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Haydn: String quartets

Jubilee Quartet
65:41
Rubicon RCD 1039
op. 20/2, 54/2, 64/4

Although this is the debut recording of the Jubilee Quartet the sparse booklet gives no biographical details, so I’ll fill in the gap to save you going to their website. The ensemble was originally formed by students from the Royal Academy of Music in 2006, though it seems only first violinist Tereza Privraiska remains from its founding membership. Although they have chosen Haydn for their debut recording, the Jubilee is not a period instrument group, their collective sound having a noticeable edginess to ears more accustomed to period strings. Nevertheless, they bring a fine general sense of style to Haydn, the notes by second violinist Julia Loucks making clear they have thought deeply about the music.

The three works chosen cover much of Haydn’s career as a composer of the string quartet, from the second of the epoch-making op. 20 set dating from 1772 to the extraordinary C major, op 54/2 (1787) and the congenial op 64/4 in G (1790). It is now some time since the great Haydn scholar H. C. Robbins Landon rightly noted that it was with op 20 that the Classical string quartet reached full maturity, not – as so often suggested – those of op 33 (1781). All six quartets of op 20 almost explode with originality and invention, constantly breaching new boundaries, none more so than the C major included here. Among many innovatory features, we might note the Capriccio: Adagio (ii), cast in the form of an accompanied recitative in which the cello has the ‘vocal’ line followed by a heartfelt aria in which the first violin becomes the ‘singer’. Later elements of both are thrown together to create a disconcerting, fragmentary tapestry. The strong contrasts are well conveyed in the playing of the Jubilee, now gruffly dramatic, now tenderly soulful.

For Robbins Landon, Op 54/2 is one of Haydn’s ‘most original [quartet] constructions’, with an opening Vivace that has a feel of the epic, a brief sustained Adagio of extreme inward concentration – well caught by the Jubilees – and a fairly conventional minuet made memorable by its unexpectedly tense C minor trio section, its cries of pain searing themselves on the memory. Most striking of all is the final movement, which opens with a surprise, a dignified Adagio leading to a beautiful cantabile shared in dialogue between the first violin and cello. The expected quicker music (marked Presto) arrives to disrupt the conversation before the movement ends with distant memories of the cantabile, the rapt codetta played with real sensitivity.

Op 64/4 in G is a more relaxed work, with a warmly welcoming opening Allegro con brio in which the most interesting development takes place, not in the central section, but the recapitulation. The prize here is the slow movement (iii), marked Adagio – Cantabile e sostenuto, a ravishingly lovely movement of great inner serenity, the inner heart of which is again penetrated satisfyingly by the performers, who have the imagination to introduce some pleasing touches of portamento.

As suggested above these are agreeable and musical performances, with well-judged tempos and good balance between the instruments. The playing is technically capable, if perhaps without the final degree of finesse; some of the demanding high-lying writing for the first violin could be more finished. More importantly, the performances have a winning integrity of the kind that cannot be gainsaid.

Brian Robins

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Recording

Monteverdi: Salve morale e spirituale

La Venexiana, Claudio Cavina
208:44 (3 CDs in a card triptych)
Glossa GCD920943

Claudio Cavina’s La Venexiana has hit on a good way of presenting the Selva morale e spirituale, Monteverdi’s late collection of music (largely) for the church, which they seem to have recorded way back in 2005, in the week-long festival of Church Music in Cuenca in Spain, but have only released in this form this year.

The music is divided between three CDs, the first two cast in the form of extended settings of Vespers and the third as a Missa Solemnis. This enables them to use almost all the religious music in the great compendium. I say ‘almost’ advisedly. For example, the seven-voice Gloria is substituted for that in the Missa for four voices, and the Credo has the fuller scored Crucifixus, Et Resurrexit and Et iterum substituted for those parts. The third Confitebor finds a place as the Offertorium in this third CD and Memento Domine David (Psalm CXXXI – 132 in the Coverdale scheme) is squeezed in as a kind of Post Communion, with a couple of Marian pieces – the extended Salve Regina – Audi cœlum verba mea and then the Pianto della Madonna doing duty for the Angelic salutation at the end of mass. There is no space for two of the hymns or Ab æterno but everything else religious is there in the three CDs that total 210 minutes.

La Venexiana in those days comprised three soprani and an alto (Cavina) with two tenori and two bassi, with SAATTB ripieni; two violini, four tromboni, violone, organ and two chitarroni complete the band.

