Tag: Baroque

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The Mystery of the Natural Trumpet

CD Cover Mystery of the Natural Trumpet

Krisztián Kováts, L’arpa festante
66:57
cpo 555 144-2
Concertos by Lang, Otto, Riepel, Sperger & Stamitz

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The mystery alluded to by the title of this CD is perhaps why nobody now performs any of the many trumpet concertos to survive from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, with the exception of the ubiquitous concerti by Haydn and Hummel. In many ways, these two concerti are aberrations, composed as they were for the keyed trumpet, and it is fascinating to hear the other concertos here by Johann Stamitz, Johann Sperger, Johann Lang and Johann Otto as well as the Sinfonia by Joseph Riepel written for and performed on the valveless (and keyless) trumpet – it should be said that the instrument used is in the Baroque style but with four finger-holes, which puts it some way along the route to the now ubiquitous keyed trumpet. The solo trumpet playing of Kristián Kováts is simply superb, ranging with flawless tuning and tone over a vertiginous range and he is ably supported throughout by L’arpa festante. It has to be said that the quality of composition here is not of the top level of inspiration – even as a fan of the music of the Stamitz family I would have to admit that they are prone to cliché, and this is also the case with much of the rest of the music here. Coupled with the fact that this period saw the beginning of a process which would lead to the trumpet being emasculated from Baroque magnificence to Classical conformity, I found myself increasingly reliant on the soloist’s virtuosity and musicality to hold my interest. Having said that, it is important to be able to put the Haydn and Hummel concerti in some sort of context, and this repertoire and these performances are never less than enjoyable.   

D. James Ross

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Recording

Steffani: A son très humble service

CD cover Steffani duets for Hannover

Duets for Sophie Charlotte of Hanover
Various singers and continuo, Jory Vinikour (hpd), dir
89:22
musica omnia mo0802 (2 CDs)

The words in the heading are taken from the dedication made in 1702 by Agostino Steffani to Queen Sophie Charlotte in Berlin in a letter accompanying two volumes of his chamber duets. Exceptionally cultured and herself a singer and keyboard player sufficiently accomplished to take the role of continuo harpsichordist in Giovanni Battista Bononcini’s Polifemo, produced at court in the same year, Sophie Charlotte had been acquainted with Steffani for many years. The unusually close relationship between the two, fully discussed in the exceptionally detailed booklet notes by Steffani scholar Colin Timms and probably facilitated by the fact that the ubiquitously talented Steffani was also a diplomat, is evidenced in a number of surviving letters.

The duets are scored for a variety of vocal combinations. Unlike the alternation of recitative and aria familiar from the slightly later chamber duets of Scarlatti and Handel, they take a variety of flexible forms, all through-composed. Often the structure will consist of some kind of ritornello or rondeau scheme, sometimes, as in ‘Ah che l’ho sempre detto’ for soprano and tenor, returning at the end to the brief opening da capo aria to complete a cyclical form. This incidentally is one of several instances where the text printed in the booklet does not make clear what is repeated. In their fluidity of form, the duets bear a relationship to both earlier 17th century opera and the later madrigal. The latter are also at times evoked by the frequent use of dissonance and chromaticism in vocal writing that is always cajoling the voices into obedient imitation or closely intertwined counterpoint. That of course is appropriate for texts that invariably deal with the vicissitudes of love in either serious or playful mood. Unique among the eleven duets recorded here is the touching final duet, ‘Io mi parto, o cara vita’, scored for soprano and tenor and cast in dialogue form between two lovers on parting. The overall quality of the duets is extremely high, some, such as ‘Pria ch’io faccia altrui palese’ for two sopranos, being sensuously lovely.

Emanating from the US, the set is a follow up to an earlier collection under the direction of harpsichordist Jory Vinikour that I reviewed previously for EMR. There are several differences in the vocal line-up, only Canadian soprano Andréanne Brisson Paquin and bass Mischa Bouvier being common to both recordings. There is now a second soprano, Sherezade Panthaki, who combines most effectively with Paquin in three duets. Reginald L. Mobley, a stylish countertenor and Scott J. Brunscheen’s light lyric tenor complete the roster. Despite these changes, the performances remain very much on a par with those on the earlier CD. That is to say they are all pleasingly sung, though ornaments are often poorly articulated and there are too few of them, without the singers ever suggesting that they have found anything in the text to engage them. True the texts (one of which is by Sophie Charlotte) are all conceits, often, in keeping with the end of the 17th century, pastoral in nature, but we are told over and over again in vocal treatises of the period that realisation of the text is paramount. Highly emotional words such as ‘lasciami’ and ‘tradirà’ must evoke vocal acting if the duets are to come fully to life and move the listener. Here that hardly ever happens. The continuo accompaniment is capable if a little unimaginative, which has the advantage of not detracting from the singers.

