Tag: Baroque

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The Early Horn

Ursula Paludin Monberg, Arcangelo, The Early Horn CD cover

Ursula Paludan Monberg, Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen
78;32
hyperion CDA68289
Music by Graun, Haydn, L & W A Mozart, Telemann & anon

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After dropping apparently fully-formed into its role as an orchestral instrument in Handel’s Water Music, the horn very soon became an indispensable part of the Baroque and Classical orchestra. This CD explores its parallel pivotal role in 18th-century chamber music and illustrates how quickly composers cottoned on to the horn’s musical potential, while at the same time the technical developments instigated by players extended the instrument’s range. The opening track is a beautiful sinfonia da camera for horn and strings by Leopold Mozart, while a concerto and a trio by Graun, two anonymous Concerti from a Swedish source, a concerto by Telemann, a divertimento by Haydn and the E-flat-major horn quintet by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart all chart the horn’s development from Baroque to Classical instrument. The music selected for this CD shares the feature of being delightfully entertaining, while the anonymous concerti for horn, oboe d’amore and continuo and for horn, two oboes and continuo are particularly charming. The concerto for recorder, horn and continuo by Telemann is also predictably accomplished and engaging. Playing a wonderfully coiled Baroque horn, Ursula Paludin Monberg produces a beautifully rounded tone and displays a consummate playing technique. She is ably supported by the players of Arcangelo directed from the harpsichord by Jonathan Cohen. There is a wonderful inevitability about the thoroughly classical strains of the familiar Mozart quintet (K407) with which the CD concludes – we feel we have been informatively conducted from the horn’s early years in serious music to one of the pinnacles of the repertoire.

D. James Ross

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Vitali: Sonate op. 5, 1669

Vitali op 5 CD cover

Italico Splendore
66:42
Tactus TC 632205

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CD cover of Vitali op 5 sonatas

Italico Splendore are exploring the riches of the Ducal Library of the Este family in Modena, and the present CD is devoted to the chamber music of Giovanni Vitali, who worked as maestro di cappella at the court there from 1674. Himself a virtuoso on the ‘violone da brazzo’, a forerunner of the cello/double bass, Vitali’s influence on the role of the violin as well as the standard Baroque musical forms was considerable. It is fascinating to observe in his opus 5 sonate side by side with standard trio sonatas, sonate a due (without an independent part for violone) but also sonate a quarto and a cinque. As with many composers of the second half of the 17th century, Vitali displays a freedom of thinking and a musical imagination which found itself somewhat tamed in the following century. Italico Splendore play with an easy spontaneity, with suitable episodes of bravura alternating with intensely expressive passages. The blend of solo instruments and continuo team is pleasing, and the overall sound vivid and engaging. When we reach the four- and five-part sonatas, the increasing richness of the texture is welcome. Each of the sonatas bears the name of a local aristocratic family, surely an astute way of attracting financial support for Vitali’s musical activity.

D. James Ross

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Monteverdi: Madrigals Book 9

Monteverdi Madrigals book 9 Longhini CD cover

Scherzi Musicali
Delitiæ Musicæ, Marco Longhini
74:37
Naxos 8.555318

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As Marco Longhini reaches the last of Monteverdi’s Madrigal Books, the posthumously published 9th Book, I find I still have many of the same reservations that I had at the start of the series. The use of an all-male ensemble entails the group’s countertenors being cast as a range of lovelorn maidens, nymphs and shepherdesses, and for all the gusto with which they throw themselves into these roles, I remain unconvinced, particularly as there is no evidence that there was any sort of restriction on women singing this music. I’m afraid I am also less than convinced by Longhini’s countertenors themselves, who in contrast to the other male voices never seem entirely comfortable vocally. I remain similarly unconvinced by the prominent participation of harpsichord in the accompanying textures – often a madrigal is beautifully introduced by a continuo ensemble comprising various plucked instruments and cello only for a harpsichord to muscle in on the texture. Having voiced my main reservations, Longhini’s instinct for the potential drama in this music has not diminished during the project, and if it could occasionally be accused of being a little over-theatrical, it is certainly never dull. The singing is generally good, with only occasional intonation lapses, and is musically pretty convincing and delicately ornamented. The madrigal performances are introduced by a lovely instrumental Sinfonia by Biagio Marini, and the balance of the CD is made up of the Monteverdi’s Scherzi Musicali, a collection of ariettas published in 1632 and of which only a single copy survives. Interestingly, Longhini makes plausible use of a number of instrumental ritornelli which appear in the original publication, and which are normally ignored by performers, to link in conclusion a selection of the ariettas together. I found myself wondering how much the oddly immediate acoustic was to blame for my discomfort with some of the singing – although the recording was made in the Chiesa di San Pietro in Vincola, there is little hint of any bloom in the performance. This ‘in-your-face’ ambience is emphasised by the opening madrigal, in which the countertenor soloist emerges from a resonant distance abruptly to jump out of your speakers at you! Certainly theatrical, but oddly unsettling. I wanted to enjoy this CD more, and can only hope that some listeners derive more consistent pleasure than I did from what is clearly an important complete account of the Monteverdi Madrigals.