Like Monteverdi’s better-known 1610 publication, the later collection exhibits Monteverdi’s dazzling ability to write in a wide variety of styles, to use parody techniques, and to provide music for virtually every kind of occasion. Selva is less coherent as a collection than 1610, but Cavina’s shaping of the material shows how versatile and useful his late assemblage proves to be. For the most part, his ‘scoring’ is exemplary, even if some of the voices – especially the soprani, with a pretty dramatic and so at times rather vibrato-laden tone – are probably not what everyone would choose 14 years later. If you were brought up – as I was – on Andrew Parrott’s Reflex/EMI recording of some of the Selva material in Vespers format with Emma Kirkby singing, nothing will quite replace the clarity and vivacity of that ground-breaking 1980s disc.

The performances, with a good deal of vocal OVPP singing, are stylish, if slightly dated. The broken voices blend well, and balance – including contrasts between florid solo singing and more substantial homophonic writing – are carefully worked out and executed. It is good to have (almost) the whole of the Selva available in a coherent form – I have reviewed other partial collections in the past few years – but this doesn’t quite set me on fire as I had hoped.

Partly it is the acoustic, which make much of the music sound too distant or just a bit foggy – it may well reflect the reality of Venice in the 1630s and 40s, but it is nowhere near as good as the continuing series of Schütz, for example, published by Carus to coincide with their new complete edition. Partly it is the feeling of sameness, which characterises the very different styles. Seconda prattica and various older styles rub shoulders and I was expecting a greater degree of differentiation.

But with these small reservations, I welcome this undertaking. I just wish that Andrew Parrott would gather today’s equivalent of his 1980s, and give us the rest!

David Stancliffe

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Recording

Bach: Goldberg Variations

Arundo Quartet
53:31
Supraphon SU 4261-2
+ Suite in C, BWV 1066

This is scarcely likely to be on the wishlist of readers of the EMR, but this arrangement of the Goldberg Variations by the bassoonist in this Prague-based wind quartet (oboe, clarinet, basset horn and bassoon) shows that you can do almost anything with Bach’s music and enjoy it, as these wind players certainly do. Also on this CD is his arrangement of the First Suite in C major (BWV 1066).

It must be tough being a clarinettist and having not a note of Bach to play – though I remember going to a Matthew Passion conducted by Vaughan Williams in the Dorking Halls in the early 1950s, and hearing clarinets play the oboe da caccia parts and the continuo realised on a grand piano! No wonder this quartet has two members of the clarinet family in it.

What surprised me on a casual listening was how dull and samey the overall sound was compared to the variety I have grown used to from an experienced harpsichord player with nuances of fingering, and some changes of registration.

David Stancliffe

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Recording

Buxtehude: Membra Jesu nostri

La Maîtrise de Garçons de Colmar, La Chapelle Rhénane, Benoît Haller
60:35
Christophorus CHR 77436

This is a recent re-issue of a live recording made in October 2007. It is made with single strings, six single voices (one soprano – Tanya Aspelmeier – only sings in cantata 6), a very large basso continuo section including harp, theorbo, organ, harpsichord, bassoon and violones in both G and D. In addition it has a choir, La Maîtrise de Garçons de Colmar, employed largely to give weight to the biblical texts in some numbers.  This is a possibility suggested by Gilles Cantagrel, an excerpt from whose biography of Buxtehude published in 2006 in French forms the essay in the liner notes, and is translated into German and English. The text in Latin is translated into German and English as well.

I find the contrast between the sections with single voices and those that use the whole choir unconvincing. The single voices of Stéphanie Révidat, Salomé Haller, the haute-contre Rolf Ehlers, Julian Prégardien (T) and Benoît Arnould (B) are well blended, and are capable of fine expressive singing, occasionally marred in the sopranos by vibrato on the weak notes. The lower parts are cleaner on the whole – 12 years later, standards have changed vocally more than instrumentally. The playing is splendid, and the key progression from C minor to E flat major, G minor to D minor to A minor to E minor and then to C minor to finish give a fine series of distinct tunings (though details of instruments, pitch and temperament are not given).

The final Amen is light and bright, and has more of the vocal quality I would have liked in some of the sections with single voices. The recording balances the different vocal and instrumental lines well, though the Maîtrise is toned down till the final Amen. Who is this choir of youngsters and their director Arlette Steyer? There is nothing about them (or indeed anyone else!) in the notes.

