early music review

Vox Luminis, Lionel Meunier
141:43 (2 CDs)
Ricercar RIC347

[dropcap]1[/dropcap]7th-century music is best kept to itself, as far as I’m concerned. The three composers here are less forceful than their famous relative, but have a mild sound that can carry the words with ease. Dates are Johann (1604-73), Johann Christoph (1642-1703) and Johann Michael (1648-1694). The organ is mostly included, whether noted or not – that seems sensible. In the past, I used to follow recordings with scores whenever possible, but I don’t want the visual interruption now, apart from looking on the few pieces that seemed inappropriate. There are 15 motets on disc 1, 18 on disc 2.

There is only one singer per part, which helps the expression: it is sensibly done, but not overdone. Dynamics, apart from echos, come mostly from within the phrase. Meunier is the leader, but also sings bass – none of the conductorial arm-waving that we get from other small ensembles. The booklet is substantial at 111 pages, allowing for English, French and German. If you haven’t got a comprehensive collection of these three composers, buy this set – and, even if you do, you may want to add it to your collection anyway!

Clifford Bartlett

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Rémi Geniet piano
79:00
English Suite no. 1 BWV 806, Partita no. 4 BWV 828, Toccata in d BWV 911, Caprice sur le départ de son frère bien-aimé BWV 992

[dropcap]R[/dropcap]émi Geniet is a young French pianist who came second in the 2013 Queen Elizabeth Competition and as a result made this, his first recording, at the age of twenty-one. He possesses a formidable technique with extreme rhythmic precision. He favours a detached style of playing, somewhat in the manner of Glenn Gould, though without the mannerisms. This style can get a bit wearing on a modern Steinway and, while mimicking the plucking of a harpsichord, it can become mechanical, particularly when combined with such a strict rhythmic sense. It is exciting playing, though, with great drive in faster movements, the gigues in particular, and Geniet also displays a good sense of what the different dance movements are about. He is best in the pieces composed by the young Bach, the Caprice sur le départ and the D minor Toccata, where he conveys the composer’s exploration of the keyboard medium very convincingly. An impressive debut from a young player who still has some distance to travel but from whom we will certainly be hearing more.

Noel O’Regan

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Elfa Rún Kristinsdóttir
Available directly

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n stark contrast to a recording of these pieces I reviewed last month, this magnificent CD is worth every penny! Anyone who choses to perform Telemann’s unaccompanied violin music faces the challenge of justifying why they have done so rather than tackling Bach’s output in the same medium, in this case because there are none of the huge technical demands of the latter and – on the page – Telemann’s writing lacks sophistication. However, while both composers rely on the instrument’s ability to suggest part-writing and harmony, in fact it is Telemann’s music that requires the individual violinist’s input to make it make sense. Where lesser players struggle to discover a coherent way through every movement, Elfa Rún Kristinsdóttir must have spent hours deciding exactly how she was going to play every single note; if she didn’t, then I take my hat off to her, as these are truly magical performances. We often talk about shaping notes with the bow, or picking out notes here and there to make melodic lines more interesting, but I don’t think I have ever heard a violinist with such a wide range of bow strokes; even in sequences of leaps across two strings, she is able to colour the notes without ever losing momentum, and where traditional wisdom might suggest building to a crescendo, she is not afraid to let the music taper off into the most delicate of pianissimos. But there are two virtuosi at work here, for the sound engineer has worked miracles in perfectly capturing each and ever nuance without also picking up any background noise. Bravo to both of them! There are no booklet notes; some people will find this a drawback, but personally I don’t think I want to read another essay special pleading for Telemann’s solos – just listen to the glorious playing and allow yourself to be persuaded. The CD has already been awarded “Album of the Year” at the Icelandic Music Prize ceremony, but I seriously believe this will garner accolades across the HIP world and beyond. And for those of you who don’t take Telemann seriously (shame on you!), she makes rather a good job of playing Bach, too. If you like that sort of thing… 🙂

Brian Clark

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Les Amies de Philippe, Ludger Rémy
75:27
cpo 777 952-2
FWV K: D1, D2, F4, G5 & G21

[dropcap]L[/dropcap]udger Rémy was recently awarded the Fasch-Preis der Stadt Zerbst/Anhalt in recognition of his work over decades in promoting and recording the music of Johann Friedrich, who spent the last 36 years of his life in the service of the court there. This latest recording was made in Zerbst around the time of the 2013 Fasch-Festtage, with some of the repertoire also featured in a concert that was broadcast live.

To me the term “Overture Symphony” is slightly superfluous, and stems from a German “need” to categorize everything. Essentially, the five works on the CD are expanded versions of a French overture, slow movement and triple time dance like many Baroque opera overtures. The fact that Fasch uses elements of ritornello form and throws in concertato passages for the wind instruments (which feature prominently in most of his music) makes for a grander overall scale – overture G21, which just has oboes and bassoon, runs to almost 20 minutes! Three pieces (F4, G5 and D1) are recorded for the first time; the second of those has four horns – two in G and two in D – and three oboes, and Fasch makes full use of the available sonorities.

