Pisendel: Dresden Concertos - Müllejans, FBO, von der Goltz

Johann Georg Pisendel
Dresden Concertos
Petra Müllejans, Freiburger Barockorchester, Gottfried von der Goltz
Carus 83.301

A number of recent recordings--mostly from the Carus label--have focused long-deserved attention on the music and composers who helped make Dresden and its court orchestra the musical envy of Europe during the first half of the 18th century. Names such as Heinichen, Zelenka, and Hasse join with Johann Pisendel as part of an illustrious band of resident musicians who besides their compositional activities served in various influential positions, from Court Kapellmeister (Heinichen, Hasse) to orchestra concert master (Pisendel) and double bass player (Zelenka). Pisendel’s works, relatively few in number and all of it instrumental, are exemplified by his orchestral pieces that today are called “concertos” but actually reflect a structure more akin to Bach’s Brandenburgs than to any of Vivaldi’s similarly identified works. That is, they are--with a few exceptions--“concertos for several instruments” rather than showcases for a single soloist.

However, musically speaking, the melodic and rhythmic writing is clearly in the straightforward idiom of Vivaldi rather than the more texturally and structurally complex mode of Bach. This feature is so pronounced that early in the first track, a Concerto in G for winds and strings, you’ll be inclined to guess (correctly) that this guy must have studied with the Italian master. But just when you think you’ve got Pisendel pegged, you find yourself in the middle of his Fantasie, Imitation des Caractères de la Danse, a six-and-one-half-minute multi-sectional work whose quickly paced, delightful series of dances indeed captures a decidedly French Baroque flavor (with a Passepied movement that sounds like a refugee from the Nutcracker’s second-act character dances!). And then there’s the lovely Handelian-style Largo in the midst of the Concerto in G minor--an outstanding work overall that has many nice moments for solo violin.

The highlight of the program has to be the three-movement Concerto in D for violin solo, two horns, two oboes, bassoon, and strings. Not only does the violin have some outstanding music to play (especially in the Andante), but so do the horns and winds, amounting to a truly engaging masterpiece that warrants more serious attention by chamber groups. The horns have even more chance to shine on the disc’s final track, another Concerto in D, this time a single Allegro movement, joined by flutes, oboes, bassoon, and strings. The performers, notably the two violin soloists (Petra Müllejans and Gottfried von der Goltz) and horn players (Teunis van der Zwart and Erwin Wieringa), are excellent; the ensemble, as we’ve come to expect, is absolutely world-class. The sound is vibrant and detailed, allowing the horns a delicious bite and the strings a reedy warmth. Baroque orchestra fans shouldn’t miss this one.

David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com