Tag: Classical

Porpora, Monn, Haydn: Cello Concertos
Adriano Maria Fazio cello, Soloists of Cappella Neapolitana
64:51
Brilliant Classics 95570

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he “invisible is the tangible sign of our emotions,” writes the cellist inside the back cover of the booklet. I’m not quite sure what to make of that, and I’m equally at a loss as to what lies behind the recording of three concertos in such minimalist circumstances. There is no denying that Adriano Maria Fazio is a gifted cellist, or that the group formerly known as the “Cappella della Pietà de’ Turchini” has years of experience in HIP music-making of the highest order; so why strip away all but the bare essentials of the Haydn concerto (all three works are accompanied by only a string quartet with double bass and harpsichord)? While it may be true that dispensing with the horns and oboes is really just a simplification of the colour scheme, those were the sounds the composer chose (and surely Count Esterházy would have expected to hear from the orchestra he paid to maintain). I can’t find any reasonable explanation in the booklet and I leave it to readers to discover for themselves whether the approach works.

Brian Clark

La Stagione Frankfurt, Michael Schneider
62:02
cpo 777 993-2

[dropcap]D[/dropcap]ifficult as it is to believe, it is nearly 25 years since I first heard Michael Schneider direct La Stagione in performances of symphonies by Abel. Then it was op. 10, while now we have the slightly earlier op. 7. This set’s “claim to fame” is the misattribution of the final work in the set to Mozart, since the young prodigy had made a copy during his 1764 London visit. Needless to say, the uplifting, exuberant playing of the previous release is a feature of the present performances. Re-ordered from the original print (3, 2, 1, 6, 4, 5), each has three movements and Schneider draws attention (rightly, I think) to the fact that the stand-out feature of each is the middle movement; none of Abel’s symphonies is in a minor key and, although the sonata form of the first and the dance character of the faster ones almost require passing references to minor keys, it is in the slow movements that he more deeply probes them. Graciously crafted inner voices and more than a hint of romanticism give these movements a forward-looking character that looks to Mozart (who, as we have heard, was acquainted with Abel’s music) and even brooding qualities of the Sturm und Drang  movement. But there is little time for the listener to be overwhelmed by such thoughts, for along comes a boisterous final movement to wake us from our daydreams and fill us with verve and excitement.

Brian Clark

Alec Frank-Gemmill, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Nicholas McGegan
66:05
BIS-2315 SACD
Music by Förster, Haydn, Leopold Mozart, Neruda, Telemann

[dropcap]B[/dropcap]efore I write a single word of “criticism”, let me state that I am a fan of all of the musicians involved in this recording; Alec Frank-Gemmill is a wonderful hornist and has shown his HIP credentials time and time again, and McGegan is famed the world over for his fine interpretations of baroque music. For whatever (legitimate) reason, this programme was conceived as a recital with modern orchestra, so as such it is really only of peripheral interest to our readers; they may wish to hear Frank-Gemill’s heroic mastering of Neruda’s “stratospheric” writing, and I for one really enjoyed the piece by Leopold Mozart which they chose to play as chamber music. Sadly, and despite the fact that I really do like the Telemann concerto, I’m afraid the younger Mozart (or Richard Strauss!) will remain my “go to” composer of horn concerti for the time being…

Brian Clark

Jan Kobow, Maximilian Kiener, David Steffens TTB, Salzburger Hofmusik, Wolfgang Brunner
62:58
cpo 777 917-2

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n recording all of Mozart’s music for Freemasonry, even reconstructing two fragmentary sources, Salzburger Hofmusik have helped fill out an aspect of Mozart’s life which was very important to him. While none of the music here strikes me as a masterpiece – and why would we expect such functional music to aspire to this status? – it is fascinating to hear the basic musical stock onto which Mozart would elsewhere graft his genius. The best of the bunch are the Masonic pieces for clarinets and basset horns – Mozart’s clarinettist of choice and friend Anton Stadler was also a freemason; the beautifully crafted Adagio for two clarinets and three basset horns is certainly memorable. I have heard Salzburger Hofmusik sound fresher and more convincing in other repertoire, and felt that they had perhaps succumbed to the fact that some of this music is simply a bit dull. Better to hear the genre magically transformed in the likes of The Magic Flute than to listen to what is in effect occasional music.

D. James Ross