Category: Recording

Hannah Morrison, Sophie Harmsen, Tilman Lichdi (Evangelist & arias), Peter Harvey, Christian Immler (Jesus), Kammerchor Stuttgart, Barockorchester Stuttgart, Frieder Bernius
164:28 (3 CDs in a box)
Carus 82.285 (also 82.286 SACDs in Digibook)

[dropcap]I[/dropcap] do not find this a particularly vivid or colourful performance, though it is very polished. The two cori (16 voices and 14 respectively) and the two orchestras (4.3.2.1.1 strings in each) sound indistinguishable, so that our identification with coro II in O Schmerz, for example is weakened. The soloists are just that – they sing the arias of both cori, but sing in neither coro the rest of the time. The rather indistinct photograph on p.17 of the accompanying booklet shows the cori in a single semi-circle with no visible break, and the two orchestras equally welded together, with the Evangelist and Jesus standing out in front in what is clearly a live performance.

The booklet has been edited sloppily: at the foot of p. 22 there is no reference to a fagotto or organo, nor a liuto in orchestra I as it does in Orchestra II, all of which are clearly audible in orchestra I, where a lute plays continuo with the organ accompanying the Evangelist. Are there two violas da gamba, lutes and fagotti, or is one of each shared between the orchestras, like the solo singers? More importantly, where is the evidence that a lute was used in this (1736) version of the Matthew? This together with the heavy bass line – a 16’ is present in the Evangelist’s accompaniment as well as in arias like 6: Buß und Reu  – produces a rather slow-paced narrative.

In Kuhnau’s time as Cantor, the lute was a regular part of the continuo group (Laurence Dreyfus: Bach’s Continuo Group  (Harvard, 1987), pp171/2), but the Trauerode is the only place where Bach specifies the lute as a continuo instrument. There is the brief obbligato part in Betrachte  in the Johannes-Passion, and in Raphäel Pichon’s recording of the reconstructed Funeral Music for Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen  (BWV 244a) (reviewed in EMR November 2014), the lute was entrusted with the obligato gamba part from the parodied Komm süßes Kreuz  from the Matthew Passion, but I am not convinced. Is there evidence for wider use?

Worse, on p.2 where the soloists are listed, the bass arias are given to Peter Harvey while Jesus is sung by Christian Immler; yet on p. 22 when all the musical resources are given, Harvey is listed as Jesus, and p.23 has Immler singing the arias. This is not the case: it is Harvey singing the arias. This kind of mistake should not have slipped through.

Tempi are pretty moderate – this performance runs to three CDs – and there is a good deal of carefully managed rubato within phrases in the arias, so there is plenty of breathing space; sometimes this leads to an actual change of tempo, as in the middle section of 8: Blute nur  for example. Hannah Morrison, the soprano, is quite excellent – a lovely clear voice, with beautiful phrasing especially in 13: Ich will dir mein Herze schenken  – and as always it is a joy to have Peter Harvey, the most musical of all Bach singers, though adding a 16’ and a lute to the continuo line in 57: Komm süßes Kreuz  as well as the gamba and organ makes the ensemble less flexible as well as thickening the translucent sound. The alto, Sophie Harmsen, is less of a HIP specialist with a more marked vibrato than the others, and often sings more dramatically, as in 51: Erbarm es Gott  and 59: Ach Golgotha. The Evangelist is sung by Tilman Lichdi, who sings the tenor arias of both cori as well. He has a beguiling voice, and it all sounds very smooth and well articulated. I missed the jangle of the great F# major chord of a decent-sized organ tuned pretty mean in the middle of the Blitze und Donner  that introduces the fiery furnace of hell as well as the distinctive sesquialtera with the cantus firmus, whose articulation is managed better in the slowly-paced opening chorus than in O Mensch, bewein.

Small ‘character parts’ are excellently sung by members of the cori (but sometimes singing in the wrong choir!), though sounding a little distant. The choral sound is smooth and singerly, but it doesn’t have the slightly rawer edge that you might expect of a choir that is influenced by the sound of the period instruments, as Bernius claims to be after in the booklet. This may partly be due to the rather boomy acoustics of the church where this was recorded last March (clearly a different venue than the more concert-hall set-up where the photo of the live performance was taken.) But then this choir sings music from the 17th to the 21st centuries and is not in that sense a specialist HIP coro. What does come out clearly is the attention given to projecting the words with clarity and intelligence, and this is a hall-mark of this performance.

As far as the new (2012) Carus edition is concerned, there is insufficient detail in the (shortened) version of Andreas Glöckner’s note on Bach’s ‘great passion’ to be clear about the differences from the NBA. My own experience of using the Carus parts for the cantatas is that some of the phrasing seems to be taken directly from the old Bach-Gesellschaft and has not been informed by recent scholarship. When a music publisher sponsors a recording using a new edition, it would be good practice to know what major editorial decisions have been taken and why, as was the case with Hans-Christoph Rademann’s B minor Mass  with the Freiburger Barockorchester, using the new Carus edition, reviewed in August 2015. With reference to the layout, there is a tantalising reference in Glöckner’s note to the putting in order of the ‘swallow’s nest’ organ in 1727, the instrument in the gallery high at the east end of the nave, and he suggests that Bach may have put his ripieno soprano line there, while the two main choirs and orchestras performed side by side in the west gallery.

