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W A Mozart: Fantasy

Florent Albrecht
78:24
Trihort 585

Playing a Baumbach pianoforte of 1780, Florent Albrecht presents a programme of Mozart’s four fantasies for solo piano, bringing under the same umbrella three preludes, as well as a further “Mozart Fantasy” reconstructed by himself. There is an interesting record from 1785 of Mozart playing fantasies for his fellow Masons, and it is highly plausible that this exploratory and improvisatory music would have appealed particularly to this inner circle of deep-thinking connoisseurs. Albrecht’s accounts emphasise the spontaneous nature of this music, managing to make it sound as if he is discovering its secrets alongside his audience. He makes imaginative use of the different textures available on his chosen instrument, a remarkable survivor from a bygone age – it was the property of the Abbé of Vermont, tutor and confessor to Marie-Antoinette, and unlike these two people who are very likely to have played it, it survived the French Revolution to be restored to its original state in 2013 by Olivier Fadini. It produces a remarkably rich array of timbres, which Albrecht exploits to the full in these flamboyant accounts of some of Mozart’s most imaginative piano music. With many composers from the Baroque era onwards, we are painfully aware of the wealth of improvised music, which took many composers to the very limits of their creative talents, but which by definition often existed only in the moment. Fantasies such as these are treasures, preserved by random chance, and the main strength of these recordings is the way in which Albrecht expressively unfolds each piece, much as Mozart may have done in the rarefied setting of his Masonic Lodge.

D. James Ross

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A Bach & Abel Concert

Catherine Zimmer Merlin square piano 1784
Music by K F Abel, J C & C P E Bach, Haydn, Lachnith, [Maria Hester] Park & Stanley
62:00
encelade ECL2401

The year is 1784 and in London the inventor John Joseph Merlin and the Gray brothers have come up with one of the more bizarre offshoots of the development of the piano – a square piano combined with an organ. There was a considerable taste for novelty at this time among the spoiled metropolitan musical public, with an account of one musician in fancy dress and on roller skates performing on the violin before destroying a valuable mirror, his instrument and himself! Remarkably the 1784 Merlin Organised Piano has survived, and it is on this fully restored novelty that Catherine Zimmer presents a recital of music from the time which might just have been played on it. In addition to the promised works by JC and CPE Bach and Abel, we have music by Haydn as well as more obscure repertoire by John Hook, Maria Hesther Park and Ludwig Wenzel Lachnith. Opinions will be divided as to whether a combined sound of piano and organ is even desirable, and some listeners may be distracted by the necessary clanking of the mechanism as Zimmer switches among the various available timbres. I have to say I found this inclusion of the ‘mechanics’ both honest and engaging, particularly when on one track they are joined by the chirping of sparrows, and I even found myself warming to the virtues of the ‘organised piano’. It is perhaps significant that prior to its extensive restoration in 2020, this remarkable instrument had been subjected to ongoing work, suggesting that it had never fallen entirely out of use. At any rate, it is fascinating finally to hear an instrument which hitherto had only been heard about, and particularly when it is in the hands of an expert pianist/organist such as Catherine Zimmer.

D. James Ross

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Recording

Stanley: Complete Flute Sonatas

Daorsa Dervishi baroque flute, Alessia Travaglini gamba/cello, Nicola Bisooti harpsichord
112:46 (2 CDs in a single jewel case)
Brilliant Classics 96397

The story of this partially-sighted English composer is indeed a remarkable one. In spite of his blindness, or perhaps because of it, he used his remarkable musical memory to be able to perform and direct even complex scores after one hearing. Himself an accomplished organist, he composed voluntaries and concertos for the instrument, spanning the period between the high Baroque style of Handel, with whom he worked extensively, and the Galant style exemplified in London by the music of J C Bach. The eight flute sonatas of his opus 1 and the six sonatas of his opus 4, all of which are recorded here, demonstrate an enormous debt to his mentor Handel, but at the same time express an individual talent and facility with the instrument which should not be overlooked. Anybody who could make a living in the cut-throat musical world of 18th-century London deserves respect, and in these fine performances by Albanian Baroque flautist Daorsa Dervishi and her superb continuo team we hear the considerable charm and musical imagination in these works. Dervishi’s stunning technique and fine declamatory style on her Rottenburgh/Tutz flute are complemented by a warm tone and beautifully clear articulation. These are very enjoyable CDs which will surely also redirect listeners to Stanley’s other music, and the disappointment that of the wealth of music he presumably wrote when in later life he succeeded William Boyce as Master of the Chapel Royal hardly anything survives.

