Tag: Orchestral music

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The Grand Mogul

The Grand Mogul Vivaldi Barthold Kuijken CD cover

Virtuosic Baroque Flute Concertos
Barthold Kuijken, Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra
65:27
Naxos 8.573899

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‘Il Gran Mogul’, the title which Vivaldi gave to his flute concerto RV431a and similarly to his RV208 Violin Concerto ‘Il Grosso Mogul’, and which in turn is borrowed for this CD of virtuoso flute concertos, is something of a mystery. There are no perceptible hints of eastern musical flavours, and the Mogul may simply refer to the ostentatious nature of the solo parts in both concerti. As such, it is a suitable epithet for this collection of showy flute concerti by Michel Blavet, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Jean-Marie Leclair and Georg Philipp Telemann, all of whom contributed significantly to the new Baroque sensation, the solo concerto. It is fascinating to hear the distinctly ‘national’ flavours of these Italian, French and German concertos. As Barthold Kuijken makes clear in his excellent programme note, many of the composers didn’t seem to care particularly for the difficulties they created for their flautists – in some cases, the flute is just one of the options suggested for the solo instrument – and some passages are particularly challenging and even unidiomatic. Of all the composers represented here, only Blavet actually played the flute, and the finale of his A-minor concerto reaches considerable heights of virtuosity. Fortunately, Kuijken on his one-keyed Rottenburgh copy Baroque flute makes light work of even the most demanding writing, whether idiomatic or not. One of the musically gifted Kuijken family who dominated the early music scene in the 1980s, Barthold is both a stunning technician and a fine musician and is ably supported here by the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, who produce a wonderfully light, nimble sound, playing one to a part.

D. James Ross

D. James Ross

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Locatelli: L’Arte del Violino Op. III

Locatelli op 3 Diego Conti CD cover

Diego Conti, Gli Archi di Firenze
212:04 (3 CDs in a card triptych)
Tactus TC 691280

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This comprehensive 3-CD set presents the twelve violin concertos of Locatelli’s op111 Art of the Violin recorded in a variety of venues over a period of ten years from 1988 to 1998 by Diego Conti and Gli Archi di Firenzi. Locatelli was one of a handful of violin virtuosi who completely revolutionised the musical world of the 18th century, and his 24 eye-wateringly virtuosic capriccii ad libitum published along with the concerti serve as cadenzas. From the outset, Diego Conti’s sparkling and showy playing seems to summon the ghost of Locatelli, and, if the liberties he takes with tempo must have driven his Archi di Firenze to near distraction over the years, I am quite sure that the flamboyant Locatelli would have done exactly the same! It is of course in the wild capriccii that Conti’s full virtuosity is put to the test, and he comes out of these with flying colours. If the playing of the ensemble sounds a little lacklustre by comparison, this is maybe inevitable and perhaps even part of Locatelli’s original design. Of all the achievements of HIP performers over the years, I find the recreation of the music of these violin virtuosi perhaps the most revelatory and remarkable – to master a period instrument, bow and technique so thoroughly as to be able to rival these extraordinary virtuosi of the past is truly amazing! If Locatelli’s capriccii never quite go in the direction you would expect, neither did his life – having spent his career doing the unexpected, he then retired to Amsterdam in his mid-twenties in mid-career and seemed satisfied with a life of luxurious solitude, enjoying the financial fruits of his previous concert life and his publications. 

D. James Ross

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The Early Horn

Ursula Paludin Monberg, Arcangelo, The Early Horn CD cover

Ursula Paludan Monberg, Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen
78;32
hyperion CDA68289
Music by Graun, Haydn, L & W A Mozart, Telemann & anon

