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If you ever get a chance to see Azzolini perform, move heaven and earth to ensure that you do. I’m not a great fan of “show men” but there is something about his style of story-telling that draws me into his world and even though I’m writing a review of a recording I can “see” him acting his way through these seven concertos, which – controversially, I would argue, for a “complete edition” – he has orchestrated according to his findings in the Dresden library, which is second only to the University in Turin for Vivaldi manuscripts. While I appreciate and understand his argument that scores only tell us half the story, while sets of parts and anecdotal references reveal 18th-century assumptions that there was no need to annotate everything in scores (notably the presence of doubling woodwinds), it would, I think, have been more interesting still to hear the “straight” versions alongside the expanded ones. As there is no reference to this infelicity on the cover of the box, the unsuspecting public would rightfully assume they were listening to the music as Vivaldi intended it. And, while it might argued that these versions are exactly what he expected to hear, the fact that Azzolini goes one step further and bases cadenzas on actual Vivaldi examples from violin concertos pushes the probably even further down the road. Four of the concertos are in C major, the others being in A minor, D minor and F. Beautifully played and recorded, this is an excellent CD, but its take on Vivaldi will have purists jumping up and down – and I’m still in two minds about joining them!
Forgotten Works from the Düben Collection [Hélène Brunet, Reginald Mobley, Brian Giebler, Jonathan Woody SATB], ACRONYM 79:33 Olde Focus Recordings FCR917
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As someone who has spent most of his adult life exploring the riches of the Düben Collection, named after a 17th-century family of musicians and music collectors/transcribers, this recording is an absolute joy. Even being fortunate enough to be able to “hear” music just by reading it off the page, nothing beats hearing it played/sung, especially when those performing it are a versatile and committed group like ACRONYM. This is not the first of their discs I have heard (or reviewed), but still I find things in their readings of this repertoire that make me smile. The tone of this recording is set right from the get-go: Schmelzer’s 5-part sonata in D minor takes no prisoners and the fiddlers in particular get stuck right in, and I totally LOVE it! There’s no break before Johann Philipp Krieger’s Cantate domino canticum novum, on whose text the disc’s subtitle is a play. This neatly introduces us to the four singers, whose voices blend well together. Thereafter, we have music by Carissimi (perhaps the only well-known name on the list), Geist (who would have known the Dübens personally), Löwe (whose instrumental music does not deserve the neglect in which it languishes), Capricornus (who should also be heard far more frequently), Flor, a very rare piece from the collection by a female composer, Caterina Giani, Radeck, Ritter and finally Eberlin, who contributes the longest work in the programme at just over nine minutes. In the course of the disc, we have pretty much been put through the emotional wringer – life in the 17th century was tough, and many of the texts set to music tended to be on the bleaker side, which inspired some fantastic works which, in turn, sought to inspire believers. In recording this rich repertoire, ACRONYM will hopefully inspire further exploration of the Düben Collection – and its fellow repositories in Berlin and Dresden. I cannot wait to hear their next CD!
Psalmi Vespertini II [Lenka Cafourková, Gabrielia Eibenová, Filippo Mineccia, Tobias Hunger, Marián Krejčík, Jiří Miroslav Procházka] Ensemble Inégal, Prague Baroque Soloists, Adam Viktora 65:29 Nibiru 01632231
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There can be few champions of a composer’s music as Adam Viktora: his passion for and wonderful, insightful performances of Jan Dismas Zelenka’s output just keep coming. And this is a clear case of quanlity rather than quantity. The fertile imagination from which all this energetic, emotion-laden, technically perfect, lyrical material sprung defies categorising: he is as at home writing a gallant air with flutes as he is composing a fugue that would have satisfied both Fux and Bach, and his ideas just never seem to tire or overstay their welcome. For this programme, Viktora has combined three previously heard works with five world premieres (ZWV 85, 88, 92, 96 and 104) and, such is the quality, it’s difficult to hear the joins. The soloists, choir and orchestra give glorious accounts of themselves. I would not be without this recording!
Psalmi Vespertini III [Lenka Cafourková, Gabrielia Eibenová, Pascal Bertin, Marián Krejčík] Ensemble Inégal, Prague Baroque Soloists, Adam Viktora 56:47 Nibiru 01642231
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Four of the seven psalms on this disc are recorded for the first time. The texts reveal that the Dresden Catholic Chapel must have observed the more unusual Vespers rites: Zelenka only set Confitebor Angelorum once. The recording also features the composer’s only (surviving) a cappella psalm, In convertendo. Typically, this sort of recording would be scooped up only by “completists”, but such is the quality of the music and the performances (and Jan Stockigt’s typically informative booklet notes) that I feel obliged to recommend this to everyone, especially choral directors who are looking for new repertoire that their singers will love.