D. James Ross

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Kauffmann: Complete Sacred Works

Isabel Schicketanz, Elizabeth Mücksch, Britta Schwarz, Tobias Hunger, Christoph Pfaller, Tobias Bendt SSATTB, Collegium Vocale Leipzig, Merseburger Hofmusik, Michael Schönheit
106:34 (2 CDs in a box)
cpo 555 365-2

A slightly older contemporary of J S Bach and Handel, Georg Friedrich Kauffmann has passed under the radar for a number of reasons, being born, living and dying in relative obscurity. Four decades spent composing for the court and chapel in Merseburg must have resulted in many more sacred pieces than have survived, all of which appear on this 2CD set. To compound Kauffmann’s ill fortune, several boxes of his music were sent to Dresden, where they were subsequently consumed by the firestorm which destroyed much of the city towards the end of WWII. One tantalising what-if in Kauffmann’s career was his application for the post of Thomaskantor in nearby Leipzig. If the committee preferred the slightly younger J S Bach, it seems a little unfair that Kauffmann has suffered from this comparison with the great Bach ever since. The present recording has mustered excellent forces from Merseburg and Leipzig to present highly impressive accounts of Kauffmann’s surviving oeuvre, opening with an undoubted masterpiece, the oratorio ‘Rüstet euch, ihr Himmelschören’ for six soloists, four-part choir and a large orchestra with trumpets and drums. This piece, surely not the only such piece he wrote, but sadly the only one to survive, speaks to the resources of the Saxe-Merseburg court but also to the inventiveness and imagination of the composer in his deft handling of these lavish forces. Equally adept in his handling of the large vocal and instrumental forces is the director of these performances Michael Schönheit. He and his impressive line-up of musicians are not content to produce a big sound, but provide wonderfully nuanced accounts of Kauffmann’s music. Expressive solo singing and beautifully defined choral contributions are effectively complemented with precise and musical instrumental support. The rest of the two CDs is devoted to Kauffmann’s surviving cantatas, again surely a tiny remnant of what must have once existed. Certainly, the composer’s facility with this form suggests considerable experience, and these surviving works range in scale from solo cantatas to one which matches the oratorio. Having heard some of Kauffmann’s sacred music serving as concert and CD ‘fillers’, the present collection featuring his entire body of sacred music and in first-class performances serves to shine a spotlight on this neglected master and allows his music to shine in its own right.

D. James Ross

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Recording

Vivaldi: Musica sacra per coro e orchestra I

Soloists, Coro e Orchestra Ghislieri, conducted by Giulio Prandi
73:01
Naïve OP8564

The mammoth undertaking that is the Vivaldi Edition moves on to another series within the series, this time devoted to sacred choral music. In this case, that is a bit of a misnomer given that the present CD includes three works that do not feature a chorus. While some elements of the Edition are unique documents – the complete operas particularly come to mind – intégrales of the sacred works have been undertaken previously by Philips and Hyperion. However, even on the first disc, there are two works that were not included in either of the earlier sets simply because they are recent discoveries. In a customarily scholarly note, Vivaldi expert Michael Talbot describes the Dixit Dominus, RV 807 as ‘the largest and most important new sacred work by the composer to have emerged in the last twenty years’. The last of the three settings of the Vespers psalm composed by Vivaldi, Talbot suggests a date of around 1732. He points to the high quality of the work, rightly drawing particular attention to ‘De torrente’, where the mimetic evocation of the constant murmuring of the brook acts as a foundation for the long cantabile lines of the alto soloist, Margherita Maria Sala, described here as a mezzo but more accurately a rich-toned contralto with a timbre not unlike that of the great French alto Lucile Richardot.