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After dropping apparently fully-formed into its role as an orchestral instrument in Handel’s Water Music, the horn very soon became an indispensable part of the Baroque and Classical orchestra. This CD explores its parallel pivotal role in 18th-century chamber music and illustrates how quickly composers cottoned on to the horn’s musical potential, while at the same time the technical developments instigated by players extended the instrument’s range. The opening track is a beautiful sinfonia da camera for horn and strings by Leopold Mozart, while a concerto and a trio by Graun, two anonymous Concerti from a Swedish source, a concerto by Telemann, a divertimento by Haydn and the E-flat-major horn quintet by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart all chart the horn’s development from Baroque to Classical instrument. The music selected for this CD shares the feature of being delightfully entertaining, while the anonymous concerti for horn, oboe d’amore and continuo and for horn, two oboes and continuo are particularly charming. The concerto for recorder, horn and continuo by Telemann is also predictably accomplished and engaging. Playing a wonderfully coiled Baroque horn, Ursula Paludin Monberg produces a beautifully rounded tone and displays a consummate playing technique. She is ably supported by the players of Arcangelo directed from the harpsichord by Jonathan Cohen. There is a wonderful inevitability about the thoroughly classical strains of the familiar Mozart quintet (K407) with which the CD concludes – we feel we have been informatively conducted from the horn’s early years in serious music to one of the pinnacles of the repertoire.

D. James Ross

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Welcome home, Mr Dubourg!

Irish Baroque Orchestra, Peter Whelan CD cover

Irish Baroque Orchestra, Peter Whelan
60:58
Linn Records CKD 532

The music of Matthew Dubourg is a genuine discovery, and one still in the making. This timely CD provides a useful taster of what scholarship may be able to salvage in the future. A contemporary and associate of Handel, nowadays chiefly known for his association with the latter’s visits to Dublin, Dubourg was in his day an admired violin virtuoso and composer in his own right. Opening with the spectacular ‘Hibernia’s Sons your voices raise’ from the Ode for Dublin Castle 1753, the CD goes on to supply Dubourg’s only surviving violin concerto and movements from other Dublin Castle Odes as well as a concerto for two violins by Vivaldi and Corelli’s violin sonata op 5 no 9, provided with quirky ornamentation by Dubourg. Interspersed among these larger works are charming small traditional Irish pieces which Dubourg either wrote down or arranged. Along with an excellent line-up of soloists, The Irish Baroque Orchestra provide energetic and evocative performances of this unfamiliar repertoire – Dubourg was clearly influenced by the music of Handel, but inflections also find their way from the traditional music he clearly loved and appreciated into his more formal compositions. It seems extraordinary that this substantial body of music by a talented local composer has escaped the attention of Irish musicologists until now, and they have their work cut out for them now reconstructing the Odes and other music from fragmentary sources. Only then will we be able truly to evaluate Dubourg’s oeuvre. The title of the CD comes from an incident when Dubourg was playing for Handel and after a particularly wayward cadenza, Handel is supposed to have shouted, ‘Welcome home, Mr Dubourg!’ I have heard the same anecdote applied to Handel’s favourite soprano Mrs Cibber – it is a mark of Dubourg’s undeserved obscurity, that it has perhaps been felt expedient to transfer this anecdote from the forgotten violin virtuoso to the more familiar soprano whose reputation has fared better in our own times! The event is touchingly evoked at the end of the CD when violinist Sophie Ghent ‘goes off on one’ and is welcomed back home by Mr Handel!

D. James Ross

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Haydn: Organ Concertos

Haydn Organ Concertos Quinn Gent Arcangelo Cohen Chandos CD cover

Iain Quinn organ, Sophie Gent violin, Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen
69:41
Chandos CHAN 20118

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These works date mainly from early in Haydn’s career and were probably written for performance at Esterházy. The modest demands on the organ, just manuals not pedals, mean that the works are all eminently playable on the harpsichord or fortepiano, although the pieces recorded here sound nicely at home on the organ. Particularly charming is a concerto Hob. XVIII:6 for violin, organ and strings in which the two soloists share the spotlight very equally. As the programme note suggests the plausible total of six concertos for organ by Haydn, it is odd that while we have three recorded here, a fourth is available for download – surely we were looking at a potential double album with all the concerti? Arcangelo play modern instruments, although the strings are gut-strung and the bowing and phrasing are of the period. Although this music is very affable, as with much early Haydn I’m afraid I find it rather bland and notwithstanding fine playing from the soloists and the ensemble I found myself drifting off. Lovers of Haydn’s music will warm to this more than I did, and it does fill a useful gap for me in my appreciation of the composer’s early output.

