued that during Lent this instrument may well have stood in for the organ, although curiously the harpsichord pieces are recorded in an altogether closer acoustic. In any case, the two historic organs remain the stars of these informative CDs.
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Music for horn & strings,
Alessandro Denabian, & Quartetto Delfico
69:15
passacaille 1032
Music by Cherubini, Dauprat & Reicha
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his CD is the answer to what was happening in the world of the horn in the early 19th century. The date mentioned in the title marks the self-coronation of Napoleon as Emperor but is also the composition date of two of the works recorded here, the two sonatas by Luigi Cherubini for horn and string quartet. The second Sonata is a more substantial piece with genuine musical merit while the first sounds a bit like a test piece. Although work was already underway to develop the valves which would make the horn truly chromatic, faced with increasingly wayward melodic lines, players of the natural horn had developed a deftness with hand-stopping which in effect allowed them to play relatively chromatic music, and it is the natural valveless horn which Alessandro Denabian employs here. The Horn Quintet, one of a set of three, by the horn player and composer Louis Dauprat published in 1817 was also conceived for the natural horn, although the valved instrument was by now available. Melodically imaginative and making expert use of the horn, this quintet is given a stirring performance by Denabian and the Quartetto Delfico. The lively acoustic of the Auditorium Montis Regalis in Mondovi allows Denabian to produce a relatively uniform tone through hand-stopped and ‘open’ notes, and demonstrates why performers and composers might have been reluctant to abandon hard-won technique in favour of unreliable mechanics – we would recall that much later in the century Brahms and even Ravel sometimes preferred the sound of the natural horn. The finest music on the CD is the Quintet op. 106 by Anton Reicha, composed in 1819 for Dauprat to play. All of the composers represented here were associated with the Paris Conservatoire and would have been very familiar with one another’s compositions and playing. Reicha is primarily famous for his compositions for wind instruments, and in this quintet the horn is very much cast as the virtuosic soloist, while the strings accompany in a more restrained style. Denabian’s technique and warm tone ensure that his performance of this demanding music is both impressive and persuasive.
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Rosita Frisani Mary, Anna Chierichetti St John, Gianluca Belfiori Doro Nicodemus, Mario Cecchetti Onía SSAT, Alessandro Stradella Consort, Estévan Velardi
146:08 (2 CDs in a case)
Brilliant Classics 95534
[dropcap]C[/dropcap]omposed in 1717, in its composer’s maturity, Scarlatti’s Oratorio Sorrow of the Virgin Mary is probably his masterpiece in the genre, and possibly even overall in his work. A substantial work in two parts for four solo voices and strings with a selection of woodwind and brass, it presents the reaction of the Virgin Mary to the unfolding tragedy of her son’s condemnation and crucifixion in a series of dramatic arias, duets, trios and quartets with linking sections of narrative recitative, some of it accompanied. Rosita Frisani’s account of the part of Mary is beautifully expressive and musically accomplished, while she is well supported by an excellent cast of solo singers representing the supporting characters. Curiously Scarlatti sets the part of St John the Evangelist for soprano, perhaps serving as a dramatic distancing effect, while Nicodemus is an alto and Onia, the hostile High Priest, is a tenor. The crafting of the vocal lines is masterly indeed, while the sparing use of the solo wind instrument colours is deft and highly effective. You can tell that by 1717 Scarlatti is a skilled operatic composer, and the date coincides with his move from Naples to Rome, suggesting that the new oratorio was consciously written to appeal to Roman taste and to launch his musical career in the Eternal City. Performed here in a new edition by Estévan Velardi, it is interesting that this oratorio doesn’t even merit a mention in Scarlatti’s extensive Wiki entry – perhaps there is some evangelical work needed on its behalf.
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The Choir of Westminster Abbey, James O’Donnell
62:40
hyperion CDA68192
+Alleluia Ora pro nobis, Hac clara die turma, Ninefold Kyrie
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his selection of Marian music by Nicholas Ludford usefully presents his polyphony in a semi-liturgical context. For example, his Ninefold Kyrie, a so-called ‘square’, appears in alternatim with an anonymous two-part organ piece on the same ‘square’ played by James O’Donnell. Extra ‘verses’ appear in modern organ elaborations by Magnus Williamson. Similarly Ludford’s polyphonic setting of Alleluia. Ora pro nobis appears in alternatim with chant verses, as does his setting of Hac clara die turma. His mouth-watering setting of Ave Maria, ancilla Trinitas represents his more typically flamboyant polyphonic side, opening with two- and three part polyphony before the full choral forces are unleashed on the verse Ave Maria suor angelorum – clearly Ludford’s singers represent the voices of the angels. The Westminster Abbey Choir sing this music with considerable authority and commitment, and there is a fine balance between the adult and children’s voices. I can still remember the stir when the Cardinall’s Musick released their ground-breaking series of recordings of Ludford’s Masses on ASV in the early 1990s, bringing his music to a wider audience for the first time in modern times and instantly restoring the composer’s name to the list of first rank Renaissance English composers. Something of that wonder still lingers on hearing his imaginative and utterly assured setting of Ave Maria and being reminded of the virtues of his Mass Videte miraculum. The present performances capture well his lithe vocal lines with their smooth transitions between reduced forces episodes and declamatory full choir sections and glorious concluding perorations. Gold stars to the choir’s excellent trebles who cope admirably with the work’s two complex treble lines. In glancing back at the ASV recordings, I recall the golden days when masses were presented in a rudimentary liturgical framework – it seems regrettably as if these days are past, but this CD with its nod in that direction is probably the next best thing.
