Tag: Chamber music

Fretwork
83:02 (2 CDs in a single jewel case)

THERE ARE 17 four-part fantasies by the English composer John Jenkins (1592-1678) and they really ought to be far better known! On the international stage, England is really all about Purcell, Elgar and Benjamin Britten… this is so unfair to a large number of composers whose music deserves recognition; Jenkins, “a very gentle and well bred gentleman” according to the writer Nigel North (with whose family he lived for eight years), is one such. There is a charm and an ease about these fantasies, a fluidity of texture and effortless of counterpoint which means one can listen for long periods of time without even being aware that one piece has ended and another begun; the four voices interact in a way that is at once inevitable and deeply satisfying. In the hands of performers of the quality of Fretwork, it is a relaxing and purifying experience; no one voice dominates the others, especially in the two four-part pavans which complete the programme. The recordings, which were made in 2016, are accompanied by an informative booklet and will surely prove popular with fans of Fretwork and John Jenkins – I sincerely hope, though, that they will also draw new admirers to this sublime music.
Brian Clark

(Music by Heinrich Biber)
Acronym
68:15
Olde Focus Recordings

ONE MIGHT WORRY that five of the seven works on a CD are only attributed to the composer whose name it bears, but when the attribution is sanctioned by an expert like Charles Brewer, one need have little real anxiety. While Biber was far from being the only “crazy” composer of his day (Schmelzer wrote music in 5/4 time, Valentini’s harmonic shifts are sometimes reminiscent of Prokoviev, to name but two!), the works in question do bear too many of his signature traits for there to be any serious doubt. The programme is bookended by a remarkable Sonata Jucunda a5 which pushes 17th-century harmony to the limits and the composer’s Battalia with its renowned combination of folk songs in different keys. Sandwiched in between are solo motets for soprano and baritone with distuned violin, solos for gamba and violin with continuo (the latter is the longer version of the increasingly popular Ciacona) and another attribution, this time a set of dances for two instrumental groups, which plays very cleverly with the imitative possibilities of the music. As with their previous recordings, ACRONYM (aka Anachronistic Cooperative Realizing Obscure Nuanced Yesteryear’s Masterpieces!) absolutely throw themselves into this wild world and relish every note – soprano Molly Quinn and baritone Jesse Blumberg need no introduction to regular readers of these pages, and their contribution matches the instrumentalists perfectly. The recording is beautifully clear – try the opening of track 2 (O Dulcis Jesu), where the string bass, organ and theorbo are all distinctly audible, while Molly Quinn’s voice floats effortlessly across the top. The booklet notes are brief but pertinent and translations are given of both of the sung texts. I hope I don’t have to wait too long for ACRONYM’s next release!
Brian Clark

Cantate da camera
Deborah Cachet soprano, Scherzi Musicali, Nicolas Achten bass & director
70:01
Ricercar RIC 396

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n a long and interesting note covering both music and performance practice choices, Nicolas Achten attempts to justify the most contentious aspect of this new CD of Alessandro Scarlatti chamber cantatas – the use of a large continuo group – by quoting Francesco Gasparini’s L’armonico pratico al cimbalo, first published in Venice in 1708. Achten is particularly exercised by the fact that Gasparini refers to richly filled-out, dissonance-inflected chords, taking the author’s observations as his cue to provide no fewer than three performers on theorbos or archlutes, while also adding to this plethora of plucked strings by including a triple harp and occasional guitar. The major flaw in his argument, it seems to me, is that Gasparini is referring solely to the harpsichord and that by employing a large continuo group Achten has come up with an anachronism – a 17th-century sound in 18th-century music. Neither is this just an arcane stylistic point, since there are numerous occasions in these performances where the thickly textured plucking distracts attention from the vocal line, supporting which is after all the prime function of basso continuo.

Performance practice questions out of the way, the first point to make is that the six previously unrecorded works included are all fine examples of Scarlatti’s refined, elegantly turned Arcadian cantatas. They include three for baritone, two for soprano, while O penosa lontananza, the cantata that gives the disc its name, is for both singers. In addition to continuo, four have parts for two violins and all follow the form of the mature secular cantata, that is to say an alternation of recitative and aria, though not necessarily in that order. In keeping with the genre the topic is, of course, pastoral love in idyllic settings, frequently treated with a subtle ambivalence or gentle mockery. Fiero, acerbo destin, for soprano, starts with language and music of madrigalian intensity – ‘Cruel and bitter destiny of my soul, I suffer, languish, and die’– before turning to parody itself – ‘Tell me, lovers, have you heard a more cruel and hopeless story’. It is music originally intended for a cultured, sophisticated audience and it needs an intelligent approach from its performers, who must always keep in mind that is it music for the salon, not the opera house.

