Tag: Chamber music

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Buffardin: Sonates & Concerto

CD cover Buffardin Olivier Riehl

Le Petit Trianon, Olivier Riehl
75:48
Ricercar RIC 428

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Buffardin is perhaps most famous as the teacher of Quantz and the inspiration for some of Johann Sebastian Bach’s most elaborate flute writing, including the finest sonatas. Here he emerges as a composer of competence and charm, and often more than that: the cadences in the D major sonata’s Allegro would grace the music of any of his contemporaries.

And this is news, for these sonatas are either recent discoveries or ascriptions to Buffardin. I therefore regret that two of the six sonatas we hear include additional parts by or for members of the ensemble, transforming the solo movements into trios/quartets. Indeed, over-elaboration is an unfortunate feature of several items, with the combination of two linear instruments on the bass line too strong for the flute (a modern copy of one of Buffardin’s own) and all but overwhelming the harpsichord.

Having said that, however, it must also be added that all the playing positively bristles with life and commitment, perhaps heard at its best in the opening of the fine concerto, a work which first achieved ‘fame’ in a Musica Antiqua Köln recording 40 years ago. So, although it does come with a few health warnings, this is a disc that will give much aural pleasure with the booklet (English, French and German) offering adequate support.

David Hansell

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Telemann: Liebe, was ist schöner als die Liebe

CD cover Telemann Liebe, was ist schöner als die Liebe

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.

Brian Clark

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Vivaldi: Concerti per violino IX ‘Le nuove vie’

CD cover Vivaldi Concerti per violino IX Le nuove vie Boris Begelmann

Vivaldi Edition vol. 67
Boris Begelman, Concerto Italiano, Rinaldo Alessandrini
73:18
naïve 7258

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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.

Brian Clark

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Vivaldi: Concerti per fagotto V

CD cover Vivaldi Concerti per fagotto V Azzolini L'onda armonico

Vivaldi Edition vol. 66
Sergio Azzolini, L’onda armonica
78:00
naïve OP 30573
RV 467, 476, 479, 481, 486, 489, 497

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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!

Brian Clark

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Cantica Obsoleta

CD cover ACRONYM Cantica Obsoleta

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!

Brian Clark

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Recording

A deux violes égales

A deux violes égales

Sainte-Colombe · Marin Marais
Myriam Rignol, Mathilde Vialle
79:39
Château de Versailles Spectacles CVS043

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Pretty much everything everything makes this offering from Versailles highly desirable: if EMR still used stars I might even give it five! The repertoire and sonorities are sublime (try Marais’ Tombeau de Mr Méliton – played here by the two bass viols with theorbo); the performances are often exceptional; the essay (French, English and German) fluent and interesting; the photographs were taken in the Hall of Mirrors; and there are nearly 80 minutes of music. The only negative element is the occasional unidiomatic phrase in the translated biographies.

I recognise that a recital on low pitched instruments may not be to all tastes, but it really isn’t all lugubrious: the final Couplets de Folies (Marais) are positively frivolous. Give it a go!

 David Hansell

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Per il Salterio

Per il Salterio La Gioia Armonica

La Gioia Armonica
Margit Übellacker, Jürgen Banholzer
78:41
Ramée RAM 1906
Music by Beretti, Conti, Galuppi, Monza & anon

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This selection of 18th-century music for psaltery, played by Margit Übellacker and continuo, played on organ and harpsichord by Jürgen Banholzer, is drawn from Galant-style repertoire from the North of Italy. Relatively little is known about the composers Angelo Conti, Carlo Monza, and Pietro Beretti, although Baldassare Galuppi is much more familiar. The psaltery, whether plucked or, as here, struck with hammers, is one of those instruments which almost certainly played a much greater role in historical music-making than is recognised nowadays. One or two ensembles have introduced it into performances of consort music from the Renaissance onwards, but it has never really become a standard chamber instrument. In later works written specifically for the instrument, such as the sonatas here, its versatility and expressiveness are allowed full rein, and some of the textures achieved in combination with the organ and harpsichord are intriguing – the variety of timbres is further varied by the use of different woods and coverings for the hammers. The use of leather-covered hammers for example in slower movements produces a sound uncannily like the 18th-century fortepiano – scarcely surprising as the mechanics are essentially the same. Both organ and harpsichord are mentioned as accompanying instruments in several sonatas, but, in others, the term Basso Continuo leaves the options open. La Gioia Armonica have done a fine job in spotlighting this neglected repertoire, and they play it with assurance and sensitivity and with a constant ear for interesting sonorities.