Psalmi Varii Separatim Scripti [Lenka Cafourková, Gabrielia Eibenová, Filippo Mineccia, Tobias Hunger, Marián Krejčík, Jiří Miroslave Procházka] Ensemble Inégal, Prague Baroque Soloists, Adam Viktora 57:52 Nibiru 01652231
Four of the eight psalms on this disc are also recorded for the first time. The title comes from Zelenka’s catalogue of his own music from 1726. In her excellent booklet note, Jan Stockigt suggests that the arrival in April 1730 of a group of Italian singers might have lit Zelenka’s creative flame once more and that the more virtuosic of the pieces here (Laudate pueri and Læatatus sum) were written for them. The less-demanding repertoire, she argues, were intended for the Czech choir boys who sang in the Dresden chapel. Whoever sang them, these are – I know I keep saying the same thing! – marvellous examples of Baroque psalm settings; some are through composed, meaning conceived as a single movement, while others break the texts down into “chunks” and give each a different character. Zelenka is the master of both, and Viktora and his forces are the masters of Zelenka. The combination is electric and addictive!
Missa Sanctae Caeciliae | Currite ad aras [Gabrielia Eibenová, Kai Wessel, Tobias Hunger, Marián Krejčík, Jaromír Nosek] Ensemble Inégal, Prague Baroque Soloists, Adam Viktora 57:52 Nibiru 01672231
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In some ways, I have saved the best till last. The very first entry in the ZWV catalogue of the composer’s works, this mass is truly glorious. Every single aspect of Zelenka’s output is here – the jaunty rhythms, the intense harmonies, the soaring high vocal lines, the unimaginably long fugue subjects. Viktora and his forces rise to the various challenges with class – it feels slightly unfair to highlight one singer’s contribution, but Gabrielia Eibenová’s Benedictus is ravishing, as is her contribution to the earworm that is the Gloria in excelsis. Tobias gives her a run for her money in his aria “Tu, qui es plenus Spiritus” from the Marian offertory, Currite ad aras (ZWV 166).
I have spent a lot of time with these four discs (and many others by the same forces) and I seriously cannot recommend them enough. The recorded sound is crystal clear and natural, the booklets are beautiful as well as informative, and the whole experience is one of wonder. I don’t know what I will do when they stop producing new recordings of this gorgeous music!
i Disinvolti, UtFaSol Ensemble, Massimo Lombardi 76:54 Arcana A121
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When we think of Giovanni Rigatti (if we think about him at all, so overshadowed is he still by Monteverdi, despite the very obvious attraction and quality of his output!), our minds typically turn to the glories of San Marco and the sounds of a multitude of voices with violins, cornetti, trombones and organs. This fabulous recording spotlights his “Messa e salmi ariosi a tre voci concertati, & parte con li ripieni a beneplacito” of 1643 (the year of Monteverdi’s death). It is an incredibly brave thing to do, having just three singers (one of whom is also the director), but it really comes off – the two tenor voices are suitably differentiated to mean that there is always aural interest. The ripieni parts (which are really just reinforcements at structural points in the psalm settings) are taken by cornetto and three trombones. Continuo is provided by viola da gamba, theorbo and organ. The “service” is filled out by plainsong antiphons, organ music by Andrea Gabrieli, Milanuzzi’s setting of Deus in adiuvandum, a sonata by Riccio, motets by Serafino Patta (?!) and Banchieri, a canzona by the latter, a recercar by Francesco Usper and Del Buono (?!)’s hymn, Ave maris stella. The fact that my attention did not wane once in just under 80 minutes is testimony to the quality of both the music and the performances – I really did not want it to end! The recorded sound and the booklet maintain the quality – and when 13 of the tracks are claimed as world premiere recordings, that is all the more impressive. More please!
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Like Bach’s sons, Mendelssohn’s sister and Schumann’s wife (among many others), Andrea Gabrieli is one of those unfortunates whose relative has somehow eclipsed their own valuable output. I remember in my first year at university how much I enjoyed playing through volumes of Andrea Gabrieli’s keyboard music as I “taught myself the piano” (anyone who has heard me play know that it’s very much still work in progress…) At the Early Music Society, we played canzonas by Giovanni Gabrieli and it was only much later in life (at the Gloucester courses run by Alan Lumsden and Philip Thorby) that I really came to appreciate just how good a composer Andrea Gabrieli was.