Sala also sings the other recently rediscovered work, the motet Vos invito barbaræ faces, RV 811. Scored for solo alto, strings and continuo it consists of two extremely contrasted arias placed either side of a plain recitative and is concluded by the customary bravura Alleluia. The opening is an aria agitata urging battle against the forces of evil, which are compared to wild beasts, while the second gently welcomes the worthwhile wounds sustained in the battle.

Sala also has a prominent role in the Magnificat in G minor, RV 611, a work composed for the Pietà in Venice originally around 1715, but later considerably revised; it is the final version that is recorded here. She is particularly effective in the exquisite ‘Sicut locutus est’, where the long, beautifully sustained cantabile line culminates in a cadential trill, an ornament otherwise sadly lacking. Overall RV 611 is a work fully deserving of its place as one of Vivaldi’s most popular sacred work. From the chromatically-inflected opening chorus through the exuberant and well-executed soprano solo ‘Et exultavit’ and the succeeding ‘Quia respexit’, also a soprano solo, the work exudes a heart-warming expression of humility.

It’s a quality that fits well with Giulio Prandi’s approach to this music, his performances particularly notable for their warm affection and the space he is prepared to allow the music, a welcome change from the driving rhythmic impetus and virtuosity so often sought by conductors in this repertoire. Of the works not so far mentioned, Sanctorum meritis, RV 620 is a hymn, alternate verses being set, it being assumed that the intervening verses were intoned by the priest. It is sung here by soprano Carlotta Colombo (not the alto, as claimed by Talbot), whose fresh, youthful-sounding voice and agile technique are a pleasure throughout, though on this evidence she needs to improve her articulation of ornaments. Confitebor tibi, Domine, RV 596, a setting of the Vespers Psalm 110, is unique among Vivaldi’s sacred works in being the only one scored for a trio of solo voices, here alto, tenor and bass, its main interest coming from the contrapuntal interweaving of the three soloists.

This is an excellent start to coverage of the sacred works, a mini-series to which I imagine that Prandi and his accomplished forces will contribute a major role.

Brian Robins

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Recording

Geminiani: Concerti Grossi, op. 3

Accademia Bizantina, directed by Ottavio Dantone harpsichord
66:08
HDB-AB-ST-005

Born in Lucca in 1687, Francesco Geminiani spent most of his life in London following lessons with Corelli in Rome and a short period in Naples. Charles Burney’s story of how following his appointment to lead the orchestra there he was soon dismissed has frequently been related. Apparently, he was found to be such a wildly eccentric player as to timing and use of rubato that the other string players found him near-impossible to follow. Less often quoted is Burney’s view that the set of opus 3 concertos, first published in 1735, ‘established his character, and placed him at the head of all the masters then living, in this species of composition ‘.

This species of composition’ was of course the concerto grosso, typified by Corelli’s famous opus 6 set published posthumously around 1714. It created a rage for the genre, particularly in England where Corelli’s set became a model for dozens of publications suitable for the many orchestras that included both professional and amateur string players. That meant that the concertino players – in the case of Geminiani two violins, viola and cello – could take the demanding solo parts, leaving the less challenging parts to the body of strings (ripienists). Geminiani’s opus 3 consists of six concertos, four in minor keys, two in major, and he makes an important distinction in the music he writes for each. Those in major keys consist of four movements, often influenced by the dance, while those in the minor are liable to feature multi-part movement and concentrate on more serious contrapuntal structures. But all have in common a finely balanced and weighted quality that belies Geminiani’s tempestuous reputation as a performer.