These performances are so well-intentioned that I would love to give them higher praise. The fact is however that this is music that is deceptively simple, needing as it does art that transcends artifice.

Brian Robins

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Recording

Armand-Louis Couperin: Pièces de clavecin

CD cover Armand-Louis Couperin Christophe Rousset

Christophe Rousset
100′ (2 CDs in a folder)
Aparté AP236

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Perhaps because of their unusual scoring Armand-Louis’s best-known works are the handful of pieces that he wrote for two harpsichords, and this is the first complete recording of his 1751 solo Pièces. This volume contains suites in G and B flat, both of which intersperse dances and character pieces, often quite expansive in conception, more than merely charming in general character, and inventive in their material and textures. The music is superbly complemented by the marvellous historic instrument on which it is played – a two-manual (with some interesting accessories) by Goujon (early 18th century) with ravalement by Swanen (1784).

It almost goes without saying that the music is also superbly complemented by the artist. Christophe Rousset is one of the outstanding players of our age and he is on fine form here. It’s not so much the notes but the spaces between them that he manages so well – a little breath here or a pushing on there – and his choice of tempo strikes me as consistently perfect. Some of these movements may have been silent for a long time but, as finally revealed on this disc, they do not disappoint.

David Hansell

This is one of two releases I have reviewed as downloads this month. As such it is not possible to comment in the usual way on the overall physical presentation of the package but a few comments on the download experience are appropriate. This is no longer a novelty, of course, and the process for both the music and the booklet is perfectly straightforward. However, any printing of the booklet material needs care and may need a few experiments with single pages to find the optimum settings for both size and format. In particular, beware of pages that are black with white print (a bad design idea anyway) and you may not want to print pages that are not in your language or which contain material of only passing interest. And do not assume that all publications from the same source will work in the same way! Once you have what you want, you will find excellent and informative essays on the composer, his music and the instrument used (English and French).

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Recording

Charpentier: Messe à quatre chœurs

CD cover Charpentier Messe a quatres chœurs

Carnets de voyage d’Italie
Ensemble Correspondances, Sébastien Daucé
TT
hamonia mundi HMM902640

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This programme is one of those ‘the composer may have visited here, heard music like this and then written this’ concepts, in this case credible and not pushed too hard in Graham Sadler’s fluent note. Most of the music (roughly two thirds) of the music is Italian and excellent it is too, in both content and execution, so full marks to whoever did the painstaking research this kind of thing requires. Cavalli’s Sonata is the stand-out for me, but very much as a primus inter pares. Charpentier is represented by extremes – a motet for three unaccompanied voices (SSA) and his mass for four choirs. This is sonically splendid with rich antiphonal effects, though the tutti sections have choirs doubling each other so the number of simultaneous independent parts is never more than seven. My preference is always for masses to interspersed with other music and not treated like later symphonies (we do not even get the organ interludes Charpentier requests), but that aside this release is very strongly recommended for both content and performances, which are stylish and expressive but never self-indulgent.

David Hansell

This is one of two releases I have reviewed as downloads this month. As such it is not possible to comment in the usual way on the overall physical presentation of the package but a few comments on the download experience are appropriate. This is no longer a novelty, of course, and the process for both the music and the booklet is perfectly straightforward. However, any printing of the booklet material needs care and may need a few experiments with single pages to find the optimum settings for both size and format. In particular beware of pages that are black with white print (a bad design idea anyway) and you may not want to print pages that are not in your language or which contain material of only passing interest. And do not assume that all publications from the same source will work in the same way! Once you get there you will find an excellent programme note (French, English and German), but the sung Latin texts are translated into French only.