D. James Ross

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Barbara Strozzi: Virtuosa of Venice

Barbara Strozzi CD cover Fieri Consort

Fieri Consort
67:18
Fieri Records FIER003VOV
With music by Ferrari, Fontei, Kapsperger, Maione, Monteverdi & Selma y Salaverde

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It is good to see Barbara Strozzi’s music receiving more attention – as more of it becomes familiar, it is clear that she deserves her own place in the history of early Baroque music. As a female composer and performer, her considerable success was greeted with some suspicion in her own lifetime, and even in our own day, acceptance of her skills has been slow and grudging. Her image as a serious performer/composer is perhaps not helped by the familiar bare-breasted portraits, but she was a pupil of the Monteverdi’s pupil, Francesco Cavalli, and was a prolific composer with seven books of madrigals, arias and cantatas plus a collection of sacred music to her name. That this large body of work was published is sometimes ascribed to the prominence of her father as a member of the prestigious Accademia degli Incogniti, but, as more and more of her stylistically varied music comes to be performed, it becomes clear that she was probably being published entirely on her own merits. The Fieri Consort fields six voices in various permutations with gamba, lute/theorbo and harp to present a selection from throughout the composer’s musical life. Thus we travel from the flirty music of the early madrigal collections to the more intense music of the late more profound lagrime. The fact that her music stands up very well beside the pieces by Monteverdi, Nicolò Fontei and Kapsperger with which the consort alternate her songs is a mark of their quality.  The singing and playing are generally good, if the ornamentation occasionally sounds a little laboured, and I like the variety of voices, which appear mainly in dialoguing pairs, as well as the subtlety of the instrumental accompaniments. 

D. James Ross

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Dowland: Lachrimae

Opera Prima Consort play Dowland Lachrimae CD cover

Opera Prima Consort, Cristiano Contadin
59:32
Brilliant Classics 95699

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This is a delightfully fresh look at the very familiar Lachrimae Pavans with associated Pavans, Galliards and Almands. The use of alto viola and violins on the upper lines is entirely authentic and gives the overall sound an engaging edge, while some daringly adventurous and ultimately beautifully musical divisions on the repeats of each section transform these performances into something very special. In addition to breaking the traditional viol consensus, Cristiano Contadin also introduces a recorder, which brings its own heightened level of intricacy to the repeat divisions. I am not entirely convinced by the recorder sometimes popping in and out, playing only on some repeats, and am happier with it playing the written line first time and then embarking on its divisions on the repeat having established its presence already. This is very much a personal whim, and I have to say that in practice both Contadin’s solutions, if a little unorthodox, work very well. The performances of the ensuing Galliards and Almans are wonderfully free and inventive, quirky and virtuosic, casting a bold new light on this terrific music. The playing is wonderfully expressive throughout, recalling my hitherto favourite 1985 account by Jakob Lindberg and the Dowland Consort on BIS. I have to say that the felicitous mixture of violins and viols and the deft ornamentation of repeats may just have won me over to this exciting new account! Highly recommended.

