early music review

Corelli’s Heritage and the Roman School
I Musici
54:51
Dynamic CDS7752
Castrucci op 3/10, Corelli op 6/4, Geminiani op 5/7 (after Corelli), Locatelli op 1/11, Valentini op 7/11

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his group was among the pioneers of the re-discovery of baroque music, if not quite what we now call HIP. Their recordings of complete sets of Vivaldi’s publications brought him back into the mainstream. Given that attitudes to performance practice have moved on a great deal since those days, I was a little wary of even listening to this CD, even though the performances are from as recently as last year. In actual fact, however, although there are some hints of yesteryear (the trills, for example), these are lively and enjoyable accounts of some lovely music. I don’t mean to sound condescending or disparaging, but this would make an ideal gift for someone who likes less frequently recorded baroque music but does not have any special interest in how it is performed – this is bound to make them smile. Lots.

Brian Clark

Marcel Ponseele, Il Gardellino
133:29 (2 CDs in a darboard wallet)
Accent ACC 24314
TWV 41:g2, g6, a3; 42:c4, d4, Es3, g5; 43:D7; 51:e1, f2, A12; 53:E1

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his is a compilation of recordings dating from 1995–2005 and covering the whole gamut of Telemann’s works for solo oboe; sonatas with continuo from various of his published sets, trio sonatas with violin or flute or even obbligato harpsichord, and concertos (including oboe d’more, too). This, of course, is not just any old oboist playing – Ponseele has been recognized as one of the performers on the instrument for many years and these recordings are like a compendium of masterclasses in each of the works involved. Nor are his companions unkown; one the “concerto” disc he is joined by Il Gardellino, while the second disc has Richte van der Meer on cello and Pierre Hantaï on harpsichord, with contributions from Fred Jacobs (in the sonata with obbligato harpsichord and continuo), and Taka Kitazako (oboe) and Per-Olov Lindeke (trumpet) in the rarely heard TWV 43:D7. This is a thoroughly enjoyable set which I have no hesitation in recommending.

Brian Clark

Weser-Renaissance, Manfred Cordes
68:26
cpo 555 010-2
Förtsch: Ich vergesse was dahinten ist, Unser Leben währet siebenzig Jahr
Michael Österreich: Ich habe einen guten Kampf gekämpfet
Georg Österreich: Plötzlich müssen die Leute sterben, Unser keiner lebet ihn selber

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his is the fourth CD that Manfred Cordes and his excellent team has devoted to music in Gottorf. Alongside music by two of the composers already featured there is a very fine work by the more famous Georg Österreich’s older brother, Michael. The opening piece is Förtsch’s lavish “Unser Leben währet siebenzig Jahr” with seven voice parts, four violins, two violas, four gambas, bassoon and continuo! The fact that it survives only in a copy might explain the rather odd passages in some verses of the central aria where the duetting alto and bass occasionally sing in octaves (a fact that the otherwise informative booklet notes fail to mention).

It is followed by the older Österreich’s setting for more modest forces of one of “the standard” funeral texts, “I have fought a good fight”, which reveals the former Thomaner’s considerable skill. The final work – the longest on the disc at over 19 minutes! – adds a pair of oboes to the ensemble. It ends with a “tremolo”-accompanied setting of a verse from “Herzlich tut mich Verlangen” (known to English speakers as “the Passion chorale”). Throughout the singing and playing as excellent, the balance between individual voices and vocal and instrumental groups is well managed, and the sound quality is very high. All in all, another success for this typically enterprising cpo series.

Brian Clark

Emmanuelle Guigues viola da gamba
63:00
L’Encelade ECL1404
Schenck, Telemann and J. S. Bach

[dropcap]M[/dropcap]usic for unaccompanied bass viol by Schenck, Telemann, and J. S. Bach is played on a 6-string bass viol, dating from the end of the 17th century, attributed to Edward Lewis, of London. It apparently travelled to America early in its life, and was recently restored in New York by William Monical. It’s worth mentioning all this because the instrument itself has a gorgeous sound, very mellow, and even across its registers. It is played at a= 405, and recorded in an ancient church in the Dordogne. The recording sounds close-miked, albeit in a generous acoustic, but her technique is so clean and her articulation so secure that no extraneous sounds of shifting or too-fast bow-stroke is heard at all.

Further, the repertoire she chooses is particularly demanding – the unaccompanied bass viol is an unforgiving instrument in that any false stroke, any fudged fingering is immediately apparent. As for the music, that of Schenck requires a virtuoso technique, of that there is no doubt, but it needs a care-free approach as well. The two delightful sonatas for unaccompanied viol, Opus IX, L’Echo du Danube, published in his native Amsterdam around 1700, are Italianate in their construction, perhaps owing something to Corelli, but the chordal technique is very similar to that of Christopher Simpson and Marin Marais. Their melodic charm allied to the possibilities offered by the bass viol make them compelling listening, particularly when played as beautifully as she does.

Telemann’s sonata in D major (TWV40:1) is well known and widely recorded, but nowhere better than here. The sonorous acoustic is generous, but the close-miking means that her playing has to be completely clean – there is no concealment in the texture, and it is a superb performance of a very charming and ingenious work.
The Bach 5th suite, transposed to D minor, and played without its prelude, is the final work. She plays it with great insight, and although her approach is literal, she gives a particular flavour to each movement, none more so than the dreamy quality of the final gigue.

This is the third recording of hers that I have heard, and she is undoubtedly an outstanding artist, with a commanding technique, and no need to resort to gimmicky mannerism. Her own excellent notes in the booklet, somewhat awkwardly translated into English, give an enlightening historical context for this repertoire. Highly recommended.

Robert Oliver