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Recording

Charpentier: Méditations pour le Carême

CD cover of Les Surprises Charpentier Pour le Carême

Ensemble Les Surprises, Louis-Noël Bestion de Camboulas
59:49
Ambronay AMY056

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Charpentier’s cycle of Lenten meditations, some of which are dramatised biblical scenes, are preserved only in Sébastien de Brossard’s manuscript collection. Brossard himself described the music as ‘excellent’ and he wasn’t wrong! Charpentier’s melodic and contrapuntal skills are present in abundance, and are enriched by moments of harmonic asperity which still startle even post-Wagner ears.

The scoring is for male voice trio with continuo and I do admire the way in which the singers switch from dramatic characterisation to more ‘objective’ meditation and/or narration while maintaining the balance of the ensemble, phrase shapes and so on. I am less convinced by the approach to the continuo. I do not enjoy, nor do I think historically likely, the changing sonorities within a motet, still less omitting the continuo entirely even though the composer wrote the part. I also doubt the use of a harpsichord in sacred repertoire.

Also in the programme are two fine motets by Brossard and beautifully played instrumental pieces by de Visée and Marais, though over-fiddly continuo disposition distracts from the fine melodic line in the latter.

The booklet (French and English) covers all the bases.

David Hansell

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Recording

de Lalande: Les Fontaines de Versailles, Le Concert d’Esculape

CD cover of de Lalande Les Fontaines de Versailles

Margot Rood, Aaron Sheehan, Jesse Blumberg, Boston Early Music Festival Vocal & Chamber Ensembles, Paul O’Dette, Stephen Stubbs, Robert Mealy
72:55
cpo 555 097-2

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Well, for any who think of Lalande solely as a composer of splendid grands motets and other sacred music, here is the secular corrective in the shape of two delightful one-acters first performed in 1683, revived by the Boston Early Music Festival in 2016 and finally recorded in 2019. In Les Fontaines…, the gods and goddesses represented in the Versailles garden statuary pay tribute to the king, while Le concert …, first heard a few weeks later, compliments a leading physician of the time who served the court, especially the Dauphine.

Thorough preparation and unity of purpose are the hallmarks of Boston productions and the performances here maintain this tradition. The singing captures well the elusive style required and the instrumental contributions sparkle. The continuo section is particularly good – sonorous and supportive without ever becoming silly or intrusive. Overall musical continuity between the short numbers is also excellent.

Between the dramatic items, we hear a Grande Pièce from the collection of ‘background music’ that Lalande composed to accompany meals at Versailles. Apparently, this was a favourite of the king and the players take the chance to show us why – I especially enjoyed the liberation of the bassoon from the bass line to a melodic tenor register role.

The booklet (English, German and French) is a chunky affair with a lengthy (though also very good) essay, the usual performer biographies and texts/translations. But I have to say that I found the font size a challenge and whoever was in charge of production should have allowed for the binding space needed on the inner margins of each page. It’s always a shame when the performers are not perfectly supported in such matters: this ensemble deserves nothing less.

David Hansell

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Recording

Telemann: Concertos and Ouverture

Lauzer and Lussier play Telemann with Arion Orchestre Baroque on Atma classique

Vincent Lauzer recorder, Mathieu Lussier bassoon, Arion Orchestre Baroque
60:03
Atma ACD2 2789.

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With “just” over an hour’s worth of music to savour here, we are treated to a vibrant and salient reminder of the fluent and mellifluent composing skills of this versatile master of mixed music tastes and guises. The extensive Ouverture-suite closing this disc provides ample proof of both qualities cited above with its refined subtleties and idiomatic twists… it really is akin to Lully with a twist or tweak or three!

It was J. A. Scheibe in his Critischer Musicus (1745) that pointed out Telemann’s prowess and impetus to popularise the ouverture-suite form in Germany and this area was cultivated from quite early on in his career. This fine G-major Suite belongs to a select group that takes us through ten well-crafted, beautifully contoured movements. The amazing flow of musical ideas, clever with subtle touches, displays an ability that Lully and others would have been very proud of. The suite most likely hails from the composer’s Frankfurt period.