It would be a real shame if, as Manfred Fechner excellent booklet notes suggest, these works were never performed in Dresden (where they survive today,* and where Fasch’s friend and colleague, Pisendel, was in charge of music at court until his death in 1755) as there is some very fine music here, and Les Amis de Philippe really do it justice on this bright recording. Perhaps they will now move on to the sinfonias proper?

Brian Clark

*The booklet includes web references to all digitized versions of all five, so you can play along if you like.

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Barthold Kuijken transverse flute (with Robert Kohnen harpsichord, Wieland Kuijken gamba) & Peter Van Heyghen recorder (with Kris Verhelst harpsichord), Marcel Ponseele oboe (with Ewald Demeyere harpsichord & Richte Van Der Meer cello)
147:03 (2 CDs)
© 1991/99
Accent ACC24308

These two CDs include eight sonatas for flute, six for recorder (including an alternative version of one of the flute sonatas) and three for oboe (ditto!) played by three excellent musicians who have played enormous roles in the development of HIP performances in Belgium, where they are based, and in the world at large: Barthold Kuijken, Peter Van Heyghen (perhaps better known nowadays as the director of Les Muffatti) and Marcel Ponseele; they are joined in stylish performances by continuo players (keyboard and bowed) of equal renown. In short, this is as much a who’s who of the Belgian early music scene as it is a magnificent survey of Handel’s fine chamber music for solo winds. I think the decision to accompany the recorder sonatas with just harpsichord was an inspired one. After a brief introduction to Handel’s sonatas in general, the booklet shares information about the individual pieces – and is not too shy to confess that only two of the eight “flute sonatas” were actually thus designated by the composer, the earlier of which (fittingly) is now held in the Royal Conservatory Library in Brussels. I can imagine keeping this in the car to make long journeys seem much shorter.

Brian Clark

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Menno van Delft, Guillermo Brachetta
74:26
Resonus RES10145
F. Couperin: Le Pais du Parnasse (1725)
Le Roux: Suite in F (1705)
Rameau: Suite after Platée (1745) by Brachetta

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his is one of two discs this month of which I have to say, ‘This is the most enormous fun’. The instruments (modern copies of Hemsch and Blanchet) produce a fine, rich sound (helped by a recording that is a little on the over-resonant side) and under the hands of these uninhibited players give us a thrill-packed journey. Their arrangements are plausible, if sometimes at the limit of historical likelihood, and the chosen repertoire is mostly of the highest quality. It’s not Gaspard le Roux’s fault that he wasn’t Rameau or Couperin, but his pioneering role in two-harpsichord music compels his inclusion. The booklet essay (English only) is substantial and laced with interesting quotes, though manages to say remarkably little about the specific recorded repertoire.

David Hansell

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Juliane Laake gamba, Ensemble art d’echo
72:30
Capriccio C 5206

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his is an exceptionally interesting recording of a ‘new’ repertoire, still to be made generally available, of the highest quality. The manuscript, currently held in France, possibly originated in north Germany. It appears to have been compiled over several decades, and contains music for solo bass viol, notated entirely in tablature. There are 273 pieces in all, some in variant tunings, some named, (Hotman, Dubuisson and Verdussen) most traceable by concordances (Hume, Ford, Jenkins, Stöeffken and others). The manuscript contains dance movements arranged in suites, several incorporating settings of chorales.

The recording presents six of these suites, some with their chorales. These are very beautifully sung by the tenor in a simple and direct manner, some unaccompanied, some with viol, some with theorbo and organ in various combinations. Thus the programme has a pleasing variety, and makes very enjoyable listening.

I’ve enjoyed Juliane Laake’s superb playing every time I’ve heard it, and her accompanying artists (Kai Roterberg voice, Ophira Zakai theorbo and Klaus Eichhorn organ) are of the same calibre. She plays with absolute technical mastery, completely without mannerism and with compelling musicianship.

The music itself is captivating. The dance suites are French in form and style, and more than once I was reminded of Sainte Colombe. The chorale tunes are followed by sonorous chordal versions for solo viol, sometimes in standard tuning, sometimes in ‘skordatur’. I couldn’t pick up all the tunings, but one sounded like a version of the so-called Bandora set, the suite nominally in G but sounding in (modern pitch) F. Its Gavotte is the tune ‘When the King enjoys his own again’. She plays a 7-string copy of a late 17th-century Tielke which has a very full bass and a beautifully warm top string.

The recording is closely miked in a favourable acoustic, with a lovely ambience particularly around the top string. It nevertheless sounds quite intimate, in keeping with the music, as the chorales and their versions for solo viol would have been for private devotions.

The notes state that she improvises some divisions, and I can’t check what she does with the written source, but whatever she does must be completely appropriate as it was impossible to distinguish what was hers and what was original. I look forward to the time when the facsimile, which Minkoff had planned to publish, eventually becomes available as it is clearly a very important source of 17th-century music for bass viol.

A lot of research has gone into this programme: chorale settings by Praetorius, Walther, Gesius and others have been sought out to go with the versions for viol from the manuscript. The result is a programme of very beautiful music, set into a context, and presented in such a way that the 40 separate tracks make for a very moving whole. Congratulations to all concerned.

Robert Oliver

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