Categories
Recording

Stölzel: Ein Lämmlein geht

Veronika Winter, Franz Vitzthum, Markus Brutscher, Martin Schicketanz SATB, Rheinische Kantorei, Das Kleine Konzert, Hermann Max
110:28 (2 CDs in a box)
cpo 555 311-2

Click HERE to buy this recording on amazon.co.uk
[If you want to continue reading ad-free reviews, you need to use these sponsored links to support the site, which has no other source of income!]

This recording was made in the Thomaskirche in Leipzig during the 2019 Bachfest, with support from other bodies primarily interested in Bach’s music. Indeed, most of the booklet note (which is shorter in length than the combined biographies of the performers!) is devoted not to Stölzel at all, but to Bach.

Stölzel’s passion oratorio takes a different approach than Bach’s own works for Easter. The story is told mostly in groups of three movements as if in real time, with a recitative featuring the narrator using the present tense and then the soloists reflecting on what they’ve heard first in more recitative, then an aria, followed by a chorale setting sung by everyone. There are 18 arias, one duet and two choruses. Stölzel was essentially a miniaturist; each aria is based on a single idea – most of them earworms, since the man had an unerring gift for getting under one’s musical skin (think “Bist du bei mir” and how difficult that is to shake off!) The one thing missing from this work is counterpoint; with no monumental structural choruses, there is no need for them – anyone who doubt’s Stölzel’s ability in the field need merely look through any of the hundreds of surviving cantatas and masses. If only one of his glorious works for Easter Sunday had been tagged on to the end of this recording – it would have transformed it!

Hermann Max paces the piece well and draws fine performances from his soloists, choir and orchestra alike. That said, György Vashegyi with his Hungarian soloists, Purcell Choir and Orfeo Orchestra put a little more energy into their performance on Glossa.

Brian Clark

 

Categories
Recording

Sonatas for three violins

Ensemble Diderot, Johannes Pramsohler
79:56
Audax Records ADX 13729

Click HERE to buy this on amazon.co.uk
[Only through buying these recordings can the site survive – as well as supporting the artists, you can continue to enjoy ad-free reading!]

In days of yore, when I enjoyed occasionally playing the violin, there was no repertoire I derived greater fun from that the (mostly 17th-century) music for three trebles. There is just something maigcal about adding another voice to the more usual trio texture; the harmonies can become richer, the texture more complex, and the resonance of your instrument just goes up a notch.

This, of course, is not the first time that a disc has been devoted to such music. But (and it’s a big but) HIP playing has come such a long way since the last one of real quality that this disc seems to signal a changing of the guard. All of the favourites are there: Gabrieli, Fontana, Buonamente, Schmelzer, Purcell and, of course, Pachelbel. But Messrs Pramsohler, Bernabé and Pirri also bring new delights: an arrangement of Psalm 8 by Johann Sommer (published in 1623, this is the earliest work in the programme), a fabulous sonate en quatuor by Dornel (the latest, published in 1709), a very modern sounding sonata by Giuseppe Torelli, and – one of my old favourites – the Fux sonata for just three violins! The playing is superb, the recorded sound clear as a bell, and the production standards just incredible (I can’t rate the Japanese translation, but I enjoyed practising my French and German!) What impressed most was the way music from different places was instantly distinguishable; while some groups take a “one-size-fits-all” approach, Ensemble Diderot invest as much of their considerable talent and seemingly limitless energy in making the music feel genuine.

Time after time, Audax Records just keep the stunning releases coming. If we still had the old “five stars” system, this would be a six. And they do it all while maintaining a healthy sense of humour: click HERE if you don’t believe me…

Brian Clark

Categories
Recording

Centorio : Vocal and instrumental music

Cappella Musicale della Cathedrale di Vercelli, Denis Silano
60:42
Brilliant Classics 96242

Click HERE to buy this on amazon.co.uk
[These sponsored links let you read these reviews for FREE and without the distraction of advertising]

This CD is part of a broader exploration by Italian musicians of their local heritage, and this ensemble based in Vercelli in northern Italy has come up with Marco Antonio Centorio, a local composer of not inconsiderable charm, whose oeuvre remained in manuscript form. This selection of instrumental and vocal music presents a picture of an accomplished local musician of the early 17th century with a solid grounding in polyphony but also with distinctive elements of individuality and originality. There is some fine period instrument playing here, as well as a pleasing contribution from vocal soloists and small choir, the boys’ voices of the latter ensemble making a distinctive and idiomatic contribution. Denis Silano, the mastermind behind the project and who directs proceedings, makes a powerful case for Centorio’s music being more widely known, and it is clear from this CD that he is of more than local significance. It is good to see this ongoing exploration of regional Italian music-making in the 16th and 17th centuries by Italian ensembles, at the same time allowing us to witness the high standard of historically informed performance throughout Italy.