David Stancliffe

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Recording

Künstel: Markus Passion

Polyharmonique, L’arpa festante
138:00 (2 CDs in a card triptych)
Christophorus CHR 77435

This is an excellent recording of a great new discovery – probably the oldest surviving oratorio passion. Settings of the Passion according to Mark are rare in themselves, and this is a fascinating bridge between the older passion settings in the style of Schütz and the fully developed Passion Oratorios of J. S. Bach.  Künstel (c. 1645–1694) seems to have had his musical formation in the court at Ansbach, but from 1684 was in the service of Duke Albrecht III at Coburg, where his Markuspaßion was frequently performed after his death.  This substantial work (consisting of 99 numbers) was performed over two services on Maundy Thursday and the substantial Good Friday liturgy, including the motet Ecce quomodo moritur Justus by Jacobus Gallus.

The singers of Polyharmonique are headed by Hans-Jörg Mammel, who sings the measured music of the Evangelist accompanied by violoncello, organ and lute. Felix Rumpf, a baritone, sings the music of Jesus with the five-part string band (two violins, two violas and bass.)  The vocal ensemble has two sopranos, two altos, two other tenors, another baritone and two basses who between them sing the character parts and the arias, together with the director, Alexander Schneider, nicely entitled primus inter pares.

What is especially interesting is the way in which the narrative and the character parts merge into arioso passages as well as the more formal choruses. And all of this is woven around Lutheran chorales, often sung by a solo voice and ensemble alternating line by line. It is as if the late style of Carissimi were transported into the German Lutheran world, while at times the instrumental sound is that of Buxtehude’s. The formulaic cadences of the Evangelist belie Künstel’s dramatic characterisation of Peter, Judas and the other parts, where the verses of their arias are interspersed with instrumental ritornelli. Melodic material is partly derived from the chorales, but the whole substantial two-day event breathes its own character.

No-one who is interested in the pre-history of the Bach oratorio passions should miss this. And it is not just a vital link in the historical chain; it is really good and characterful music, admirably performed. Singers do not wobble or need to over-sing; lines are clear and the dramatis personae are well-characterised; balances are excellent and the whole production has a coherence and intensity that I was not expecting.

This is an excellent first recording of this newly-discovered work, and if you learn from it as much as I did, you will be eternally grateful. This is an alpha production and deserves to be widely known and enjoyed.

David Stancliffe

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Recording

Jacob Praetorius, Melchior Schildt: Selected Organ Works

Bernard Foccroulle
68:05
Ricercar RIC400

At the heart of this fascinating presentation of two of Sweelinck’s pupils’ organ works by the scholarly Bernard Fouccroule is one of Germany’s more remarkable organs – the Stellwagen organ in its substantially original late gothic case that hangs on the north wall of the Jacobikirche in Lübeck.

Not only is the music beautifully played and presented – the latest in Fouccroule’s anthology of Northern German early Baroque music – but the instrument is splendid for the music.  A Schwalbennestorgel (a swallow’s nest organ) was built here in 1467 and this great Blockwerk organ – a substantial principal chorus of 16’, 8’, 4’ and six ranks of upperwork giving the characteristic full organ sound of the period before perforated sliders were introduced to ‘stop’ some of the ranks of pipes sounding – was restored in 1515 when the main case was provided. Then the organ was enlarged in 1636-37 by the addition of a Rückpositiv, a Brustwerk and a pedal organ by the great organ builder Friedrich Stellwagen, the builder of the magisterial instrument in the Marienkirche in Stralsund along the coast to the East.

By great good fortune, he kept the late gothic Blockwerk with only minor additions, so the organ speaks with the authentic voice of the period when both composers were in their prime. The pedal organ has not survived, but the careful conservation and renovation of 1978 (reversing some of the post-WW II ‘restoration’) has given us a Stellwagen-type pedal organ including reeds at 16’, 8’, 4,’ and 2’ pitches.  Dominique Thomas is credited with the expert tuning of the organ, which is pitched at A=494 Hz (i.e., a whole tone above modern A=440) in Werkmeister III modified where I was expecting something a little more obviously mean-tone, but it sounds splendid and the reeds are perfectly regulated.

The music from both composers is dominated by the Lutheran chorale, with sets of variations as well as chorale fantasias using Sweelinck’s chromaticism and echo effects as well as plenty of verses where the chorale moves in slower notes in the pedal.  The booklet, in English, French and German, has an essay by Fouccroule and not only detailed information about the history of the organ and its specification but importantly detailed registration of every piece, including stop changes. This is surely a must for every significant recording on a historic instrument such as this, where interest in the instrument and its presentation will be of equal significance to the cognoscenti who might buy the CD – as I would encourage them all to do.