This new recording on cpo confirms everything I ever thought. Veronika Greuel’s incisivce and extensive booklet note contextualises the music, which the one-to-a-part ensemble, mixing voices with a variety of the instruments one would expect (violin, cornetto, three trombones, dulcian, chitarrone and organ), then perform in a suitably “big” acoustic with lots of air around the notes. There are four organ works by the composer, and a fifth an entabulation by the performer (Edoardo Bellotti on a modified reconstruction of a late 17th-century instrument), neatly played and revealing the breadth of the composer’s mastery of styles. All in all, I cannot imagine a better way to advocate for Andrea’s rightful place in the Early Music Hall of Fame.
Die Wohlklingende Fingersprache Collin Booth harpsichord 69:47 Soundboard Records SBCD220
Colin Booth’s recordings are always worth looking out for and his latest is no exception, following on from his fine recording of Bach’s 48 Preludes and Fugues. His careful preparatory research is shown by his extremely informative liner notes covering Mattheson’s relations with his close contemporaries, Bach and Handel, as well as providing a running commentary on the Wohlklingende Fingersprache recorded here. This 1735 publication, dedicated to Handel, contained twelve fugues, as well as a number of shorter movements in the manner of galanterien. The fugues come in a carefully constructed key order, moving by fifths from G to E flat and back again. Some are quite extended, with two double fugues and one triple; this last is the longest at just over nine minutes here. As Booth points out, Mattheson wears his undoubted learning lightly, not being afraid to break away from strict writing now and again, while using singable subjects and a variety of musical styles. The result is an attractive programme, with the periodic insertion of the galanterien providing further contrast. Booth plays them straight, allowing the music to speak for itself. He uses the same instrument as he did for the Bach, his own enlarged copy of a 1661 French double, made by Nicholas Cellini. Its brass stringing and clear voicing allow all the contrapuntal parts to come through clearly, helped by the close recording which gives the instrument real presence. It is well worth listening to.
Works by Louis Couperin, Duphly, Rameau, Royer & Anita Mieze (b. 1980) Alexandra Ivanova harpsichord 82:02 Genuin classics GEN 21733
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This debut recording showcases late French baroque keyboard music by Jean-Philippe Rameau, Jacques Duphly and Pancrace Royer; these are bookended with pieces by Louis Couperin and interspersed with three by the contemporary Latvian composer Anita Mieze. The Russian-born Ivanova displays an excellent feel for French styles, whether the ‘classical’ Couperin, or the more flamboyant Royer and Duphly. She has the necessary exuberance and virtuosity for Duphly’s Médée or Royer’s Tambourines but is equally impressive on the more meditative side of those composers’ work. Her inégales playing is very flexible and gives her performances a strong improvisatory feeling, as if the music was being composed as she goes along. Indeed, she prefaces Rameau’s Gavotte et six doubles with her own-composed short Prélude non mesuré. That track is particularly successful, building the sonority and excitement very well through the variations. In the more exuberant pieces, she occasionally gets a bit carried away by the excitement and rushes slightly ahead of the acoustics but, in general, these are fine performances which provide an excellent introduction to the broad sweep of French baroque music.
I was less convinced by the Mieze pieces which, despite the composer’s stated intention, only really exploit the harpsichord’s possibilities in one piece, Ansichtskarte. The other two seem rather aimless and none relate well to the structured feel of the rest of the programme. Ivanova plays the baroque music on a Joel Katzmann copy of a 1638 Ruckers, presumably with ravalement. For the contemporary pieces she uses a Blanchet copy by Titus Crijnen. It would have been interesting to have heard some of the late French pieces on the latter instrument. Both are expertly recorded here, particularly the Katzmann which has both good clarity and acoustic depth. This contributes to the success of the final track here, Louis Couperin’s Tombeau de Mr. de Blancrocher which I particularly enjoyed.
Gilbert Rowland 116:56 (2 CDs in a single jewel box) athene ath 23209
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Gilbert Rowland follows up his first volume of Froberger Suites with a further twelve, again taken from a mixture of sources, and played in no particular order. Sources include the autograph manuscripts of 1649 and 1656 as well as a variety of other manuscripts; they include suites which, though anonymous in the sources, have been ascribed to the composer on stylistic grounds. These are pointed out in the substantial liner notes and their presence allows the listener to explore for themselves the validity of the ascription. They certainly contain some of the more recognisable features of Froberger’s style. The composer’s patron, the dowager Duchess Sibylla of Württemberg, wrote that the true interpretation of Froberger’s notes could only be discovered from the composer himself. Rowland has clearly thought deeply about his interpretations, particularly in the allemandes, which tend to have Froberger’s most profound thoughts and where Rowland is particularly sensitive. He uses inventive ornamentation on repeats in these and other movements, giving them an improvisatory feel – almost amounting to a recomposition at times – but always convincingly so. The courantes are fluent, with lots of French swing, though perhaps a bit stately. Sarabandes, on the other hand, are played quietly and meditatively, while Gigues are generally loud and brash. Rowland uses the same double-manual harpsichord, after a Goermans 1750 instrument, by Andrew Wooderson as he did for Volume 1. While not the most obvious choice of instrument for the music, it does allow a variety of timbres and is cleanly recorded. If I have a criticism, it is that the registration becomes a bit formulaic over the twelve sonatas: it might have been good to have played around with our expectations now and then, being more playful in a Courante or Gigue, perhaps, or making a Sarabande more loud and solemn. Rowland probably feels that he is laying down a definitive version, and there is nothing wrong with that. He is certainly a persuasive advocate for Froberger’s particular blend of styles and influences and well worth listening to.