D. James Ross

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Anachronistic Hearts

CD cover Anachronistic Hearts Heloise Mas London Handel Orchestra

Héloïse Mas mezzo-soprano, London Handel Orchestra, Laurence Cummings
76:35
muso mu 045

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Fresh from enjoying Joyce Di Donato’s fabulous new complete recording of Agrippina, I was eased into this CD of Handel operatic arias with the familiar strains of Poppea’s charming “Bel piacere”. A compilation CD such as this relies heavily on the charms of the soprano soloist, and, in this case, we are fortunate to be in the hands of Héloïse Mas, a singer of great musical instinct and superb technique, who like Di Donato is able to bring Handel’s operatic music dramatically to life. Ably supported by the London Handel Orchestra under the direction of Laurence Cummings, Mas conjures up the relevant characters in the course of one short aria and gives expression to their innermost feelings. In among the operatic music are arias from early oratorios as well as a secular cantata, written in Italy in 1707; La Lucrezia, with its narrative of rape and revenge, provides powerful and contrasting emotions for the composer to tap into and for the performers to revel in. All of these performances by Mas demonstrate a voice at the peak of its powers, underpinned with musical and dramatic intelligence, which animates every single moment of this programme.

D. James Ross

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Campana: Arie a una, due, e tre voci

CD cover of Campana Arie Ricercare Antico Brilliant Classics

Ricercare Antico, dir. Francesco Tomasi
64:31
Brilliant Classics 96008

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Born in Rome around 1610, Francesca Campana was known as a singer and spinet player, and her set of Arias in one, two and three parts published in 1629, when she was probably still a teenager, reveals a remarkable facility. While female composers were not unknown in Italy at the time, to have an entire publication devoted to your music as a woman was an unusual tribute and is surely a mark of the respect in which she was held. This is underlined by a letter of recommendation of 1633 in which her playing and singing are specifically and extravagantly praised. Her marriage to the composer Giovan Carlo Rossi seems to mark the end of her own compositional career although she lived on until 1665. The arias in the collection comprise solo airs with accompaniment as well as ensemble pieces we would be inclined to describe as madrigals. The writing is expressive and colourfully evocative – it is likely that Campana was writing largely for her own voice and an ensemble, and would probably have performed this music as well as benefiting from its publication. The performances here are imaginative, delicately ornamented and eloquently presented. The slightly close recording has an unfortunate deadening effect, and, as a result, some tracks sound a little plodding – perhaps a little more ambiance might have helped the music breathe a little more and the voices to ring more pleasingly. The arias themselves are interspersed with a beguiling selection of largely Neapolitan instrumental works from slightly earlier than the Campana pieces. This repertoire is catchy and engaging, and the playing is again charming and provides the perfect foil to the arias.

D. James Ross

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Grétry: L’amant jaloux (instrumental arrangement)

CD cover Gretry L'amant jaloux Notturna Christopher Palameta

Notturna, Christopher Palameta
56:42
Atma Classique ACD2 2797
+Entr’acte from “La Caravane du Caire”, F-A Danican Philidor oboe quartet no. 2

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Composed in the late 18th century for the court of Louis XV, Grétry’s three-act opera L’Amant Jaloux was an immediate and enormous success, and in the manner of the times, this anonymous instrumental arrangement of the main musical items for flute, oboe, violin, viola and bass appeared almost at once, to allow amateur musicians to enjoy all the hit tunes at home. The style of the writing is lightly Galant, and the instrumental version permits the enjoyment of Grétry’s ready musical imagination without having to follow the vagaries of a late-18th-century plot! Some of the musical items in the chamber score, made available for this recording by Brian Clark of Prima la Musica, are extremely short, but all of them have an elegant charm, which perfectly evokes the French court just prior to the revolution. The balance of the CD is made up with a delightful quartet for oboe, two violins and bass by François-André Danican Philidor, which in its intensity adds a darker element to the programme. The CD concludes with the Entr’acte from Grétry’s La Caravane du Caire in an arrangement for piccolo, flute, oboe, two violins, viola, horn, and bass. It is a remarkable thought that this charmingly innocent music was composed in 1783, virtually on the eve of the revolution which would sweep its whole world away. The playing of Notturna under the direction of Christopher Palameta is wonderfully idiomatic and expressive, vividly evoking the lost world of this insouciant repertoire.

D. James Ross