D. James Ross

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Resonanze

Resonanze CD of solo gamba music from the baroque and modern periods

music for viola da gamba
Ibrahim Aziz
63:31
First Hand Records FHR83
Abel, J. S. Bach, Martínez Gil, Rowe & Schenck

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This CD is a vehicle for the gamba virtuosity of Ibrahim Aziz. The programme consists of two Baroque pieces and two modern compositions for gamba, and an arrangement of the Bach second cello Suite. Notwithstanding Aziz’s formidable technique and sonorous tone, I found this the least successful piece on the recording, being so familiar with the work as a cello piece and feeling that the gamba with its frets acted as a restraint on the player. Carlos Martínez Gil’s Suite Estiu is very much in the neo-Baroque style, a nostalgic homage to the gamba compositions of the 18th century. He manages to find unusual textures and resonances in the work’s five varied movements, as does gambist and composer, Rebecca Rowe, in her impressive 2018 composition Journeying, specifically written for Ibrahim Aziz. As a player of the instrument, she seems more confident and enterprising than Martínez Gil in her exploration of its potential. The Three Pieces by Carl Friedrich Abel are surprisingly consequential, although this is hardly surprising from the leading gamba virtuoso in London in the 18th century. Curious to think of his gifted pupil, the painter Thomas Gainsborough, working away diligently on this sort of repertoire. The D-minor Suite V by another 18th-century gambist/composer Johann Schenck is the most substantial work in the programme, technically dazzling and musically powerful. It is not surprising to learn that his music was widely published and performed throughout Europe, although the present suite survives in manuscript only. This is a delightfully varied CD, demonstrating the full and varied potential of the gamba in the hands of a capable and wonderfully gifted young player. 

D. James Ross

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Handel: Works for Viola da Gamba & Harpsichord

CD cover of Handel gamba sonatas recording by Aziz and Yamamoto

Ibrahim Aziz, Masumi Yamamoto
77:26
First Hand Records FHR91

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This CD of music by Handel for viola da gamba and harpsichord presents the G-minor Sonata HWV 364b and a couple of contested works, which may be the work of the young Handel along with a series of arrangements, respectively of the A-major Violin Sonata and the Keyboard Suites HWV 448 and 437. As fillers, we have the Suite HWV 429 for solo harpsichord in a copy by Gottlieb Muffat and a Prélude from a gamba suite by Sainte-Colombe le fils. So, while the title may not strictly describe what is ‘in the tin’, the performers have been distinctly imaginative and enterprising in their choice of repertoire. The playing is beautiful, with some wonderfully poignant gamba sounds from Aziz, who also displays a deft virtuosity on the instrument, while Yamamoto provides an impressively responsive accompaniment. Particularly intriguing are the musicians’ solo slots. The very conservative piece, thoroughly in the French style, by Saint-Colombe le fils, could easily be by his father, Jean, who taught the legendary Marin Marais – this in spite of the fact that S-C le fils was working in London at the same time as Handel. The edition of Handel’s HWV 429 suite for harpsichord by Gottlieb Theofile Muffat, son of the more imminent Georg Muffat, is intriguingly revelatory of performance practice at the time. Gottlieb Muffat, also a keyboard composer in his own right, spent his whole life in Vienna, and it is fascinating to think of him bringing his version of the music of Handel to the Austrian public in the generation before Mozart would find an audience for his Handel adaptations. Did he feel that Handel’s music needed ‘adapted’ to suit the Viennese taste, or as a composer/player could he just not bear to keep his hands off this fine repertoire? Throughout his lifetime, Handel was dogged by breaches of what would now be called copyright, but this is something else entirely – more akin to an homage from an admiring fellow composer. This is a thought-provoking and musically very satisfying CD.

D. James Ross

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Handel: The Recorder Sonatas