After a perfectly observed Ouverture, we set off through the various movements, beginning with “Les Augures” (Omens/Signs) which poses the question, “good or bad?” And there is a brief hint of wincing to be heard! Possibly an allusion to scenes in the stock market on the first floor of his Frankfurt mansion? Splendid examples of the French dance forms feature too, not only a neat, formal Rondeau, but later a Gavotte en rondeau, all attesting to Telemann’s familiarity and playfulness with these dances. The transition is a real delight; going from 4. Entree into 5. La Joye, one feels the processional, joyful flow. Equally, when the emotional “brakes” are applied this overflowing buoyancy, the Sarabande and Plainte find a melancholic mood like tragic operatic nadirs. In many Suites the Gigue is a final fling, but not her;, the closing triple Menuets I-III  add curtain-falling elegance to the musical trajectory. The playing by Arion Orchestre Baroque under Alexander Weimann is first-class, crisp, vibrant, and alert to the subtle dance mannerisms with “twists”. The two concerti expose the brilliant combined talents of Vincent Lauzer on recorder (who, with that blistering ease “à la Steger”, is yet another dazzling virtuoso on his chosen instrument!) and the equally gifted Mathieu Lussier on bassoon in the F-major work, which opens in quasi-pastoral mode, their superbly interwoven dialogue is captured with great relish and responsiveness;, especially in the final Allegro. The overall playing standard is as expected, exceptionally high, and the recorded sound many could merely envy! Viva Arion! 

David Bellinger

Bravo to Dr Ian Payne (Severinus Press) for conflating the various copied versions for the first edition of the Suite used by Arion for the present recording

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Recording

Monteverdi: Orfeo

Monteverdi Orfeo I gemelli Gonzalez Toro

Emiliano Gonzalez Toro Orfeo, Emőke Baráth Euridice/Musica, Natalie Pérez Messaggiera, Alix Le Saux Speranza/Pastore iii, Jérôme Varnier Caronte/Spirito, Mathilde Etienne Proserpina, Nicolas Brooymans Plutone/Pastore iv, Fulvio Bettini Apollo/Spirito/Eco, Zachary Wilder Pastore i/Spirito, Juan Sancho Pastore ii/Spirito, Alicia Amo Ninfa, Ensemble Vocal de Poche, I Gemelli
97:00 (2 CDs in a single case within a card folder with booklet)
naïve V 7176

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From the opening triple statement of the Toccata, crisply articulated and introducing variants of instrumentation for each stanza, it seems likely that this will be an imaginative version of Monteverdi’s first opera. And so it proves. It is the brain child of tenor Emiliano Gonzalez Toro, who not only sings the title role but directs his recently formed (2018) and excellent early music ensemble I Gemelli. In a note in the booklet Toro explains that it has been a career-long ambition to stage Orfeo, an ambition fulfilled in 2019 when it was given in Paris and Toulouse in a production by Mathilde Etienne, who not also sings a gently persuasive and touching Proserpine but is also responsible for an exceptionally scholarly booklet note. The present studio recording is based on those performances. 

The promise of the Toccata is maintained in a Prologue that is beautifully delivered by Emőke Baráth’s La Musica, each stanza of her varied verses in the recently-arrived stile recitativo inflected with real understanding of the text and incorporating little touches of ornamentation. With the arrival of the chorus that will play a major role in the wedding celebrations of Orfeo and Euridice, the opera moves to its Janus-like stance of looking both forward and backward. While the big opening chorus, ‘Vieni Imeneo’ is homophonic, many of the choruses are madrigalian and here Toro has clearly differentiated them by employing an outstanding one-per-part ensemble drawn from his soloists. It is a measure of how Toro has obviously thought deeply about the opera when he drops the continuo accompaniment entirely for the final lines of the tragic conclusion of act 2 – ‘Ahi caso acerbo …’ (Ah, bitter blow…), thus providing a stunning peroration and compounding further the profound emotional impact of all that has happened since the arrival of Messaggiera (the excellent Natalie Pérez) with news of the death of Euridice. Momentarily looking back to the wedding festivities, I do feel Toro takes some of the madrigalian choruses too swiftly, ‘Lasciate i monti’, being a particular example.

