Tag: Classical

Francesca Lombardi Mazzullli soprano, [Ensemble Autarena], Marcello Scandelli
66:58
Pan Classics PC 10364
Carlo Lenzi: 2 sonatas, 2 Lamentations
Mozart: 2 sonatas (KV 225, 245), Exsultate jubilate

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he name of Carlo Lenzi is likely to be known to few, a number that does not include Grove Online. He was born near Bergamo in 1735, subsequently receiving a musical education in Naples. On its completion Lenzi returned to northern Italy, where in 1767 he was appointed maestro di cappella  at Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo. It was a post he would retain until his death in 1805, despite going blind during the 1790s. Lenzi left a substantial extant body of sacred works, among which are 34 Lamentations settings for Holy Week.

The setting of passages from the penitential Book of Jeremiah was one of the most commonly adopted forms in Holy Week for composers during the Renaissance and Baroque, its dark severity ideally suited to the week’s final days. The two here by Lenzi, for Maundy Thursday, composed in 1780 and Good Friday (1778), follow the usual pattern of Hebrew incipits followed by verses from Jeremiah – here divided between aria and passages of quasi-accompanied recitative – with a coda on the recurrent text ‘Jerusalem, return to the Lord thy God’. Lenzi’s settings are thoroughly in accord with his Neapolitan training in the sacred style that dominated southern Europe during the second half of the 18th century, with passages of dramatic, operatic intensity juxtaposed with coloratura writing. Yet there is an individual, at times almost eccentric streak at play here, too, with writing that at times appears fragmentary or disjointed. In part I think this impression derives from Lenzi’s fondness for breaking up the vocal line with orchestral ritornellos. Yet elsewhere, as at the words ‘bonus est Dominus’ (The Lord is good) in the Good Friday setting, the music takes on an exquisite inner beauty. The (poorly translated) notes make big claims for Lenzi’s music. I’m not sure they are substantiated here, but the music is certainly interesting and it is equally certainly shown in the best light by the performances. I’ve recently much admired Francesca Lombardi Mazzulli in several operatic performances and here again she is outstanding. Although designated as a soprano, the voice has an appealing coppery quality of instrumental purity and a strong, well-produced middle range that suggests she may well end up as a mezzo. She also has a finished technique, with coloratura cleanly and precisely articulated and – glory be – a proper trill. Her diction, however, could be better.

Lombardi Mazzulli is very well supported by Ensemble Autarena, who on their own account intersperse the Lamentation settings with a pair of Sonata’s based on the Seven Last Words commissioned in 1771 by Cadiz Cathedral, the same establishment that would give Haydn a similar commission sixteen years later, The first starts in particularly impressive style, with a stormy, dramatic passage presumably depicting the earthquake, though later lapses into a more perfunctory allegro.

Also included are Mozart’s Exsultate jubilate, qualifying for inclusion on a CD devoted to music from Lombardy by dint of the fact that it was composed in Milan for the soprano castrato Venanzio Rauzini, and two of his so-called Epistle Sonatas (KV 245 and KV 225). They of course have nothing to do with Lombardy, having – like all their fellows – been composed for Salzburg Cathedral. Lombardi Mazzulli’s performance of the famous motet is most appealing for the reasons already cited above. In addition her diction here seems better, probably because she is more familiar with the work, and she strongly projects the central recitative. The two sonatas are perfectly legitimately played with one-per-part strings and greater dramatic emphasis than is usual. As noted above, the jury is still out on Lenzi, but the disc is well worthy of attention, particularly for Lombardi Mazzulli’s fine singing.

Brian Robins

Zierow, Millischer, Diffin, Römer, Bayerische Kammerphilharmonie, Reinhard Goebel
75:57
Oehms Classics OC1844

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his CD is almost most interesting for what it isn’t. It presents a selection of chamber works by Mozart senior on modern instruments directed by one of the luminaries of the authentic instrument movement. So what’s missing? Well, I was more disturbed than I imagined by the sound of the modern instruments, particularly the valved brass, but to a lesser extent by the modern woodwind, chunky string sound and ‘play-along’ harpsichord, which gave this recording for me a very 1970s sound. This is not helped by the bland nature of the music – Mozart minus the X factor. It is I suppose a useful exercise to find out how surprisingly uninspired Leopold’s music is, but I’m not sure that I would be rushing to a recording studio with it! Having said that there are a few eyebrow-raising moments here, particularly in the Serenade where the apparent lack of either trumpet or trombone for the first few movements sent me to the programme notes, where I discovered that the short attention span of the Salzburg audiences it was written for required a most unusual structure – an attention-grabbing opening, and just as interest was flagging, the addition of various concertante wind instruments. While I can understand the flagging interest, I was not prepared for the time-warp of the trumpet’s almost Baroque clarino contribution. This CD certainly provides a snapshot of the world that the young Mozart emerged from, but as that world was every bit as stale as he complained it was, I found this CD of limited interest.

D. James Ross

Arthur Schoonderwoerd, Cristofori
69:57
ACC 24323
KV 271, 413, 414

[dropcap]J[/dropcap]udging from the back cover of the booklet, this would seem to be the sixth in a series of the Mozart piano concertos played by the Dutch fortepianist Arthur Schoonderwoerd, who also directs the Besançon-based ensemble, Cristofori. He plays a copy of Anton Walter piano of 1782. The cycle seems to have attracted little critical attention, this being the first CD I have encountered.