In this respect both Deborah Cachet and Nicolas Achten are successful, though in differing ways, the former, for example, tellingly capturing the irony of the cantata mentioned above. Cachet’s singing throughout is indeed near unalloyed pleasure; the quality of her voice is lovely, crystalline in purity and owning to the ability to spin an unwavering cantabile, yet full of a youthful warmth and, where needed, passion to evoke the shepherdesses who talk of nothing but love in its different guises. However Cachet does earn a black mark for her ornamentation of da capo repeats, where she too frequently strays too far from the melodic line. Few would be likely to term Achten’s bass ‘lovely’, since it has a grainy quality and is also prone to excessive vibrato. He is, however, an intelligent vocal actor, which brings compensations where strong interpretation of the text is needed, as in the final cantata on the disc, Tu resti, o mio bel nume. Here, particularly in the long final recitative and concluding aria, Achten communicates with profound understatement, almost as if self-communing, the dichotomy found in the poet’s exploration of parting and death as two sides of the same coin.

An interesting recording then, if one that is far from flawless, particularly in relation to what is to me a fundamental misunderstanding of the role of 18th-century continuo.

Brian Robins

La Rêveuse, Florence Bolton, Benjamin Perrot
69:25
Mirare MIR 303

[dropcap]W[/dropcap]ith the exception of the opus 2 Sonata by Buxtehude, all the music on this CD is unpublished, preserved in the Düben Collection in Uppsala – Gustav Düben, a friend of Buxtehude, was an organist and court music director in Stockholm. On the disc we find BuxWV 272, a Sonata in A minor, BUXWV 273 (Sonata and Suite in B flat major), and BuxWV 267, a Sonata in D major for gamba, violone and continuo. In addition, there is an attractive Sonata and Suite in D major by Dietrich Becker and an anonymous Sonata and Passacaglia for solo gamba with continuo. This music provides a unique window into the musical world of late 17th- and early 18th-century Lübeck, with its clearly talented pool of gifted amateur string players for whom this music was apparently intended. The considerable demands of all of the music here suggests that the citizens of Lübeck put their long dark winter evenings to good use, practising their violins and gambas until they achieved an impressively virtuosic standard. La Rêveuse also demonstrate effortless virtuosity in their performances, which combine charm and genuine emotional impact. Düben may have been a court musician by profession, but his music collection was surely also intended for domestic use in performances in which he would have played keyboard continuo. Buxtehude, too, might well have played this and similar music with his more musically adept friends in Lübeck. This CD is wonderfully evocative of these delightful evenings of socializing and music-making.

D. James Ross

Scaramuccia (Javier Lupiáñez violin, Inés Salina violoncello, Patrícia Vintém harpsichord)
62:19
Snakewood Editions SCD201801
Music by Albinoni, Fanfani, Montanari, Pisendel, Giuseppe Valentini & Vivaldi

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he title of this excellent project refers to a study tour undertaken by Johann Georg Pisendel – at the expense of the Saxon court – which saw him rub shoulders with all of the leading Italian violinists of his day. As well as pieces written especially for him, there are sonatas written in collaboration or dedicated by one of them to another, and a couple of world premiere recordings. Albinoni’s B flat major sonata is far more virtuosic than most of the music you may know by him (probably inspired by the German’s virtuosity). The sonata in E minor by Montanari and the Vivaldi/Pisendel piece are both augmented by sets of variations (legitimately enough, since these are frequently a feature of the Red Priest’s works) by the violinist and harpsichordist of the group. Clearly, this is demanding music – Lupiáñez combines a fine bowing arm with some nifty fingerwork, seemingly undaunted by the technical challenges, while his continuo partners provide stylishly supportive accompaniment. It is a sobering thought that these six extremely fine works represent only the tip of the tip of the iceberg that is Pisendel’s library of works gathered from his Italian contacts – that the library in Dresden has made them all available online is encouraging groups like Scaramuccia (who have even established their own recording company to produce this CD!) to explore the vast riches which it contains. Given the high standards set here, I hope it will not be too long before we hear more from them!

Brian Clark

Krzysztof Firlus viola da gamba, Anna Firlus harpsichord
53:48
DUX 1471
Sonatas by J. S. & C. P. E. Bach, Christian & Christian Wilhelm Podbielski

[dropcap]O[/dropcap]f the repertoire on this attractive CD EMR readers are likely to know the gamba sonatas by J. S. and C. P. E. Bach, but frankly are unlikely to know the two very pleasant sonatas by Christian Podbielski. It could be argued that this is largely because the latter was born and grew up in Königsberg (now the Russian enclave city of Kaliningrad) which in the 18th century was a hub of artistic activity but which subsequently found itself marginalized culturally and politically. Podbielski published a fairly extensive body of work, and the present sonatas are full of felicitous touches and original textures and melodic ideas. It was around this time in the late 18th century that the gamba was being replaced by the cello, and there are many aspects of these sonatas which suggest the cello rather than the gamba. Pleasantly galante in style rather than intensely Baroque, their full charm and elegance is brought out by the stylish playing of the Firluses, who – in addition to enjoying as husband and wife a special rapport with one another – also clearly have a close rapport with this repertoire. Their performances of the more familiar Bach sonatas show that they are able to cope well with the more musically demanding repertoire of the period just as well. They are to be congratulated for uncovering the music of Podbielski, fine music from a cultural context not yet extensively explored, and which is clearly worthy of attention.

D. James Ross