Emiliano Gonzalez Toro is a rare example of a singer seemingly equally at home in French and Italian Baroque opera. In some ways Orfeo, with its continuous stream of recitative, arioso and choruses is closer in outline to the French style, doubtless one reason Toro is so fond of it. He brings to the role only not a an exceptionally well-produced voice of great beauty, but a temperament well equipped to intensify (and release) emotion when called upon to do so. This feature is at its peak in act 3, of which of course the great florid outpouring of ‘Possente spirto’ forms the axis of the opera, not for nothing placed at its exact central point. Like all self-respecting Orfeo’s Toro of course sings Monteverdi’s heavily ornamented version and needless to say sings it well, though he does tend to skate over some of the very dense, fast moving passaggi. It is in fact perhaps the major weakness of the set that none of the singers is totally satisfying in respect of ornamentation. This defect is particularly acute at cadences, invariably left unadorned and thus leaving endings pallid and uninteresting. Returning to Toro’s Orfeo in that critical third act, it is at moments of heightened emotion that it is at its most truly compelling. Listen for example to the hopeless desperation in the voice at the end of Speranza’s aria; ‘Dove, ah, dove t’en vai’ … (Where, o where are you going …). At the end of ‘Possente spirto’ Monteverdi’s ornamented version finishes on the words ‘O de lei mei luci sereni’… (O clear light of my eyes…). At this point Orfeo’s use of his musical prowess to seduce Charon (Jérôme Varnier) ends and the poignant, bitter truth takes over; it’s a moment Toro takes full advantage of, as he does the great outburst of passion after Charon’s response, ‘Ahi, sveturato amante…’ (Alas, unhappy lover that I am …

There are many other moments in Toro’s performance that might be highlighted, and I’m sure it will repay further study. Equally impressive is the care with which he has ensured that all his excellent cast has been carefully coached to remember the critical maxim in this music – prima le parole, poi la musica. Were it not for the lack of ornamentation this might have become my favourite version, but it is an important flaw. It is salutary that for a more stylish approach to embellishment it is necessary to go back to Nigel Rogers’ 1984 outstanding recording on EMI, interestingly another version where the Orfeo also undertook the musical direction (with Charles Medlam).

Brian Robins

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Concert-Live performance

Hatfield House Chamber Music Festival 2020

Inside one of the grand rooms of Hatfield House

Iestyn Davies (countertenor) and Elizabeth Kenny (lute) – Dowland
Richard Gowers (organ) – Handel, Tomkins, Byrd and Tallis
Friday 18 September 2020

Founded by the British cellist Guy Johnson nine years ago, the Hatfield House Chamber Music Festival was one of the relatively few events in Britain to have survived this most catastrophic of years for music making, albeit by adapting itself to the prevailing conditions. Four concerts were filmed and presented before members of the owner Lord Salisbury’s family for relay on YouTube on Friday evenings during September. They were given in several of Hatfield House’s historic and spectacular rooms, the one reviewed here taking place in the magnificent Long Gallery (pictured above) and the Armoury, the home of a historic organ built in 1609.

I have to confess to being no great enthusiast for filmed concerts (or opera for that matter), but the close links between the Cecils (the family name of Lord Salisbury) and John Dowland made the gorgeous setting unusually appropriate and fascinating. It was to the courtier Sir Robert Cecil (from 1605 the 1st Earl of Salisbury) that Dowland wrote a famous letter, a mea culpa in which he tried to excuse himself from having become involved with Roman Catholic plotters in Florence on his aborted trip to Rome. Today the letter is housed in the archives of Hatfield House, allowing Iestyn Davies to take a break from the concert (one advantage of filming) to examine it, a touching moment.

In a trailer both Davies and Elizabeth Kenny spoke of how they had found that the historic associations added a dimension to their performances, feeling that the music resounded sympathetically from their surroundings. Certainly, the acoustic of the Long Gallery was lively, giving both voice and lute ample, rounded sonority. The concert included five of Dowland’s best-known songs and a pair of galliards, those dedicated to the King of Denmark and Lady Rich, for solo lute. Given the well-established qualities of both performers, the performances were never likely to be less than highly satisfying, expectations more than fulfilled. The sweetness and beauty of Davies’ countertenor is never in doubt and here he searched beneath the surface of the texts in a way that to my mind he does not always achieve. Reservations largely concerned the slow tempos at which he took the darkest numbers, including ‘Flow my tears’ and ‘In darkness let me dwell’, which for me resulted in both taking on a measure of 21st-century sentimentality that missed on the ambiguous aspects of Dowland’s attachment to the doleful. But the beautiful messa di voce which the concluding line of each verse of ‘Flow my tears’ ended was something to treasure. Otherwise, it might have been good to have had more varied embellishment in strophic songs, particularly one with as many verses as ‘Come again sweet love’, though Davies caught its light-hearted mood to perfection.