Accademia Bizantina’s CD comes in luxury packaging, being the final disc in a trilogy of discs devoted to the concerto grosso entitled ‘The Exciting Sound of Baroque Music’. Few I think would disagree that the sound is indeed exciting, with full-blood tutti’s and strong, deep-rooted chords alternating at the extreme with delicately-drawn cantabiles. The opening Adagio of Concerto 1 in D minor provides a good indication of what is to follow. Here the beautifully shaded, caressing violin solo is disturbed by crunching chords almost violent in character. In quicker music – and it is a great asset of the performances that tempos are never extreme – rhythms have the power of powerfully delivered rhetoric. My one major disagreement with Ottavio Dantone, and it applies to the majority of his performances, is the manner in which he uses the continuo theorbo or rather what should be continuo theorbo but in the hands of his player becomes an extra concertino part. In fast chordal writing, it is at times used virtually as a percussion instrument, but it is in delicate solo passages that the arpeggiations and broken chords become an intolerable distraction, overlaying cantabile writing. If you want an especially damning example, listen to the exquisitely played Adagio third movement of Concerto No 5 in B-flat, where the long cantabile solo violin solo is unforgivably obliterated by the theorbo’s unwanted presence.

But such a view must not be allowed to distract from what is another outstanding set of performances that allow the composer’s voice to speak with an emphasis and determination that can only be compared with the delivery of a great orator. In addition to opus 3, the disc includes the famous ‘La Folia’ variations adapted from Corelli.

Brian Robins

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In Copisteria del Conte

Musical delights from the Genoese palazzi
Jacopo Ristori cello and artistic director
136:00 (2 CDs in a card triptych)
Snakewood Editions SCD202401

The arrival of this set took me back to the good old days of the “early music revival” when almost every consignment sent for review contained at least one recording that explored completely new repertoire. These days, with groups driven to devise original “takes” on well-known music that set them apart from the crowd and far less financial support from recording companies, it is quite unusual to come upon a project such as this that champions the obscurity of its material: music from late-18th-century Genoa.

Pretty much the only composer most people will have heard of on the playlist is Boccherini, two of whose sonatas (G. 571 & 579)  open the second disc. Elsewhere, there are violin duets by Barbella (not the one recorder players know!), “contests” for two cellos by Ferrari, two sonatas for psaltery, violin and continuo by Arnaldi, and two string quartets attributed to Pietro Nardini in the sources (copies in the hand of the “conte” of the discs’ title) but most likely composed by Franz Anton Hoffmeister.

Cellist Jacopo Ristori is joined by fellow cellists Viola de Hoog and Gied von Oorschot, violinists Antoinette Lobmann, Giorgos Samoilis and Sara de Vries (who also plays viola in the quartets), Jesse Solway on contrabbasso, Anna Pontz on psaltery and Earl Christy on lute/theorbo. For me, the most musically satisfying pieces were the string quartets; the prominence of the violist in the second was surprising but indicative of advances in that genre at the time. The two psaltery sonatas are interesting for what they are, but the two treble instruments spent too long doubling one another for the material to make any lasting impression. The contests between two cellists are – I imagine – more entertaining in real life than on a recording, with each player trying to outdo the other. Barbella’s violinistic skills are evident from his duets, but they are not in the same league as Leclair’s or even Pleyel’s better contributions to the repertoire. If this all sounds like I’m damning the recording with faint praise, that is not the impression I would like to give; Count Federico Taccoli’s contribution to the dissemination (and, in some cases, survival) of music heard in Genoa in the second half of the 18th century is invaluable. These performances reveal some of it in the best possible light. Ristori and his colleagues are to be complimented and thanked for their pioneering endeavour!

Brian Clark

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Recording

Hasse: Serpentes ignei in deserto

Philippe Jaroussky, Julia Lezhneva, Jakub Józef Orliński, Brundo de Sá, Carlo Vistoli, David Hansen, Les Accents, directed by Thibault Noally
91:90 (2 CDs)
Erato 5021732399045

The Latin oratorio Serpentes ignei in deserto (Fiery Serpents in the Desert) was a product of Johann Adolf Hasse’s connections with the Ospedale degli incurabile, one of four orphanages for girls in Venice. Although undated it probably belongs to the period when he was maestro di capella at the Incurabile between 1735 and 1739, though the not particularly informative notes provided with the present recording opt for c.1733-35.