D. James Ross

Categories
Recording

Sacred Treasures of Christmas

The London Oratory Schola Cantorum, Charles Cole
76:30
Hyperion CDA 68358

Click HERE to buy this on amazon.co.uk
[These sponsored links mean you can read these reviews for FREE and without the inconvenience of advertising!]

This CD is part of a series recording the liturgical music of the various seasons as presented in the round of services in the London Oratory. St Augustine’s Church Kilburn provides just about the ideal acoustic for recording this lavish Christmas music, providing a pleasing bloom but also allowing us to hear the necessary detail. The choral music comes from throughout Europe and the composers represented include Sweelinck, Giovanni Gabrieli, Hassler, Mouton, Scheidt, Guerrero, Victoria, Palestrina, Lassus, Sheppard, Nanino and Tallis, while the choristers also sing some plainchant with the authority of familiarity. In fact the music covers the celebrations of Christmas, Epiphany and Candlemas, and ranges in mood from the overtly showy to the deeply contemplative. The singers capture the full range of moods in their chosen music, and the director Charles Cole does a superb job in marshalling his large choral forces to produce a sound which can be focussed and intimate, as well as wonderfully opulent. I think there is something profoundly different about a ‘working’ church choir from the small specialist ensembles who also perform this sort of repertoire, not just in their use of boys’ voices and their sheer numbers, but in their approach to the music. This is repertoire they sing every day of their lives as a vital element of church services, and they derive an unparalleled authority as a result. This is a thoroughly enjoyable recording which captures perfectly the joys of the festive season.

D. James Ross

Categories
Recording

La la hö hö

Sixteenth-century viol music for the richest man in the world
Linarol Consort
67:26
inventa INV1005

Click HERE to buy this on amazon.co.uk
[These sponsored links help the site remain alive and FREE!]

In our own days when the richest men in the world are vying with one another in the realm of space flight, it is nice to recall a time when prestige was measured in the cultivation of the arts. Jacob Fugger, head of the wealthy banking family of Augsburg at the beginning of the 16th century, when he was probably indeed the richest man in the world, was a great sponsor of music, and the manuscript for viols on which the current CD is based was probably compiled for him. I recall a previous CD entitled ‘Music of the Fugger Time’ – I did wonder what this would mean to English-speaking listeners – which celebrated the role of the Fugger family in the cultivation of music, but the present, more tightly focussed CD is a wonderfully evocative tribute to this all-powerful family, financiers to kings and emperors. A roll-call of the composers represented in ms 18810 from the National Library of Austria – Isaac, de la Rue, Josquin, Hofhaimer, Brumel, Senfl and Rener – indicates a very selective approach to music collection, ensuring that music in the Fugger household was of the same superlative standard as every other aspect of their lives. The Linarol Consort, playing four viols by Richard Jones of Powfoot in Dumfries, give us wonderfully idiomatic and vivid performances of this early 16th-century repertoire. And fittingly overseeing it all, Jacob Fugger’s gimlet eye glares out of his portrait by Dürer on the front cover of the CD.

D. James Ross

Categories
Recording

Lorem Ipsum

Combo Cam
58:37 (CD1, including dialogue), 54:11 (CD2, just music)
Genuin GEN 21724

Click HERE to buy this on amazon.co.uk
[These sponsored links help the site remain alive and FREE!]

Lorem ipsum is gobbledygook. This dog’s dinner of a production deserves that to be my whole review. The double CD set is presented in such an offhand, arch and downright annoying manner that had I not been impressed with the actual music playing I would hardly have gone in search of the performers’ names, waded through Doris Meeresbüchner’s rambling notes or tried to work out what on earth was going on. I remember when making one of my own CDs insisting that ‘incidental noises’ – wind players and singers breathing, the spinet player changing stops – not be edited out. However, to include tracks of the performers walking in at the start, discussing what they are doing etc etc seems to stretch realism ad absurdum. The repertoire seems to be music from the Renaissance, mainly Spanish in origin, and the performances are dynamic and idiomatic. However, I eventually gave up working out what Doris Meeresbüchner had to do with the whole lamentably presented project, as Viola Blache is credited with the vocals and the phrases ‘hier ist Doris Meeresbüchner dabei’ on CD1 and ‘wo ist Doris?’ on CD2 are less than helpful. There is a deplorable level of arrogance and self-indulgence in making these two fine CDs of music and then releasing them in a format and package which deprives the listener of the supporting information to permit full understanding and enjoyment of the recording. The silly inserted tracks, the obscure presentation and the squandered opportunity to inform nearly drove this reviewer ad distractionem – if you plan to invest in Lorem ipsum, good luck to you.