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Transports Publics, Thomas Baeté
68:02
Musica Ficta MF 8028
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he charming idea behind this CD are concerts given in Antwerp around 1640 by the Jewish heritage Portuguese émigré family Duarte. A letter from Anna Roemers Visscher who attended one such concert in 1640 provides details of the instruments the family played and also some of their repertoire, while the survival of some of Leonora Duarte’s compositions allows these to included alongside other likely pieces by English and continental composers of the time. Duarte’s sinfonias for five viols, performed imaginatively here on a variety of the available instruments, are in the English viol consort style and prove to be works of considerable accomplishment and attractiveness. The quirkily named ensemble Transports Publics are joined for this project by the delightful guest sopranos Olalla Alemàn and Gret de Geyter. It is easy to be transported into the public rooms of the Duarte family, cluttered with keyboard instruments and bedecked with fine paintings, for the duration of this evocative and eloquently performed programme, which includes a nod in the direction of the Duartes’ Sephardic roots with music by Salamone Rossi and the Sephardic song El paso del mar rojo. While this latter piece would be unlikely to have been performed openly in a concert by the Duartes, intent on cultivating their Catholic credentials, the fact that Leonora Duarte hid the tune in one of her sinfonias is perhaps highly significant.
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Rennert, Lys, Hesse von den Steinen, Navarro Colorado, Perry, Boyce, Festspielorchester Göttingen, Laurence Cummings
187:00 (3 CDs)
Accent Acc 26408
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his live performance of the relatively unfamiliar 1729 operaLotario by Handel comes from the 2017 Göttingen International Handel Festival. The title role, sung originally by the Italian castrato Bernacchi, is taken by mezzo-soprano Sophie Rennert – Bernacchi was initially poorly received in the role, being unflatteringly compared to the great Senesino, but was deemed to have improved in the face of criticism. In the dog-eat-dog operatic world of early 18th-century London, the opera itself was also deemed ‘very poor’, a verdict which it is hard to understand as this is a piece stuffed with powerful arias, beautiful ensembles and generally music of a very high order of excellence. At a recent performance of the oratorio Samson, I was struck simultaneously by how much superb music Handel wrote and what a small proportion of it is well known. And here is an entire score of music, which is never less than accomplished and often exquisitely beautiful. The libretto is of Byzantine complexity, but as usual with the operas of this period it simply provides a series of scenarios in which characters can sing of love, hate, triumph, desperation and a range of other high emotions. Lotario’s relatively delayed appearance, for instance, gives rise to the lovely aria Rammentati, cor mio, ravishingly sung by Rennert, by which time we have already heard extensively from Marie Lys, whose convincing account of Adelaide is also deeply moving. A strong cast brings this inexplicably obscure music vividly to life, while consistently fine playing from the orchestral forces is also a major factor in this performance’s success. Inevitably there is an element of background noise in this recording of a staged performance, although the one or two startling thumps are restricted to sections of recitative, while the arias are relatively distraction-free. While we might have expected drums and trumpets in the final chorus of a martial opera, Handel eschews this gesture, and in the present performance the ‘chorus’ would seem just to involve the soloists, which may seem a little underwhelming as a conclusion. The informative programme notes include an engaging series of contemporary responses to the opera, and this admirable package has done a fine service in bringing this neglected score to wider attention.
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Allabastrina Choir and Consort, Elena Sartori
59:35
Brilliant Classics 95592
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]hese performances of two great masterpieces by Jean Baptiste Lully are extremely beautiful in every respect. Concise and beautifully balanced instrumental playing is matched by choral and solo singing of a very high order. The ensembles have clearly digested completely the idiosyncratic style of this music, and their effortless and utterly convincing ornamentation, their smooth alternation between solo and tutti sections and their consistently beautiful tone and blend are simply exemplary. I was not as familiar with the Dies irae as I am with the Te Deum, but this recording has won me over to the considerable virtues of a fine and powerful funeral composition. Elena Sartori is professor of choral singing at the Claudio Monteverdi Conservatoire in Bolzano, and her expertise both with the scores and with her choral forces is apparent. I am perhaps duty bound to mention a couple of omissions in this package – neither texts nor translations are provided, although of course both are easily accessed online, but curiously the accomplished soloists are also not identified. Perhaps this is a consequence of the Allabastrina ethos in which the group is regarded as ‘an alchemical combination of friendship, vocal and instrumental entente’. Often such mission statements come across as pretentious, but in this case the proof of the pudding is in the listening.
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