The second part of the concert moved to the Armoury for a short recital given by Richard Gowers on the 1609 organ supplied by John Haan, a Dutchman. One of the few organs from the period to survive, it also retains the beautiful decorations by Rowland Bucket, the artist responsible for many of the interior decorations of Hatfield House. The most substantial piece Gowers played was the second of Handel’s Six Fugues, while he also included the same composer’s mimetic voluntary known as ‘Flight of Angels’, Thomas Tomkins’ odd Voluntary in D and brief works by Byrd and Tallis. The organ has an extraordinarily translucent sound, yet also an agreeable mellowness. The playing was fluent, if not without the odd mishap.

Brian Robins

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Recording

Dowland: A Fancy

CD cover of Bor Zuljan Dowland lute recital

Bor Zuljan lute
65:57
Ricercar RIC 425

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For his debut solo recording, Bor Zulyan presents a programme of music by John Dowland (1563-1626), concentrating particularly on fantasies (eight altogether) offset with pieces of a less melancholic nature. He begins with “A Fantasia” from Jane Pickeringe’s lute book (fols 23v-24r), included by Diana Poulton as no. 71 under “Pieces of uncertain ascription”. (There is no attribution in the manuscript.) It is a stark opening to a CD – silence is broken by a solitary semibreve h on the first course, followed by two minims at the same pitch. This is the beginning of a slow descending chromatic scale, a theme similar to Dowland’s Forlorn Hope Fancy. Zuljan sustains the piece well through its contrasting sections: the theme now in semibreves, now in minims, supported by tripla crotchets in the bass, with fast semiquavers above, down the 7th course to the lowest note of the instrument, and finally above harmonies of mainly subdominant and tonic.
 
Next is “A Dream”, Poulton no. 75, another piece of uncertain ascription, but very much in Dowland’s style. It has three repeated sections, and looks like a pavan. In the editorial notes to her edition of Dowland’s music, Poulton argues convincingly that it may be a setting of Lady Layton’s Pavan. Full marks to Zulyan for his own divisions added for repeats, which are stylish and tasteful.
 
There follows a third piece of uncertain ascription, “A Fancy”, Poulton no. 73. The opening motif is similar to “All in a garden green”, and there is much which reminds one of Dowland’s Fantasy 1a. The last section has an extraordinary tremolo passage which climaxes with Dowland’s characteristic ending of alternating subdominant minor and tonic chords. The manuscript stops the tremolo for those chords, but Zuljan, with acceptable artistic licence, keeps it going over the chords so as not to lose momentum until the final bar. Exciting stuff.
 
The excitement continues with “Can she excuse” and “The Right Honourable Robert, Earl of Essex, His Galliard”, which are essentially two different settings of the same galliard. However, I feel Zulyan plays them rather too quickly, and it’s all a bit of a rush. His timing is 2’55” for both, which averages out at slightly less than 1’30” each. This compares with David Miller at 1’58”, Nigel North at 1’55”, and Paul  O’Dette at 1’45”.
 
There is much to enjoy here – 18 tracks in all – including a spirited performance of the well-known “Lady Hunsdon’s Puffe” (with a surprisingly abrupt ending) and “Sir John Smith, His Almain”. The CD ends with “Farewell”, a fantasy with a theme involving an ascending chromatic scale, which may have influenced, or been influenced by, Thomas Weelkes’ madrigal, “ Cease sorrows now”.
 
In the liner notes, Zuljan includes a lengthy account of John Dowland’s life. I raise an eyebrow at “He was most likely born in 1563 in Westminster, London or Dublin.” On page 21 of her book, John Dowland, Diana Poulton gives two pieces of unequivocal evidence supplied by Dowland himself that he was born in 1563, and she shows that Dr Grattan Flood’s idea that Dowland was born in Dalkey, Co. Dublin, is pure fancy.
 
Zulyan plays an 8-course lute in F (at A=440) after Venere (1582) built by Jiří Čepelák (Prague, 2012). It has a well-balanced sound with clear, bright treble notes. The strings are in gut, made by Davide Longhi from Corde Drago. The overall sound is pleasant on the ears, particularly in the bass with the characteristic sound of gut, and one can forgive an occasional over-exuberant open 6th course played for final chords of G major.
 
Zulyan has an impressive technique, and shows much sensitivity in his playing. I look forward to his next CD.
 
 
Stewart McCoy