D. James Ross

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Mendelssohn: String Symphonies Vol. 3

Cover of cpo CD Mendelssohn string symphonies vol. 3

Margot Oitzinger, L’Orfeo Barockorchester, Michi Gaigg
68:58
cpo 555 202-2

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For many years Mendelssohn’s ‘string symphonies’ were dismissed as juvenilia, but in the case of a prodigious genius like Mendelssohn one should be wary of dismissing anything on the grounds of youth. Once they were more frequently performed and recorded, it became apparent that these are as remarkable as much of the composer’s other youthful projects. In these sizzling period instrument recordings the Orfeo Baroque Orchestra take this process of rehabilitation a stage further, bringing out the subtleties of works which turn out to be much richer and more dynamic than hitherto suspected. Bearing in mind the domestic context of their original performance, they use reduced forces (particularly at the lower end) allowing the light to fall on the highly innovative textures the young composer conjures up – take for example the opening section of the slow movement of the 8th symphony where a solo ensemble of violas and cello gives the music the texture of a lugubrious Romantic concerto grosso. Relying on accounts of the initial performances as well as common sense, these versions include a fortepiano playing a sort of continuo. This is highly plausible and in practice utterly convincing. This third volume in what looks like a projected complete account of the string symphonies presents the 8th and 9th symphonies, and as a delightful bonus the substantial Scene for alto and string orchestra ‘Ce vuoi mio cor’ MNV H1, sung expressively and dramatically by Margot Oitzinger. As fascinating as the demanding vocal part are the textures of the string accompaniment. It is exciting to see this music, composed for family matinee concerts chez Mendelssohn around 1825, being taken a little more seriously, and being given thoughtful and technically polished period instrument performances. As they branch out so successfully into the music of the 19th century, is this a group trapped slightly in its over-specific name?

D. James Ross

 

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Veracini: Overtures & Concerti Vol. 2

Cover of cpo Veracini CD vol. 2

L’Arte dell’Arco, Federico Guglielmo
56:22
cpo 555 220-2

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A slightly younger contemporary of Bach and Handel and younger still than Telemann, Veracini has always seemed to me to invite comparison with the last. Always imaginative and influenced by a range of musical styles, he appears however to lack the final spark of genius which Telemann displays. In fact, Veracini belongs to a whole separate tradition of the travelling violinist virtuoso composer, and both the flamboyance of the composer and the instability of the career are underlined by an anecdote relating how Veracini broke his leg by throwing himself out of a window while on tour. The composer’s more extravagant nature is most in evidence in the two sonatas for violin and continuo recorded here. The D major violin concerto is also a sparkling affair in the post-Vivaldi mode, with lots of virtuosic demands placed upon the soloist. Federico Guglielmo is an able and expressive soloist as well as directing the ensemble extremely effectively. So the present CD offers an interesting cross-section of Veracini’s output, with one major reservation. It is recorded in the Gabinetto di Lettura in Este, and sadly it sounds as if it was recorded in an actual cabinet – the ambience is startlingly immediate, brittle and dead. This an enormous shame as the performances sound really persuasive and technically impressive, but with such a dead acoustic this is not a relaxing listen.

D. James Ross 

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Handel: Concerti grossi Op. 6 (7-12)

Akamus Handel op 6 CD cover

Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Bernhard Forck
80:29
Pentatone PIC 5186 738