This is a luxuriant performance, with the text clearly understood and well-presented. The sound is beautifully produced and it is difficult to fault the overall conception. There are some matters that will not pass muster judged on the strictest HIP criteria, including the lute, and I find the whole sound a bit too smooth. But it is a powerful presentation and would woo anyone unsure as to whether they might like period instruments, but likes their Bach caressed reverentially yet with fervour.

David Stancliffe

Trio SR9
51:44
naïve V5426

I have written many reviews of music on instruments which Bach might not have expected to hear, but – much as I, of course, recognise the wealth of talent brought to this project by the three members of Trio SR9 – here, for once, I am obliged to recognize that some of the music (for me at least) just does not work on marmimba(s). I suppose it has something to do with reverberation and the “hanging around” of sound which causes overtones to intermingle, especially in what one might call the “tenor register”, and the delay in the bass notes actually speaking adds to an overall sensation of aural confusion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vex4Y2eC4Es

If nothing else, Bach’s music is designed in such a way that the voices are an immediate and direct reaction to one another, and, if the dialogue is disturbed or even diffused, then the fabric will begin to disintegrate. Now, I am not suggesting for a moment that this programme of fine music lacks either form or indeed quality; quite the reverse. However, for me, much as I truly respect the talents of these musicians, much as I love Bach, and much as I love the tone of the marimba in other music, I’m afraid the number of tracks I actually enjoyed was smaller than the numbers where my ears sought in vain for harmonic points of reference, so I am afraid I can only advise readers of this review that they should try to find it on a listening post somewhere and try before they buy.

Brian Clark

Cecilia Bernardini violin, Huw Daniel violin, Alfredo Bernardini oboe, Dunedin Consort, John Butt
59:00
Linn Records CKD 519
BWV1041-43, 1060R, 21 (sinfonia)

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his is a fabulous recording of some of my favourite music; Cecilia and Alfredo Bernardini (daughter and father) duet beautifully in the oboe and violin concerto (though I would have welcomed even more freedom of ornamentation, and not only in the slow movement where they do begin to come out of their shells, albeit in slightly different ways), while Huw Daniel matches Bernardini in every way in the “double concerto” (here again I long for the day when the beautiful theme undergoes more imaginative transformations as the slow movement progresses), and she is absolutely flawless in the two solo concertos, bringing a new clarity to the double-stopping string crossing in the final movement of the E major, and imbuing the long notes in the A minor’s middle movement with varying colours. Every note has clearly been thought out in advance but the trick is keeping everything fresh sounding so that the listener is unaware of all that hard work. I have yet to hear a recording by John Butt that is not utterly convincing; with his 22111 Dunedins, he has struck gold once again – this goes straight to the top of my pile for rainy days when I need cheering up! (As an aside, I hadn’t noticed with Linn releases before, but the booklet is only in English; is it unfair of us as reviewers to complain that foreign CDs only come in their native language if domestic companies don’t go that extra mile for their fans overseas?)

Brian Clark

Markus Miesenberger, Ars Antiqua Austria, Gunar Letzbor
51:26
Pan Classics PC 10317

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his is the first of two planned discs to explore Speer’s 1688 “Musicalisch-Türkischcher Eulen-Spiegel”, a musical settings of stories from a semi-autobiographical novel. In creating two concert programmes, Gunar Letzbor has chosen to combine war stories with sonatas for brass, and love stories with sonatas for strings (to appear in 2017). So there are various elements to the programme: Lompyn (the hero of the tale) sings songs, sandwiched between two “ballets” (as in dance movements, not the art form) of different national styles (cossacks, Poles, Muscovites, Greeks, Hungarians, Wallachians); between each set we have the brass sonatas (essentially rather simple, given the limited tonal capabilities of the instruments – 2 trumpets and 3 trombones, here with continuo), the sequence rounded off with three movements for strings. The cartoon illustrations in the booklet suggest that the project was aimed at a younger audience, and the singer’s approach to the texts would tend to support this impression, since at times he is virtually talking the words; if you are not a German speaker, it will be irrelevant anyway, since – as well as omitting the brass players’ names (at least, as far as I can see!), the booklet has no translation of the texts). If the CD was produced purely to be sold at performances (and why should it not? musicians need to make a living from their hard work), I wonder that the record company felt it should do on international release, especially with only minimal attention to what foreign audiences might make of such a peculiarity.

Brian Clark

Consortium Carissimi, Garrick Comeaux
71:05
Naxos 8.573257

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his recording dates from 2014 and was intended to mark the 350th anniversary of the composer’s death. The full title of op. 25 is Musiche sagre e morali composte ad una, due, tre e quattro voci (published in 1678, 14 years after his death!), and for this project Consortium Carissimi have mustered four sopranos, and one each of mezzo, tenor and bass, as well as an archlute and theorbo (two players), viola da gamba, sackbut, harpsichord and organ (two players). Having been enthusiastic about their latest CD (also of Graziani), I’m afraid I must resort to type here; I simply do not but the idea of an ever-changing continuo soundscape, and I’m afraid the voices (especially – sorry, ladies – the sopranos) do not blend particularly well, especially when a leap from or to a high note is involved, and there are times when tuning becomes a serious concern, which is a pity as some of the music has the potential to be truly beautiful. Hopefully as their exploration of Graziani’s music progresses these issues will be addressed.

Brian Clark