The story, an unusual choice for an 18th-century oratorio, concerns the episode related in the Old Testament book of Numbers (chapter 21) in which the Jews lose faith in Moses’s leadership in the desert. To punish them God sent snakes to bite and kill until the people repented. God then told Moses to make a bronze serpent; all those bitten that looked on it would be cured. The libretto by Bonaventura Bonomo follows the biblical tale closely, with the exception of the introduction of an Angel (Julia Lezhneva) who acts as an intermediary between God and Moses. The oratorio is scored for six voices, three sopranos and three altos, though in contrast to the original cast, which would obviously have been all-female, Thibault Noally has here opted to use four countertenors and a male sopranist (Bruno de Sá), who sings the role of Joshua. Since the score demands the utmost vocal virtuosity it is probably fortunate that the star-studded line-up of countertenors includes Philippe Jaroussky as Moses, Jakub Józef Orliński as Nathaniel, Carlo Vistoli as Eleazar, a repentant Israelite and David Hansen as Eliab, an agitator.

The style is very much that employed at this time by Hasse in operas such as Cleofide, which although originally written in 1731 for Dresden (Bach was almost certainly present at the first performance) was heard in several productions in Venice during the 1730s. Such is the flamboyant brilliance, and virtuoso demands of a number of the arias the listener is given cause for wonderment as to how they were sung by the young ladies of the Incurabile. In addition to the arias there is a sumptuous duet for Eleazar and Joshua – sung with empathetic understanding by Vistoli and de Sá, while there are also some impressive accompagnato recitatives, which dominate, there being hardly any plain recitative.

The vocal honours are stolen by the only woman. Lezhneva is in dazzling voice, as can be heard in the Angel’s second aria, a coloratura showpiece, with perfectly placed rapid passaggi and so exuberant that in the ornamentation of the da capo she comes perilously close to vulgarity. But it in is the lyrical outpouring of the exquisite earlier aria in which the Angel acts as mediator that her technique and musicality are truly exploited to the full, the music sweetly cajoled and moulded in lines shaped to melt any heart. Never afraid of employing subtle touches of rubato or expressive portamenti, this is singing that surely comes as close as is possible to the manner in which the great singers of the 18th century wooed and seduced their audiences, constantly surprising and delighting them. Listen, for example, to the opening of the da capo repeat, where Lezhneva produces a perfect messa da voce on the opening word ‘Caeli’ (Ye heavens) that is in addition gracefully decorated. She draws the aria to a reluctant end with several bars displaying a ravishingly lovely pianissimo. I write reluctant because despite it being a long aria (12 mins in this performance), you may find–as I do – that you want it to go on for all eternity.

None of what I’ve written about Lezhneva’s performance of this aria should be taken to suggest the stellar counter-tenor team falls short in any significant way. Especial praise should go to Carlo Vistoli for his performance of another spell-bindingly graceful aria, ‘Dolore pleni’, a lyrical outpouring of penitence that is exquisitely shaped and touchingly expressed. It must also be noted that Vistoli is the only member of the cast – always of course excepting Lezhneva – who seems comfortable with trills. The only other real cause for criticism is the poor diction of de Sá and Hansen. The oratorio is well played by the strings of Les Accents, while their founder and conductor Thibault Noally finds a good measure of the Italianate warmth and lyricism that so endeared Hasse to his Italian patrons and audiences. A splendid rediscovery, elevated to the level of unmissable by Lezhneva’s unforgettable contribution.

Brian Robins

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Recording

Bach Cantatas

Nick Pritchard tenor, Yu-Wie Hu flute, Oxford Baroque soloists, directed by Tom Hammond-Davies
57:57
Signum Records SIGCD869

Tom Hammond-Davies had his formation at New College in the days of Edward Higginbottom, so the Oxford Bach Soloists which he founded were based there at first. Now they have taken wing, and after a few years as director of music at Wadham, he is now based in Dallas. Their first recording as a group is a programme of three Bach cantatas, which gives a good overview of their style and aims. Here I should confess a bias: I have worked with a number of his musicians, both singers and players.