D. James Ross

Perhaps a German speaker would like to send us an alternative review? Could it be that we’re missing a big joke?

 

Categories
Recording

Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier Book 1

Aaron Pilsan piano
106:58 (2 CDs in a card triptych)

Click HERE to buy this on amazon.co.uk
[These sponsored links help the site remain alive and FREE!]

Aaron Pilsan’s complete account of Book 1 of Bach’s Well-tempered Clavier on a modern grand piano is beautifully poised and measured, with a fine sense of period. I am extremely ambivalent about Bach on the modern piano – great music like this works so well on a range of media that it seems mean to rule it out as repertoire for pianists. There is a further complication with the more abstract music of Bach, which in any case seems to transcend the instruments of his time – in the case of collections like the Art of Fugue it is not even clear that the composer had a specific medium in mind, or even that this was music intended for performance at all. So am I just being churlish in my reaction to these very fine piano performances? My main reservations are the things which a piano can do which no keyboard instrument could that the conservative J. S. Bach advocated when he conceived this collection; namely, constantly raising and lowering the dynamic levels in response to individual phrases, and bringing out certain melodic threads in the polyphonic texture. In a harpsichord or organ performance, these are things which the listener has to do for him|herself – on the piano, the performer takes these decisions for you. Even with a very fine player like Pilsan, whose clear, crisp playing reveals a deep understanding of the Baroque idiom, dynamic decisions are being taken all the time, transforming the music from anything Bach could have conceived of into something entirely different. It may be something equally engaging, perhaps more engaging for some listeners, but for me Bach makes clear in his title the medium he had in mind. For those more broad-minded than I am, these Alpha recordings with their crystal clarity and Aaron Pilsan’s carefully considered and impeccably executed performances will be very attractive.

D. James Ross

Categories
Recording

Maria & Maddalena

Francesca Aspromonte (soprano, I Barocchisti, conducted by Diego Fasolis
62:09
Pentatone 5186 867

Click HERE to buy this on amazon.co.uk
[These sponsored links are your only way to support the site and continue to enjoy these reviews FREE!]

Francesca Aspromonte’s first recital CD was a somewhat disparate collection of excerpts from operatic prologues. Here, as related to both topic and musical idiom, she here essays a more cohesive collection. It is based around the two Marys, the Virgin and Mary Magdalene as portrayed in oratorios dating from around the turn of the 18th century, itself one of the more fascinating periods of musical history.  On paper it would be hard to imagine two more contrasted figures than the two Marys, one chosen as the immaculate conceiver of God in the human form of Jesus, the other a woman torn between spiritual and carnal love. Yet there are links between them in their love for Jesus and their sharing of suffering at the Cross, in the case of the Magdalene love and suffering sufficiently ambiguous to inspire in a great novel like Katzantzakis’s The Last Temptation, a novel that enraged the Roman Catholic church.

Here, unsurprisingly for works that owe their existence to the Counter-Reformation, we meet with no such ambiguity. In the case of the Virgin there are texts that summon up the mystery of the Incarnation, as in the aria ‘Ecco qui l’incomprensibile’, provided by the spiritual and highly musical Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I for Antonio Draghi’s Il Crocefisso per Grazia (1691). This is the earliest of the oratorios represented and significantly the only aria in strophic form at a time it was rapidly being superseded by the da capo aria. Another nod back to the fading 17th century can be heard in the highly expressive recitivo cantando from the little-known Giovanni Lulier’s Oratorio à 6 per la Nascità. Probably composed not long before his death in 1700, the extended passage is the Virgin’s lullaby on the fate awaiting the infant who lies under her gaze. Most exceptional of all the music for the Virgin on the disc is the closing sequence from Alessandro Scarlatti’s La Santissima Annunziata composed in Rome in 1700 or 1703 to a text by Cardinal Ottoboni. It opens with an exquisitely lovely aria, ‘Stesa a pie’ prefaced by chromatic orchestral stabs to the heart in which the Virgin’s gaze is now directed to the broken torso of her son. A more animated central section follows in which she evokes ‘redeemed mankind’, a topic expanded upon in the following recitative. The oratorio’s final aria is an animated message in which Mary recognises she will become a symbol of refuge for future generations.

