Tag: Classical

Maria Espada soprano, José Hernández Pastor alto, Orquesta Barroca de Sevilla, Diego Fasolis
67:19
Passacaille 1031
Music by de Iribarren & Torrens

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Orquesta Barroca de Sevilla directed Diego Fasolis have unearthed music by two composers associated in the 18th century with Malaga Cathedral; a dramatic solo aria and cantatas by Juan Francés de Iribarren, and later villancicos  for solo voice and orchestra by Jayme Torrens. Notwithstanding attempts in the programme notes to make out that this music is distinctive of the region, Iribarren’s output is firmly in the Mannheim tradition of the Stamitzes, while Torrens’ is just as firmly in the style of Viennese classicism. Any elements of Andalusian flavour, such as the intrusive guitar cross-rhythms which appear in a couple of pieces, have clearly been confected by the performers.

A nicely informative programme note laying out the two composers’ training and influences would have been interesting, but, instead, we have a disappointingly trippy treatment including quotes from Stefan Zweig opining about ‘coincidence, passion and friendship’. Fortunately, the music is all of sufficient standard to speak for itself, while the two soloists, soprano Maria Espada and male alto José Hernández Pastor make delightfully idiomatic contributions and the orchestral forces play expressively and dramatically under the dynamic direction of Diego Fasolis.

D. James Ross

Vitae Pomeranorum – Zaginiony Świat Muzyki Pomorskiej, Volumen 1
The FAMD.PL Orchestra, dir. Paweł Osuchowski
60:55
Recart 0014

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he English version of the Polish in the heading is “The lost world of Pomeranian music”; Pomerania – in its send of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern across the north of Germany and Poland (to save you a trip to google.com!) – was apparently a hotbed of creativity. Anton Rösler was, in fact, born in Bohemia (like so many 18th-century composers) and is generally just one of many names that gets bandied about in discussions of the classical symphony. These lively and stylish performances of three four-movement pieces reveal a composer worthy of far more than a footnote! Particularly the symphony in G minor should be in every chamber orchestra’s repertory – the “hints of Mozart” highlighted in the booklet notes (printed on a large fold-out sheet) are extremely pronounced. What I especially enjoyed about the renditions was their honesty; the horns are rustic and (frankly) raucous at points, but what point do the players have? That is the very nature of their instrument, and it gives a truer account of the sound world inhabited by the composer. Rosetti died the year after Mozart and was only six years older than him, so his was another life cut too short. I have enjoyed listening to this disc many times over the past few weeks and shall definitely return to them when I am in need of uplifting.

Brian Clark

Go Arai oboe, Daniel Deuter violin, Thomas Fritzsch viola da gamba, Inka Döring cello
75:23
Coviello Classics COV91712

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]lthough there can be little doubt that Bach wrote music for his friend and colleague, Abel, there is no more than circumstantial evidence to suggest that this set of six two-movement quartets was among them – the gamba player “has been able to restructure the former viola part”. Be that as it may, these four performers give very convincing accounts of them, which gave me a new appreciation of Bach’s music; with very few exceptions, any pieces I have ever played have had neither substance nor depth, but there are movements here that reveal a higher level of intensity, a clever ear for counterpoint and a satisfying structural sense. That said, I’m not sure I could listen to the whole disc through many times. The booklet is full of Gainsborough reproductions of the main suspects in the history of the publication, and a new edition of the music is available so anyone inspired can explore it for themselves.

Brian Clark

Luc Loubry & François Baptiste bassoon, Michel Lethiec clarinet, Piet Van Bockstal oboe, The Prussian Chamber Orchestra, Hans Rotman
68:00
Et’cetera KTC 1603

[dropcap]R[/dropcap]egular readers will know that I am a fan of Vanhal’s music, and his affinity with woodwind instruments; even modern players seem to share my enthusiasm, and while clarinet and bassoon somehow manage not to offend my HIP-sensitive ears, I’m afraid oboe and unchallenged (?) string players don’t (that is in no way meant as criticism of the oboist, who plays beautifully!); so, while the solo episodes with their lighter accompaniments of violins and violas work, tuttis are uninspired and lacking in air that isn’t produced by some artificial dynamic or other. To be fair to The Prussian Chamber Orchestra, some of the slower movements are rather more successful, but the approach is generally neither inspired or inspiring. So some outstanding solo playing of some honest music, but it could have been so much better.