David Stancliffe

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Recording

Handel: Judas Maccabæus

Tarver, Breiwick, Harmsen, Fernandes, Willetts, NDR Chor, FestspielOrchester Göttingen, Laurence Cummings
137:00 (2 CDs in a card triptych)
Accent ACC 26410

Handel’s Judas Maccabæus, dating from 1747, was second only to Messiah in popularity in Handel’s lifetime. Here Laurence Cummings puts out a spirited version, recorded live last May at the Stadthalle Göttingen, where Cummings has been director of the Handel Festival since 2012. His orchestra, regularly assembled for this festival, is 6.6.4.4.2 strings with all the wind and brass you could need and sound not only proficient, but gracious. The string playing is particularly fine, and the occasional sounds of the wind – like the flutes in the final duet O lovely peace – offer lovely glimpses back to an earlier world before the ‘orchestra’ was essentially a string band.

The chorus, sharp and punchy when required but capable of a mellow and sustained gloom when called for, is the North German Radio Choir, their regular partners in this festival, and the text (and programme notes) are in both German and English.

Followers of the Festival’s productions will not be disappointed – the standards in every department are high. The main questions I have are about the size and scale of the performance.

Directors have to choose in presenting large-scale Handel – and even more so in Bach – between the stricter demands of period performance, which might call for voices especially of less developed power, and what will fill a venue and make the whole project financially viable. The solo singers here are admirable, but undoubtedly use more modern techniques of projection. They only rarely out-sing their accompanying band, and, of course, the oratorio is a heroic tale, but it was given first in the relatively small Theatre Royal in London.

The bass, Joäo Fernandes, is quite excellent in the very exposed The Lord worketh wonders, and Judas, Kenneth Tarver, is suitably heroic in Sound an alarm, where the silver trumpets eventually make their appearance to introduce the chorus, praising the abstract virtues of laws, religion and liberty, for much of the actual action takes place off stage making the work for all its political overtones in the wake of the Duke of Cumberland’s victory over the Stuart Pretender’s rebellion at Culloden so much more of an oratorio than an opera.

The opening of Act III marks Handel at his tuneful best in Father of Heav’n where the instrumental lines with their overlapping counterpoint suggest the all-encompassing divine favour. The March has cheerful bumpy jollity, and the unanimity of the chorus following, introduced by single voices, is a splendid advertisement for the about 21 strong NDR Chor, as is David Staff’s trumpet obligato in With honour let desert be crown’d, Judas’ surprisingly reflective final aria in A minor.

At the end of the brief final chorus, the burst of applause reminds us that this is a live take, and after such a seemingly effortless performance it is well deserved.  Nothing is amiss, tempi are beautifully judged and if the scale of the performance calls for more modern vocal techniques than I would ideally have liked, then many people will enjoy this cracking good version.

David Stancliffe

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Lucretia Borgia

A blend of history, myth and legend
Capella de Ministrers, Carles Magraner
66:39
CdM1946

Capella de Ministrers (“Minstrels”) is a Spanish ensemble consisting of singers and instrumentalists. It was founded in 1987 by Carles Magraner, the musicologist from Valencia who is still its director. While its focus is on mediaeval Spanish music, on this disc they throw their net wider, towards Italy of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century. The repertory reflects what one must reluctantly succumb to describe as the life and loves of Lucretia Borgia (1480-1519). She was the daughter of Rodrigo de Borja, subsequently Borgia, a Spaniard who was already a cardinal, and who, in 1492, was elected Pope Alexander VI (1431-1503). Accounts of the lives of both him and his daughter – sordid or spicy according to one’s outlook – are easily accessible, and the contents of this disc, and the accompanying booklet, rightly concentrate upon the musical background to Lucretia’s tumultuous life. Seemingly she was enthusiastic about dancing, and therefore many of the 21 tracks reflect this. Composers represented range from the most famous, such as Josquin, Arcadelt and Isaac, and the significant, such as Tromboncino, Festa and Agricola, to the shadowy Niccolo (composer of Senza te alta regina, the most haunting item on this disc, well chosen to conclude it; an identification of the composer is put forward in the booklet) and the ubiquitous “Anonimo”. The ensemble consists of four singers, of whom the soprano Elia Casanova takes the majority of the solo work; her animated mien in the booklet’s photographs is reflected in her fine performances, with a voice and delivery which are a joy throughout the programme. The five instrumentalists play percussion, harp, flutes, vihuelas and Renaissance guitar. As a vocal ensemble, the singers create a grainy but well-blended sound. The instrumentalists improvise some of their material, and while this might not be to the taste or preference of every listener, their performances are stylish and musicianly, whether accompanying one or more singers, or playing purely instrumental pieces. A few tracks wander into the realm of the mediaeval equivalent of lift music, but the performances, some pensive, others energetic, are never less than engaging and committed. To adapt a modern expression, and not in any derogatory sense, people who like this sort of thing will like this sort of thing.