Of the three concertos on the latest disc it can be claimed without resorting to hyperbole that KV 271, the Piano Concerto No 9 in E flat, is not only the first great Mozart piano concerto, but the first great piano concerto in history, a work therefore of huge significance. Composed at the start of 1777, it was written for Louise Victoire Jenamy, daughter of the famous ballet master Noverre, when she visited Salzburg. Mozart did the noted young pianist proud, evidently taking considerable pains to provide her with a work that in scale and ambition comfortably exceeds the modest proportions that formed the norm in the mid 1770s. Its very opening announces something dramatic and innovative, a single bar’s flourish answered by two bars from the soloist. The gesture is then repeated, the traditional opening ritornello thus swept away at a stroke. The Andantino, with sighing muted strings, is the first of many of Mozart’s central concerto movements that will breathe the spirit of Romanticism, while the exquisitely lovely slow minuet Mozart inserts into the final Rondeau is an idea – the interruption of a quick movement with a period of reflection – he will return to only once again in his piano concertos, in the finale of the C-major Concerto, KV503. The other concertos were composed for a series of subscription concerts Mozart gave in Vienna in the winter of 1782/3. Both are more modest works than KV 271, their slighter character underlined by the fact that they can be played by single strings, the parts for oboes, horns and (in the case of KV 413) bassoons being optional.

I have mixed feelings about the performances. On a level of practical choice it seems a little perverse legitimately to adopt single strings – employed throughout the series, I understand – but then also include the wind parts. The ‘orchestral’ playing is throughout of questionable quality, with too many examples of sour oboe tone, and poor string intonation and ensemble. Dynamics, too, are far from being observed with anything like the attention they should be. Listen, for example, to the opening of the central Larghetto of KV 413, marked sotto voce. Here the winds’ piano interjection in bar 2 hits the listener with all the force and subtlety of a sledgehammer. Yet these are not performances to write off entirely. Schoonderwoerd is a musical, fluent and often sensitive player, and he frequently achieves a sensitive rapport with his musicians, phrasing with point or affection. The minuet passage in KV 271 mentioned above is a good case in point, the playing here achieving an affecting delicacy and poise that is most engaging. Moreover the single string accompaniment, although not really working for the bigger-boned KV 271, does at times throw up some interesting perspectives on balance.

So, while these performances are never going to reach the status of mainstream recommendation, they are not without merit, though that merit is not boosted by the churchy, over-reverberant acoustic.

Brian Robins

Haydn Sinfonietta Wien, Manfred Huss
67:20
BIS-2218 CD

[dropcap]M[/dropcap]y experience with this disc is a cautionary tale. I first listened to K 199 in G (No. 27) and K 338 in C (No 34) in relaxed mood rather than critical mode late one evening, finding my overall impression of the performances was not particularly sympathetic. There appeared to be an overall lack of charm and affection, with quicker tempos often sounding too hard driven. Listening critically in the cold light of day with scores to hand produced quite a different impression. Yes, there are times when I still find a movement over pressed – the last movement of K 134 in A (No. 21) is a case in point – but overall there are positives that for me certainly cast the performances in a new light.

Before investigating these positive qualities, a few observations regarding the works. The earliest, K 134 dates from the summer of 1772, is scored for a pairs of flutes and horns, and strings. As befits its key, the flute-inflected music bathes in the warm glow of a pastoral dawn or in its Minuet a bucolic country-dance. K 199 was written in the spring of the following year and has the same scoring but quite a different character. At is heart is a deliciously delicate Andantino grazioso, the scoring for muted violins, pizzicato violas and bass creating a soft bed that allows the flutes to weave nocturnal magic. K 338, the last symphony Mozart wrote before leaving Salzburg for Vienna, is conceived on a different scale altogether. Composed in 1780, it features the full festive scoring including trumpets and timpani associated with the key of C. As is often the case, the missing minuet is replaced with the Minuetto, K 409, which Manfred Huss’ note argues might have been Mozart’s intention, though Neal Zaslaw (in his book on the symphonies) argues against the theory, convincingly in my view given that the Minuetto calls for two flutes, not included in the symphony’s scoring. It is perhaps worth noting at this point that Huss observes every repeat and that he employs a fortepiano continuo in the C-major Symphony. I could not detect any continuo in the two earlier symphonies and the use of fortepiano (rather than harpsichord) in K 338 seems to me highly questionable.

So what changed my mind about the performances? I think above all it is Huss’ obviously superb ear for balance and texture, enabling a clear distinction between first and second violins, and giving unusual clarity to the viola line. In addition I would add the acute observation of dynamics and accent markings that allows, for example, the difference between Mozart’s wedge and dotted accents to be heard. I’ve already mentioned the entrancing sound world of the Andantino of K134, its spell unquestionably in part created by the exquisite balance achieved by Huss, aided it must be added by splendid playing, an encomium that also serves for the remainder of the CD. Also impressive is the way in which the conductor leaves us in no doubt that with K 344 Mozart was leaving behind the Italianate galant style of so many of the early symphonies. From the outset this is a big, bold performance, the grandeur and scale of the opening coming as quite a shock after the earlier symphonies. It’s a performance full of strength and a muscular energy that reminds us that the rich grandeur of Idomeneo  was only months ahead. The recording, made in two different locations, enhances the benefits of Huss’ fine ear with sound of forensic clarity.

Brian Robins