Brian Clark

Zsolt Kalló, Capella Savaria, Nicholas McGegan
127:49 (2 CDs in a jewel case)
Hungaroton HCD 32761-62

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]s a violinist (of sorts), I have always loved the concertos that Mozart wrote for the instrument; for many a year, my favourite recording has been the now-20-year-old AAM/Simon Standage set. In his review of that set, Richard Wigmore wrote in Gramophone:

“By the side of most modern-instrument performances Standage may initially seem cool and reserved, with a relatively narrow dynamic range. But his pure, slender tone (with vibrato reserved only for specific expressive effect), delicate, precise articulation and rhythmic subtlety make for fresh and inspiriting performances of music that has so often been drenched in an excess of opulence and sophistication.”

The present set is (to my ears, at least) a re-visiting of precisely those values, and the essence of HIP. Kalló’s style is very much in the Standage mould, albeit with a far wider dynamic range, while Capella Savaria’s larger, rounder tone reflects the advances that have been made in the intervening years with regards (particularly) to wind instruments. Of course, both sets are marvellous achievements. The new one is brightly recorded with a more generous acoustic than the earlier engineers managed; some of Kalló’s cadenzas are especially inventive, played with captivating precision and poise; the whole enterprise is infused with youthful excitement, and I have enjoyed listening to the two discs for hour after hour (when I ought perhaps to have listened to some other disks for review…) – when the music (and the music-making!) is this beautiful, it’s difficult to stop.

Brian Clark

Chiaroscuro Quartet
75:08
BIS-2168 SACD

[dropcap]I[/dropcap] reviewed this outstanding young quartet’s CD of the first three of Haydn’s innovative op 20 String Quartets some 14 months ago (https://earlymusicreview.com/haydn-sun-quartet-op-20-nos-1-3/), at the time expressing the hope that the set would be completed in the not too distant future. Well, here is the completion and unsurprisingly it maintains the high level of performance I noted with the earlier CD.

Reviewing the earlier disc, I drew attention to the sense one gets in the op 20 quartets of Haydn’s ever growing confidence in his handling of the medium he did so much to create; it is the string quartet that Haydn is the true father of, not the symphony. Yes, there are things here that would develop further, the most obvious being greater democracy between the four instruments. Here the first violin still has the lion’s share of the goodies that Haydn hands out, and one of the joys of the Chiaroscuro’s performances is the exquisite finesse of Alina Ibragimova’s playing, which throughout is not only technically outstanding in meeting the athletic demands of Haydn’s at times virtuoso writing, but in more lyrical writing displays a purity of line and tonal sensuality that takes on an almost feline allure. Take for example the Adagio of the A-major Quartet (No.6), this is one of those movements where Haydn takes us into the opera house, the first violin singing a nocturnal aria of love, complete with added ornamental passages and cadential fermatas, and here transformed by Ibragimova into moments of rare, unforgettable pleasure.

It would, however, be wrong and unfair to her excellent colleagues to place too great a stress on Ibragimova’s playing. The balance achieved by the quartet is excellent and nowhere more so than in the two fugal finales, those of No.5 in F minor and the A-major Quartet. Here the counterpoint is laid out with luminescent clarity, each part essayed to telling effect. And again these fugal movements demonstrate the wonderful fertility of the young Haydn’s mind, since they are tellingly contrasted. That of No. 5 is an old-fashioned, austere fugue thoroughly demonstrating how well Haydn had assimilated his lessons in counterpoint, while No. 6’s is a three-part fugue with a much more modern feel, the light textures and fleet progress reminding us that the Classical era would find new purpose to such displays of contrapuntal wizardry. Elsewhere one notes Haydn trying out new ideas as to texture, as for example the Minuetto of No. 4, an extraordinary ‘alla zingarese’ in which the earthy gypsy writing takes on almost orchestral textures. In the slow movement of the same quartet the sad little theme is treated in the first of a set of variations to disconcerting fragmentation and sparseness.

There are many other joys to experience (or discover) in this truly inventive set of quartets, just as there are in the near-flawless performances of the Chiaroscuro Quartet. Some may find the dynamic contrasts or freedom taken with such effects as rubato worrying, but, as noted with the first disc, I feel invariably that these stem from the players’ engagement with the music, not affectation. Taken together as a traversal of op. 20, this is as revelatory a pair of Haydn string quartet CDs as I know of.

Brian Robins