Hanna Zumsande, Dominik Wörner, barockwerk hamburg, Ira Hochman 70:16 cpo 555 426-2
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In truth, only a little over half of this recording is devoted to the works one would expect from the title: a congratulatory piece for solo bass with trumpets, timpani and strings for George II, a funeral piece of similar scale for the same monarch, and a slightly longer but hardly substantial duet cantata with added flutes for his successor, George III. The title is, of course, spin, since the pieces were written in German, to be performed in Germany, in honour of the kings in their capacity as rulers of Hanover. No explanation is given why the other two surviving pieces of similar vein were not included on the recording, nor indeed why it is filled out with a cantata for the anniversary of the Augsburg Confession and another for the 23rd Sunday after Trinity, even if the latter did cause a furore in Hamburg after it’s first performance. That notwithstanding, there is some very fine music here. The opening of the George III cantata, in particular, is very strong. Hanna Zumsande and Dominik Wörner make a good pairing – both have clear, strong voices which they wam occasionally with vibrato, and they blend well. The band play crisply and in a manner that is sensitive to the voices without being deferential. It is a pity two other voices could not have been brought in for the middle parts of the chorales.
Julia Kirchner soprano, Georg Poplutz tenor, La Stagione Frankfurt, Michael Schneider 76:17 cpo 555 300-2
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This recording presents one of the rarer genres to which Telemann contributed, the wedding serenata. Intended as evening’s entertainment (presumably for wealth patrons who could afford to pay the musicians required), it is less a mini-opera and more a light-hearted debate on the virtue of love. In response to Ametas the soprano’s opening question “What is more beautiful than love”, the tenor Crito just laughs. They proceed to throw arguments and counter-arguments in a sequence of recitatives and arias, with tempers rising but finally they are reconciled and sing a duet to the newly weds, hoping they will soon have something to rock in the cradle! There follow two solo cantatas with wedding connections, if not as directly as the serenata. “Lieben will ich” was published as the fifth of a sex of six secular cantatas with instruments by the composer in 1731. The tenor must tell the tale and play the two parts! In “Der Weiberorden”, the soprano tells of the “delights” (and otherwise!) of marriage in rather racy language. The disc abounds with charm – Telemann knew how to hold an audience – and all of his fans will have to have this recording.
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If ever proof were needed that Vivaldi did not write the same concerto 600 times, Boris Begelman have provided it. His performances of the six incredibly demanding works on this disc (which, in stark contrast to the previous issue in the series, do not beef up the Vivaldi sound!) are often astonishing. Just listen to the cadenza to Track 10 and you will see what I mean. And the way Vivaldi liberates the cello in the opening tutti of the following track is the perfect demonstration the he was no “one trick pony”. Quite apart from the ridiculous virtuosity (which Begelmann pulls off with seeming ease), the concertos all have their own qualities; the final E minor concerto, for example, starts uncertainly with the movement in the bass line, while the middle movement is wistful and dreamy, and the concluding triple-time Allegro sets off as if it’s on a mission. With 33111 strings (including Begelman) and archlute/harpsichord continuo, Concerto Italiano is about as perfect a group as one could hope for in this repertoire.
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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.