Among those much influenced by Scarlatti was the young Handel, whose Roman sojourn was capped in 1708 by the oratorio La Resurrezione, from which Aspromonte sings two of Mary Magdalene’s arias, the first, ‘Ho un non so che nel cor’ from scene 2 expressive of her hope, but also disquiet, the second Mary’s final aria, ‘Se impassibile, immortale’, a joyously buoyant celebration of the Resurrection. We meet the more vulnerable, penitent side of the Magdalene in two arias from Antonio Caldara’s Maddalena ai piedi di Cristo (c. 1700), an outstanding work recorded complete by René Jacobs in 1995. Of exceptional beauty is the recitative and aria from Part 2, ‘Deh, s’un tempo’ … ‘In lagrime stemprato’, in which a tearful Mary invites Jesus into her heart over a throbbing repeated note pattern in the accompaniment. The music has a dignity that at the same time cannot hide the deeper feelings lying barely beneath the surface.

It’s a repertoire that suits Aspromonte well. The voice itself is full and rounded, yet hints of vibrato are kept well under control. In the many cantabile arias here, she shapes lines with great musicality and if an occasional suggestion of lack of control in the upper register creeps in it is never a major problem. Passaggi are cleanly articulated, the mostly tasteful ornamentation less so and there is regrettably no sign of a trill. But most importantly Aspromonte sings with excellent diction and real communication skills, projecting the varied emotions of the two Marys with a vivid immediacy.

The experienced Diego Fasolis and his I Barocchisti provide well played support; the lovely cello obbligato in the first of the Caldara arias is especially noteworthy. Just occasionally Fasolis’ old habit of clipping notes comes to the surface but here it is not a serious problem. An outstanding and lengthy booklet essay sets the seal on an issue that is of real value, not only for the quality of the repertoire, some of it rare, but the manner in which it is performed.

Brian Robins

Categories
Recording

Parla, canta, respira

Barbara Strozzi | Eri De Luca
Lise Viricel, Peter de Laurentiis, Le Stelle
74:24
Seuletoile SE 02

Click HERE to buy this on amazon.co.uk as a digital download
[These sponsored links keep this website free for your enjoyment]

This Seuletoile CD combines music by Barbara Strozzi with poetry by contemporary Italian novelist and poet Eri De Luca. The accounts of Strozzi’s songs by Lise Viricel and the instrumentalists of Le Stelle under her direction are exquisite – unhurried, thoughtful, beautifully expressive and musically delicious. The instruments used include harp, lirone, gamba, organ, violin, cornet, sackbuts and bassoon, which create a wonderfully varied palette of timbres, and occasionally for further variety they give us instrumental renditions of Strozzi’s music. I think it important that the vocalist directs the instrumental ensemble, as Strozzi herself would surely have done, as this leads to a stunning level of integration. I found the subtle contribution of the wind instruments most persuasive – too often they are limited to bombastic music of this period, but the wind players of Le Stelle demonstrate that they can be as expressive and tasteful as viols when accompanying the voice. Peter de Laurentiis’ accounts of De Luca’s poetry, evidently praising the attributes of beautiful women, complement the music perfectly, Italian being such a musical language that he could be reading out the Neapolitan phone book. I say this, as the CD notes and texts appear only in French and Italian, of neither of which can I claim any degree of mastery. Ultimately the main strength of this delightful CD is the voice of Lise Viricel and the wonderfully responsive accompaniment of the musicians of Le Stelle.

D. James Ross

Categories
Recording

Baruffe Amorose del Settecento

Eighteenth-century love squabbles
A. Scarlatti: Palandran e Zamberlucco
Anon: Selvaggia e Dameta
Cappella Musicale di San Giocaomo Maggiore in Bologna, Roberto Cascio
63:30
Tactus TC 660005

Click HERE to buy this recording on amazon.co.uk
[These sponsored links help the site remain alive and FREE!]

These two intermezzi, one by Alessandro Scarlatti and one anonymous, consist of comic musical interludes to be inserted into more substantial and serious dramatic works. In Scarlatti’s Palandrana e Zamberlucco a comic dialogue between an old widow and a young blade is set with operatic flair, while the anonymous Selvaggia e Dameta features an old shepherd and his young companion who engage in quarrels and deception. The first of these is accompanied by a chamber ensemble of strings and oboe, while the second, more overtly comical in character and scored for three unspecified instruments and continuo, is performed by three recorders. Heard in the cavernous acoustic of the Palazzo Zabeccari in Bologna, where it was almost certainly performed in the 18th century, I found this lightweight music rather outlived its welcome in spite of the energetic performances. Nothing dates as quickly as comedy, particularly comedy in a foreign language, and perhaps the visual element of an actual performance was needed to bring these pieces fully to life. Or perhaps, by definition, intermezzi written as light relief from more serious matters are always going to sound a little trivial on their own. I was intrigued to hear in the second intermezzo a line from Monteverdi’s Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda – well, from Torquato Tasso – and wondered how much more of the humour was lost to me in an Italian text, of which no translation was provided.   

D. James Ross