Richard Turbet

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Les arts florissants

40[th anniversary]
235:57 (3 CDs in a card triptych)
harmonia mundi musique HAX 8908972.74
CD1 Music and theater CD2 Sacred music CD3 Secular music

Here’s the least surprising (re-)release of the year, three generously filled discs recalling and celebrating the work of LAF over the last four decades. It’s a shame that a little more effort hasn’t gone into the presentation, however. No details or dates of the source recordings; no texts or translations; and not all prominent instrumentalists are named (the flautist contributes at least as much as the singer to Bach’s Benedictus). In this context, it would be unreasonable to expect notes on the music but we do get a brief history of the ensemble and a flagging-up of its future projects.

The musical content is well-planned. Each disc has a theme (Music and the Theatre; Sacred Music; Secular Music); each programme includes one or two substantial works or extracts; and there is an amazing amount of music included. I was pleased to be reminded of and to enjoy again Lully’s Atys (on CD1 – a notable recording), his Salve Regina for high voices and Charpentier’s remarkable Le Reniement de saint Pierre (CD2) and the Monteverdi, including Il Combattimento, on CD3. There are, inevitably, one or two tracks I won’t return to, though they did make me think before I decided ‘no’! I also felt that the continuo instrumentation could often, and to all-round musical advantage, be less fussy but nothing diminishes my gratitude to LAF for their pioneering work, especially in French repertoire 1650-1770ish. They’d be no less admired and appreciated if that were all they’d ever done. Without them we may never have given Brossard’s haunting Miserere as much as a glance.

David Hansell

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Recording

H. Praetorius: Motets in 8, 10, 12, 16 & 20 parts

ALAMIRE, His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts, Stephen Farr organ, David Skinner
100:25 (2 CDs in a single case)
Inventa Records (Resonus Limited) INV001

The music on this disc unfolded exactly as I had anticipated it would: mainly homophonic, predominantly Gabrielian, with some cute quirks of harmony. For this reviewer, one of the few miscalculations that Stile Antico have made in the course of their recordings is on A Wondrous Mystery: Renaissance Choral Music for Christmas (Harmonia Mundi HMU 807575) where they intersperse the movements of Jacob Clement’s Missa Pastores quidnam vidistis with later German music: the teutonic matter of the latter is entirely the wrong flavour to mingle courses with the refined and piquant Franco-Flemish helpings of Clement (note: please can we dispense with the cumbersome and no longer hilarious moniker Jacobus Clemens non Papa?). The current recording provides a banquet of such Teutonic matter with 16 pieces, including ten motets for from eight to 20 parts, by the Hamburg composer Hieronymus Praetorius (1560-1629), many of them seasoned with historic brass. For variety, there is his complete Missa summum for (mainly) organ with chanted plainsong, two sequentiae similarly for organ and voices, and a couple of motets played by brass alone. For all their differing vocal resources, the motets began to sound much of a muchness, and in fairness to David Skinner, he shuffles the pack to some extent, with usually no more than two similar works adjacent. Nevertheless, not everyone who relishes barnstorming motets full of voices and brass might be enthusiastic about the interspersed movements of the Missa summum with its long passages played on the historic organ at Roskilde. This is performed sensitively by Stephen Farr, but even he cannot make a case for Praetorius’s uninteresting writing for the organ here in the Mass and in the sequentiae. I take respectful issue with David Skinner’s description of this Praetorius (no relation of his contemporary Michael) as a master polyphonist. This reviewer was left desperate for some counterpoint amidst the onslaught of homophony, apart from some passages in the two motets a8 entrusted to the historic brass. One of Praetorius’s motets – perhaps the opening Dixit Dominus a12 – would stand up well on a disc of music varied by genre, period or locality. Together they become monotonous, and the music chosen to provide some variety within this disc is itself undistinguished. The performances are of course excellent, although perhaps inevitably, given the material, there is a residual impression of some shoutiness in the wake of the polychoral motets. Exultate iusti a16 brings the proceedings to a sonorous conclusion, but perhaps the finest work on this pair of discs is the dramatic Levavi oculos meas a10. It has a structural momentum not apparent in the other motets, which feel more sectional, and this momentum builds to an electrifying climax, with harmonic sparks flying.

Richard Turbet

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