Julian perkins, Timothy Roberts 76:34 Toccata Classics TOCC 0375
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The name of John Worgan (1724-1790) was new to me, not having heard Timothy Roberts’ earlier recording of his complete organ music (Toccata Classics TOCC 0332). A member of an extended family of musicians, he was organist at a number of minor London churches, as well as at Vauxhall Gardens; in both capacities he was particularly famed for his improvisations. Both Domenico Scarlatti and Thomas Roseingrave were early influences on his compositional style. Little of his music survives and what did appear in print was mostly geared to educational purposes and doesn’t necessarily give us a sense of what, or how, he actually played, presenting a challenge to the modern performer. Timothy Roberts elects to play it pretty straight in Worgan’s thirteen short exercises in paired keys for young players, delivering them largely as published in 1780, on a Dulcken copy by Klaus Ahrend. Julian Perkins takes a more adventurous approach in the six sonatas from 1769. These post-Scarlatti works show a considerable variety of forms and styles, in either two or three movements (the sixth is a virtuosic Sarabande with Variations) and allow Perkins to showcase his own virtuosity and sense of whimsy.
They also allow him to exploit the dozen or so different timbres available on the newly restored double-manual harpsichord of 1772 by Jacobus Kirckman (or his workshop), now in Dumfries House. This instrument is particularly well suited to Worgan’s music; it is beautifully recorded, and it is a pleasure to have the chance to hear it. The same instrument is used for the final item here, Worgan’s New Concerto for the Harpsichord of 1785. No string parts survive, and the work is a bit of a curiosity, in an eclectic mix of styles, but Perkins manages to bring it off with some panache. Roberts’ highly informative sleeve notes conclude by saying that Worgan’s music ‘needs no deep musicological understanding to be enjoyed’. It represents a public, rather than a profound, expression but it is good for the spirits and certainly well worth a hearing. Both players have done the composer proud in this welcome recording.
Gabriel Wolfer organ, Cassandre Stornetta voice 72:00 Label G 016
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This 2021 recital by Gabriel Wolfer is played on an organ built in 2019 by Bertrand Cattiaux for the église Sainte-Jacques, Beurnevésin, in the Swiss Jura. The organ is built in the style of Flemish organs of the 17th century, but with the addition of a pedal organ. The twelve manual registers are available as jeux baladeurs on either of the two manuals, enabling a wide range of registrations, and are scaled and voiced after organs by the Bremser family, dating from the mid-seventeenth century Flanders. The speech is direct and singing, and is well-recorded in this small church. The temperament has 8 pure thirds, and the pitch is A=415Hz. The music, beginning with composers from the Low Countries, Du Caurroy and Sweelink, continues with Dowland and Bull, both known to have had connections there, before returning to more strictly Netherland composers. This is music for manuals only and is well-suited to this instrument, as are the English composers who would not have known the North German style of organ.
For me, the only discordant note is the singer, who has too developed a voice to match the directness and simplicity of the organ. She only sings three numbers – Une jeune filette at the start, the chanson on which the Du Caurroy variations are based and Cornelis de Leeuw’s carol Een kindeken is ons geboren that precedes the Bull version at the end, together with the Purcell Evening Hymn. So it is the organ and its able player who take centre stage.
The programme centres on sets of variations and fantasias, so a variety of sounds embroiders these threads giving us ample opportunity to appreciate the organ’s vocal qualities. In part this is due to its winding, and in part to the action which is clearly all of a piece. The sound is fluid, and I should have liked to hear it with a group of singers, like Vox Luminis, who would match its living, breathing tones so well. I find that I am intrigued, and do not tire of it; the organ builders – who have worked on conserving some distinguished 17th-century organs in France – deserve their reputation. I commend this CD not only for the interesting Flemish programme but also for the chance to hear this interesting and beautifully finished organ.
