Category: Recording

Szabolcs Illés violin, Dalibor Pimek cello, Ondřej Macek harpsichord & organ
61:35
Hungaroton HCD 32765

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his enterprising CD places music by Corelli next to works by several of his pupils Visconti, Somis, Mossi and Castrucci and the only one I had come across before, Geminiani. As such it is an interesting exploration of the initial influence of the great master, although of course his highly original shadow falls far and wide on the music of the whole Baroque era. Apart from Corelli’s opus 5 no 3 Sonata, all the works here are receiving their premiere recordings, and this alone makes the CD thoroughly worthwhile. The playing is sensitive and the music elegantly and appropriately ornamented, so I found myself slightly puzzled by what was lacking. Szabolcs Illés’s Baroque violin tone is slightly shallow and scratchy, either due to the acoustic or the recording, and his intonation very occasionally is a little slap-dash, but perhaps ultimately the musicians sadly don’t sound entirely ‘on top of’ this distinctive repertoire, and the music just sounds rather joyless. On the subject of pupils, Illes is a pupil of Sigiswald Kuijken, which is why I am surprised that the playing is not more passionate and idiomatic, but having returned to the CD several times I’m afraid it just isn’t. There are those who will want to own this CD simply because of the wealth of unfamiliar material here, but I couldn’t help wishing that it could have been more appetisingly presented.

D. James Ross

Simon Borutzki & Ensemble
68:48
klanglogo (Rondeau) KL1517
BWV593, 971, 973-6, 978, 986

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his is a project after J. S. Bach’s own heart, as the arch-arranger’s keyboard arrangements (of Vivaldi, Marcello and anon) are further re-arranged for recorder and continuo! Much of this music inhabits a twilit zone in the composer’s oeuvre, by him and yet not by him, so much of it was unfamiliar to me, and it strikes me that these adaptations for recorder and BC work rather well, bringing some rather fine music into the spotlight. There are occasional passages which don’t sound entirely idiomatic for the recorder, but Borutzki’s stunning virtuosity carries the day, while his musicality and that of his continuo team mean that the performances are extremely engaging. We hear him play a selection of different recorder sizes all with a persuasive mastery, seven different instruments of four different sizes, which gives the CD a fascinating dimension as an introduction to the Baroque recorder in its many guises. Particularly delightful is an account of Bach’s own Italian Concerto  on a charming original anonymous Baroque descant instrument, alternating with a tenor recorder (with lute accompaniment) for the Andante. This refreshing CD is a thorough delight, usefully bringing music which clearly appealed to J. S. Bach to a deservedly wider audience in imaginative and musically thrilling performances.

D. James Ross

Enrico Onofri violin
54:55
Passacaille 1025
BWV 1001, 1004, 1006

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his CD presents three of the Sei Solo, refreshingly and elegantly played by Enrico Onofri at a=390 on an anonymous Italian violin of the early 18th century, using a copy by Luc Breton of an anonymous late 17th-century bow.

Not only are the layers of 19th-century varnish stripped away, but the fluidity of his nuanced playing, sensitive to the essentially dance-like nature of all the movements played, balances an almost throw-away articulation of the ornamental notes with a clear sense of the clean overall architecture of each movement. Lovers of the great romantic tradition of interpretation as exemplified by Joseph Joachim will be in for some surprises, but I found the singing articulation of movements like the Ciaccona in Partita 2 and the Preludio of Partita 3 absolutely captivating. He has studied Quantz’s detailed descriptions of German performance styles carefully, and worked on translating his advice about tonguing and shaping each note into his violin technique, so every phrase is carefully presented and articulated, with lovely understated inégales. He chooses a low pitch to match the Köthen Kammerton and this gives him greater clarity of articulation.All this creates a wonderful sonority.

I hope Onofrio overcomes his scruples and feels that he can record the other three of the Sei Solo  soon, as these are most beautifully played. What he has given us as outstanding musically as it is fascinating from a scholarly perspective.

David Stancliffe

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