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When I was a child the first vinyl boxed set I bought was the famous Decca recording of Handel’s opp. 3 and 6 by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields – I recently ‘rebought’ it on CD and found to my delight that it stood up very well to the passage of time, with some extremely elegant and unfussy string playing and some deeply funky continuo playing from non other than Thurston Dart. As it happens, my absolute favourite concerto in the set is number 7 with its ‘fugue on one note’, and this new recording of the second half of the set opens of course with this concerto. Although it is the composer’s opus 6, he was already 54 when it went to print – he chose the low opus number with his publisher Walsh to encourage obvious comparisons with Corelli’s op 6 Concerti grosso. Dating as they do from his late middle age, they contain a wealth of material recycled from other pieces as well as music he would go on to ‘repurpose’, and as such they make a superb introduction to the musical world of the composer. So I love the music, but did I love this recording? I liked its crispness in the faster movements and its lyricism in the slower ones, and the playing is never less than polished and elegant. Compared to the ASMF accounts, the slow movements fairly race along, but this is in line with current thinking and the music never sounds perfunctory. If I appear to be almost damning with faint praise, that is probably unfair, but if you record Handel’s op 6 concerti these days you need to have something special to say about the music, and I’m not sure that the present performers have. At the moment, my favourite modern period instrument performance is the 2008 account on BIS by Martin Gester’s Arte dei Suonatori, a beautifully poised and thought-through account of the complete op 6. Would I replace this with the present recording? – I’m afraid not.

D. James Ross

 

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Quantz: Flute Concertos

Cover for resonus Quantz CD

Greg Dikmans flute, Lucinda Moon violin, Elysium Ensemble
70:37
resonus RES10252

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It is important to note that the great theoretician of the Baroque flute, Quantz, author of the seminal Versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte transversiere zu spielen (1752), much consulted by modern period instrument flautists, was also a very fine player himself as well as a talented composer. Quantz lives and breathes the galant (or empfindsam) style, and this sensibility in conjunction with his expertise on the flute produced works, which seem utterly redolent of the mid-eighteenth century. The Elysium Ensemble are entirely in tune with this sensibility, and they give wonderfully eloquent accounts of three of Quantz’s concerti with, as the programme note states it, ‘a bonus slow movement’, the beguiling Cantabile e frezzante QV 5:116. Played on muted strings and with ‘fizzing’ ornamentation, this charming ‘bonus’ in many ways sums up the group’s approach to Quantz’s music generally. A strong sense of melodic line is enhanced by deliciously appropriate ornamentation, while the wonderful sense of ensemble evokes perfectly the original performances of this music by Quantz himself and his colleagues at the Potsdam court. If ever an argument for one-to-a-part performances of concerti were needed, it is here in spades. In addition to providing some exemplary Baroque flute playing, intelligent and deeply moving, Greg Dikmans also supplies a very erudite programme note, which concentrates on applying Quantz’s theories of playing to his own music, while astutely leaving the biographical details to the group’s website.

D. James Ross

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Baroque

Cover of a box of CDs of Baroque music

Amsterdam Bach Soloists, Capella Tibernia, Collegium Pro Musica, Concerto Köln, Ensemble Arte Musica, Ensemble Cordevento, Ensemble Violini Capricciosi, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Insieme Strumentale di Roma, L’Arte dell’Arco, Musica ad Rhenum, Musica Amphion, Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin, St Christopher Chamber Orchestra, Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Virtuosi Saxoniae
25 CDs
Brilliant Classics 95886

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Doubtless there will have been some raised eyebrows while reading the “cast list” of this collection of music that includes discs dedicated to (in numerical order!) Albinoni (1), Bach (2-5), Corelli (6-7), Couperin (8-9), Handel (10-12), Locatelli (13-14), Marcello (15), Purcell (16), the Sammartinis (17), Alessandro Scarlatti (18), Telemann (20-22) and Vivaldi (23-25). My random selections (literally picked blind) were some truly lively and engaging accounts of Corelli’s op. 6 concerti from 2004 by Musica Amphion under Pieter-Jan Belder (7), an equally enjoyable disc of Marcello (proving that the ubiquitous oboe concerto is far from the only nice piece he wrote) by the Insieme Strumentale di Roma (10), a rather confusing disc of Bach violin concertos in which the stylish (earlier) recordings by the Amsterdam Bach Soloists were followed by a (later) rather stodgy account of BWV1043 with the Leipzig Gewandhaus (4) and, finally, Concerto Köln’s version of Handel’s Water Music in which the brass players seemed to be competing for the title of “Most Audicious Ornamenter”. I can see how a set like this might be useful for libraries or for school teachers who want to introduce children to baroque music, but it is something of a curate’s egg; the word “instrumental” might usefully have been deployed on the exterior of the box, too, since there is no vocal music in the set at all.

Brian Clark