Handel Recorder Sonatas Stefan Temmingh CD cover

[Wiebke] Weidanz, [Stefan] Temmingh
63:20
Accent ACC 24353

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This account of the six recorder sonatas by Handel, each one tastefully ‘set up’ by a short prelude, either a keyboard prelude by Handel or Purcell, an anonymous Fantaisie for solo recorder, or in one case an improvised flourish on recorder and keyboard, has many virtues. The playing of Stefan Temmingh on a trio of Bressan copy recorders by Ernst Meyer is flamboyant and imaginative, while the accompaniment of Wiebke Weidanz on a Taskin copy harpsichord by Matthias Griewisch is equally so. If the harpsichord is consistently recorded a little ‘closely’ and dominates the balance somewhat, this is quite possibly a reflection of the natural dynamics of both instruments, although some of the detail of the recorder playing in the lower register is lost. Temmingh is always keen to embellish, sometimes ornamenting the first playthrough of a section, sometimes improvising on even the opening statement, before departing even more radically into the realms of fantasy on the repeat. This will not be to everyone’s taste, but I found the approach on the whole engaging and entertaining, particularly as Weidanz was quick to reflect this exciting level of spontaneity in the keyboard accompaniment. There is certainly no denying the highly imaginative nature of this improvisation, which manages to sound both utterly compelling and completely convincing. The programme note is in the (for me) annoying form of a dialogue between the two performers, which is necessarily more about their approach to the music and its performance and recording than the historical/musicological background. However, we do learn that, as we might have suspected, Weidanz plays from the original figured bass, allowing her imagination to realise the keyboard part spontaneously in response to Temmingh’s account of the melody line. This is perhaps not the recording to buy for a no-nonsense account of Handel, but the playing is very impressive and thoroughly musical – and you can’t help feeling that this is the sort of approach the composer might have taken in performing his own music.

D. James Ross

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La Gracieuse: Pièces de Viole by Marin Marais

Robert Smith gamba, Israel Golani guitar/theorbo, Joshua Cheatham gamba, Olivier Fortin harpsichord
66:13
resonus RES10244

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Virtuoso gambist Robert Smith is joined here by a superb consort in imaginative and supremely musical performances of four of Marais’ suites for viol and continuo. Never one to rush the music he is playing, Smith imbues this wonderfully eloquent repertoire with the time to breathe and the results are truly revelatory. Ever since Gerard Depardieu’s appearance in the film Tous les Matins du Monde brought Marais’ music to a wider audience, it has frequently featured on CD, but not always as well and expressively played as it is here. The continuo ensemble of guitar/theorbo, gamba and harpsichord allows for subtle changes in instrumentation to reflect the mood of the melody. I am less convinced by the employment of a deep drum in some of the more rustic sounding movements – surely Marais would have been using the viol itself to imitate the sounds of a traditional band? I am prepared to overlook this in light of the very imaginative approach taken to Marais’ music, which otherwise sounds utterly convincing to me. The rich resonance of the Lutherse Kerk in Groningen provides a spectacular resonance for Smith’s ringing viol tone and the resonus engineers have done a fine job in capturing the sound so vividly.

D. James Ross

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Welcome home, Mr Dubourg!

Irish Baroque Orchestra, Peter Whelan CD cover

Irish Baroque Orchestra, Peter Whelan
60:58
Linn Records CKD 532

The music of Matthew Dubourg is a genuine discovery, and one still in the making. This timely CD provides a useful taster of what scholarship may be able to salvage in the future. A contemporary and associate of Handel, nowadays chiefly known for his association with the latter’s visits to Dublin, Dubourg was in his day an admired violin virtuoso and composer in his own right. Opening with the spectacular ‘Hibernia’s Sons your voices raise’ from the Ode for Dublin Castle 1753, the CD goes on to supply Dubourg’s only surviving violin concerto and movements from other Dublin Castle Odes as well as a concerto for two violins by Vivaldi and Corelli’s violin sonata op 5 no 9, provided with quirky ornamentation by Dubourg. Interspersed among these larger works are charming small traditional Irish pieces which Dubourg either wrote down or arranged. Along with an excellent line-up of soloists, The Irish Baroque Orchestra provide energetic and evocative performances of this unfamiliar repertoire – Dubourg was clearly influenced by the music of Handel, but inflections also find their way from the traditional music he clearly loved and appreciated into his more formal compositions. It seems extraordinary that this substantial body of music by a talented local composer has escaped the attention of Irish musicologists until now, and they have their work cut out for them now reconstructing the Odes and other music from fragmentary sources. Only then will we be able truly to evaluate Dubourg’s oeuvre. The title of the CD comes from an incident when Dubourg was playing for Handel and after a particularly wayward cadenza, Handel is supposed to have shouted, ‘Welcome home, Mr Dubourg!’ I have heard the same anecdote applied to Handel’s favourite soprano Mrs Cibber – it is a mark of Dubourg’s undeserved obscurity, that it has perhaps been felt expedient to transfer this anecdote from the forgotten violin virtuoso to the more familiar soprano whose reputation has fared better in our own times! The event is touchingly evoked at the end of the CD when violinist Sophie Ghent ‘goes off on one’ and is welcomed back home by Mr Handel!

D. James Ross