Tag: Classical

François Fernandez violin, Boyan Vodenitcharov fortepiano
62:39
Flora 0906
K303, 360, 378 & 454

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his is a delightful disc, featuring three beautiful sonatas dating from between 1778 and 1784 and a set of Variations from 1781. The balance between the two instruments is skilfully handled, with the violin rightly slightly subservient to the keyboard, but not necessarily simply by playing quietly, rather by using different colours for different sections of the music. Fernandez and Vodenitcharov are perfect partners in this repertoire, and I hope that the Flora archives will be found to have recordings of them playing Beethoven and even Mendelssohn, so that we can trace the history of the classical “violin sonata”, now that we have these characterful renditions of Mozart’s finest works. There is not quite the same sense of spontaneity in the watershed recordings by Rachel Podger and Gary Cooper, but there is definitely poise and pathos (try the Largo opening of KV454, for example), and a definite inclination to explore all of the colours of Mozart’s darker side.

Brian Clark

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Miklós Spányi clavichord
75:30
BIS-2046 CD
Wq52/4–6, 65/47 & 49 [H37, 163, 129, 248 & 298]

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n this, volume 29 of the BIS complete C.P.E. Bach keyboard series, Miklós Spányi makes a strong case for the clavichord, both in his playing and in the useful sleeve notes. He gets a wide range of dynamics and articulation, and the recording quality is excellent, picking up every nuance. The five sonatas in this volume come from a range of periods: there is one early one from the 1740s (Wq 52/4), two from the middle period and two late sonatas. The most impressive is that in E minor, composed in Zerbst in 1758 (Wq 52/6), a classic combination of CPE Bach’s control of extended structures with very quirky moments. Spányi plays on a copy by Joris Potvlieghe of a 1785 clavichord by Gottfried Joseph Horn of Dresden, now in the Leipzig Musikinstrumentenmuseum. These are very persuasive accounts and contrast well with similar works recently recorded on the pianoforte by Riccardo Cecchetti.

Noel O’Regan

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Marcin Świątkiewicz hpscd, Arte dei Suonatori
127:10 (2 CDs)
BIS-2179 CD

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]was very impressed by the playing of this young Polish harpschordist when he recently accompanied Rachel Podger for the Georgian Concert Society in Edinburgh and these two CDs confirm him as a formidable talent. He plays on a copy by Christian Fuchs of a 1624 Johannes Ruckers harpsichord which works well in this music. Müthel was a German organist and chamber musician who as a young man visited J.S. Bach in the last year of the latter’s life, on an educational tour which also saw him visit Telemann and C.P.E. Bach. He moved to Riga where he spent most of his life, earning praise from Herder. His concertos provide some fascinating and very attractive music with a considerable part for the keyboard and lots of dialogue between soloist and ensemble. The ensemble playing by the Polish Arte dei Suonatori ensemble is stylistic and supportive, leading to some exhilarating performances. The recording balance is eccellent, allowing the listener to hear every detail of the harpsichord playing. These concertos deserve to be much better known.
Noel O’Regan

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La Chapelle Royale, Collegium Vocale Gent, Orchestre des Champs-Elysées, Philippe Herreweghe
60:19
harmonia mundi HMG 501393 (© 1992)
+ Meistermusik K. 477 (479a)

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]lthough this performance has aged well, for me it still lags behind the Eliot Gardiner version. Unusually for a Herreweghe recording, I was aware of a little too much micro-management, especially at cadences. As you would expect, the vocal and instrumental forces are first rate; to wrong an unpardonable oversight in the packaging (as far as I can see, at least), the four soloists are Christiane Oelze, Jennifer Larmore, Scott Weir and Peter Kooy (spellings from the cover of the original release).

Brian Clark

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Riccardo Cecchetti fortepiano
67:51
Challenge Classics CC72666
Wq 55:5, 57:3, 4 & 6, 59:1, 5, & 6

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he phrase ‘sense and sensibility’ in the title is a very appropriate description of the playing here, as well as of the music. Cecchetti performs three mature sonatas, together with two Fantasias and a Rondo, with great sensitivity of feeling and of touch. In the same way as Miklos Spányi exploits the clavichord’s resources in his recent recording (read it here), Cecchetti exploits the fortepiano’s potential to the full as an equally strong instrument of choice for C. P. E. Bach’ music. He plays on an anonymous German fortepiano of 1785 from the Edwin Beunk Collection, built in the same year as the clavichord used by Spányi for his recording. There are no common sonatas between the two recordings but comparison is still intriguing, with Cecchetti less percussive and more flexible rhythmically. The sleeve notes here are a bit general and do not provide information on the specific sonatas played. Very fine playing and shows a deep understanding of C. P. E. Bach’s idiom.

Noel O’Regan

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Ensemble Resonanz, Riccardo Minasi
65:45
Es Dur ES 2053

[dropcap]B[/dropcap]ach’s six three-movement string symphonies represent the ultimate in the move from the Baroque, with its single mood (or affekt) within each movement, to the Pre-classical concept of depicting many short, contrasting motivic ideas in order to rapidly change the emotional experience of the listener within a short space of time. Here Minasi takes this concept to its ultimate limits, with wide-ranging dynamic contrasts and dramatic pauses. Ensemble Resonanz bridge that gap between period and ‘modern’ instruments while remaining as true as possible to the composer’s intentions. Such a repertoire taxes the most accomplished of players, and only very occasionally was I aware of some very slight imperfections in intonation from this ensemble, which did not detract from a pleasurable listening experience. ‘Pleasurable’, however, may not be the best choice of word, as these works demand intense and careful attention from the listener to fully appreciate the composer’s intentions. For they could never have been conceived, as so much music of the period was, as music to entertain the composer’s patron Baron van Swieten.

I knew the 3rd of these works particularly well, but never realised, until I read the excellent booklet notes, that the opening dramatic motif of it’s adagio spelt out ‘BACH’, followed by an E (for Emanuel)!

Ian Graham-Jones

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Kristian Bezuidenhout fortepiano
72:54
Harmonia Mundi HMU 907531
K.180, 264, 284, 310

[dropcap]K[/dropcap]ristian Bezuidenhout has already garnered many plaudits for his Mozart keyboard series and this latest volume continues the same exceptional level of engagement with the music. It combines two variation sets with two of the largest-scale of his earlier sonatas, showing the full range of the composer’s inspiration. Playing on a copy of an 1805 Walter piano by Paul McNulty, Bezuidenhout gets a particularly wide range of tone and dynamics which is always at the service of the music, showing beautiful control of that tone throughout and avoiding any harshness. I particularly appreciated his ability to separate the two hands in slower cantabile sections, as well as the absolute rhythmic precision he brings to faster ones. His playing is always intelligent, revealing the different structural levels in the music very clearly, while always allowing time for Mozart’s rhetorical and topic-based gestures to come through. The recording quality is excellent, clean and warm, and the CD is completed by some highly informative sleeve notes by John Irving. An outstanding recording.

Noel O’Regan

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