First on this CD is BWV 82.2, Ich habe genung, is sung in the version Bach transposed up for traverso and soprano in 1731, elements of which found their way into Anna Magdalena’s Klavierbüchlein. Here it is sung by the tenor, Nick Pritchard, who is also the solo voice in BWV 55, Ich armer Mensch, the one cantata for solo tenor, which has an oboe d’amore paired with the traverso. In a quite different style which befits its earlier origin is BWV 4, Christ lag in Todesbanden, the cantata from Bach’s Mühlhausen trial on Easter Day 1707.

Common to all three is a string band of 3.3.2.1.1 which might be expected in Leipzig, but feels a little unbalanced in the early BWV 4, which has a 5-part string band with the two viola parts commonly scored in 17th-century Germany. But the reason becomes clear, as this cantata is performed by a chorus of 17 voices throughout – including in the numbers marked ‘solo’ – and has a basso continuo line bolstered by not only a fagotto but a harpsichord as well as the organ. These purist cavils aside, this is wonderful singing by (almost entirely) young singers with that direct, un-plummy tone that allows Bach’s polyphony to ring out with a clarity and energy that few more established choirs can rival. This is a triumphant vindication of one of the OBS’s aims – to bring on younger musicians. The chorale that concludes BWV 55, sung by a smaller group of singers – none of whom sang in BWV 4, save for Nick Pritchard – reveals what choral talent is available in Oxford; any of them could have sung in the choir for BWV 4.

The solo cantatas have a quite different feel. Here Hammond-Davies coaxes suave playing from his players, giving prominence to the traverso of Yu-Wei Hu whose long phrases and blending, woody tone means that Nick Pritchard never has to over-sing. Their best pairing is in BWV 55iii. Pritchard has a more soloistic persona in these Leipzig cantatas than he was allowed to show in BWV 4, but the clean lines of the chorale indicate that he can change mode.
Unique to this CD in my experience is a fine note on the text of Bach cantatas by Henrike Lähnemann, Professor of Mediaeval German at Oxford for the past ten years. A musician herself, she introduces us to the theology and craft of Christoph Birkmann, a university student and a candidate for the ministry, who was trusted by Bach to fashion the libretti for BWV 82 and 55.

This is a splendid CD. If they manage to make more, I hope that Hammond-Davies will manage to try out solo singers from the ranks of his ‘chorus’. He is ideally placed to perform works with a ‘choir’ of Concertisten whose parts are doubled selectively by Ripienisten from time to time, and he should trust his youngest singers: Bach did.

David Stancliffe

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Recording

Bach: Arias for alto

Zoltan Darago, Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset
Aparté AP336

Zoltán Daragó is a young Hungarian countertenor who made a name for himself in his homeland as a star in the opera company there at an early age, and sang the title role of the Pharoah in Philip Glass’s opera AKHNATEN in Helsinki when he was just 28.

This CD is a set of splendid arias from the Bach cantatas, put together as a dramatic showcase of the range and diversity of arias for the alto voice. It was recorded in Paris, where Daragó has made his European base, with a period band, Les Talens Lyriques, who are directed by Christophe Rousset, a deservedly well-known Parisian harpsichordist.

This sounds all good. But – and it’s a big but – there are some real oddities. First, I do not care for his voice much – there’s a tight vibrato that means that the instrumental and vocal timbres never meet; and second, some of the wonderful music is really beyond what this style of singing can cope with: In the opening aria from BWV 83, Erfreute Zeit, he barely gets his voice round the semiquavers in tempo while the violin concertato and corni are whooping it up. The third oddity is the enormous size of the band: 6.5.3.4.1 plus another cello in the continuo group is a bit much with traversi, a four-part oboe band, and a couple of corni, and so they are miked down. There’s some splendid playing, like the oboe d’amore obbligato in BWV 115, but the instruments are not conceived as a Bachian band of equal partners so much as an accompanying orchestra.

Perhaps the opening aria of BWV 170, Vergnügte Ruh’, shows Daragó at his best: not hurried, and the ensemble neater. But I still would not rush to buy this CD, however much of a hoped-for calling card this might be.

David Stancliffe