Bach: Violin Concertos - Grumiaux, Holliger, Krebbers

Johann Sebastian Bach
Violin Concertos 1041-1042, Double Concertos 1060-1043
Grumiaux, Holliger, Krebbers, Les Solistes Romands, Gerecz, New Philharmonic Orchestra, de Waart
Decca 420 700-2

This is a must for all Bach admirers. I first encountered these performances when I was about fifteen years old - my parents had the vinyl disc (which, incidentally, did not include the concerto for violin and oboe, added here as a bonus & featuring Heinz Holliger). At that time, baroque music did not appeal to me very much, but somehow the seeds were sown... and after a few years of more or less involuntary exposure, I found myself falling head over heels in love with this music.

As always, Grumiaux's playing is a perfect delight for the ear - he seemed to have an uncanny ability to find just the right balance between classical restraint and romantic expressiveness, which suits this music very well indeed. The slow movements (particularly that of the E minor concerto) emerge as some of the most beautiful music ever written, filled with a sense of nobility and wonder; whilst the allegros are spun off with tremendous verve. For the double concerto, Grumiaux is joined by Hermann Krebbers, and the interplay between the two could hardly have been more perfect, especially in the finale which gathers enough forward momentum to leave your mind reeling long after the last chords have faded.

The recording comes from the late seventies, and has a kind of warm, wooden sonority to it that brings to mind a mature, full-bodied wine - and, if I'm allowed to extend the analogy, these performances are of a quality vintage that only seems to get better and better with age. Plus that they are at their best when enjoyed in good company!

All in all, a desert island disc if ever there was one. Even if you have other versions, you should give Grumiaux a listen, as this is really exceptional.

Amazon customer

Fux: Il Fonte della Salute - Wiener Akademie, Haselböck

Johann Joseph Fux
Il Fonte della Salute
Wiener Akademie, Martin Haselböck
CPO 999 680-2

Sorry folks! No scans included for this one.
Worth downloading never the less of course.

This early German Baroque work is composed in what is known as the "sepolcro" tradition, which appears to be a cross between a Passion Play and an Oratorio. The characters are allegorical: Mercy, Justice, and Grace (who represent Christ), along with a Contrite Sinner, an Obstinate Sinner, and a Demon. The "dramatic tension", and I use the words as lightly as humanly possible, comes both from the Demon's attempts to seduce the stubborn sinner, who is still in the running for hell, and from the contrite sinner's support of the three allegorical ladies who are Christ's stand-ins. What we get is more than two hours of sparsely if beautifully accompanied recitative-aria-recitative-occasional duet or terzetto-recitative-aria.

I can't imagine a better sung performance of this work and it's still amazingly dull: The contrite sinner is gorgeously performed by countertenor Henning Voss; soprano Kumiko Koike's Grace is lovely and pure; Johannes Chum exhibits an agile, handsome tenor voice as the obstinate sinner; Wolfgang Bankl, in the difficult role of the Demon (he must tempt without seeming smarmy or evil) is excellent; and Linda Perillo's Mercy and Ann Monoyios' Justice are lovely traits. The orchestral playing is superb--graceful, crisp, and clean, with a nice pair of bassoons--and the recording is ideal.

The flaws therefore must lie with the music itself--which is dreary as only allegorical, liturgical, early German Baroque music can be--and, moreso, the dead-in-the-water leadership of Martin Haselbock, who probably could have enlivened the proceedings but opted to buy into its piety rather than its "theatricality", be that as it may. And so, an oddity, an historical footnote, mainly for historians and those sorrowful, devout folk who like deep, gloomy, thought-pieces. Sorry--sad, but true.

Robert Levine, Classics Today.com

Manfredini: 12 Concerti Op.3 - Les Amis de Philippe, Remy

Francesco Manfredini
12 Concerti Op.3
Les Amis de Philippe, Ludger Rémy
CPO 999 638-2

Remy präsentiert Manfredini als einen spätbarocken Komponisten voller Phantasie und Originalität. Einen besseren Dienst kann man Manfredini nicht erweisen." Der Standard Wien: "Virtuosität in den Soli, die mitunter wie irrwitzig über Harmonien huschen, dazu markante Themen, die einem Vivaldi alle Ehre machten und eine mediterrane Sinnlichkeit zeichnen Manfredini aus - alles Qualitäten, die Remy enthusiastisch aus diesen wieder entdeckten Raritäten zaubert. Exzellenter, feinsinniger Klang." FonoForum 5 / 2000: "Sinnlich und sehr temperamentvoll interpretiert." Concerto: "Werke, die auch heute noch zu begeistern vermögen." HC Robbins Landon: "Excellent performances.

Albinoni: Complete Concertos Op. 5 & 7 - I Musici, Carmirelli

Tomaso Albinoni
Complete Concertos Op. 5 & 7
I Musici, Carmirelli, Berlin Chamber Orchestra, Negri
Philips 464 052-2


For my music friend Alekhno. And everyone else...

Boyce: The Eight Symphonies - I Solisti di Zagreb, Janigro

William Boyce
The Eight Symphonies
I Solisti di Zagreb, Antonio Janigro
Vanguard Classics 08 2037 71

Same same... But different!

Boyce: The Eight Symphonies - English String Orchestra

William Boyce
The Eight Symphonies
English String Orchestra, William Boughton
Nimbus Records NI 5345

“... well crafted, tuneful and engaging” Billboard Magazine

Boyce: Eight Symphonies, Op.2 - Mallon, Aradia Ensemble

William Boyce
Eight Symphonies, Op.2
Kevin Mallon, Aradia Ensemble
Naxos 8.557278

William Boyce's eight Op. 2 symphonies have been fairly well treated on disc--versions by Pinnock (Archiv), Marriner (Capriccio), Boughton (Nimbus), and Ronald Thomas (CRD) have long satisfied both period- and modern-instrument fans--but it's been about 10 years since anyone's had a go at these very fine and enormously appealing exemplars of 18th-century English style, albeit in the manner of Handel's theatrical works. In fact, casual listeners would be forgiven for believing these relatively short, tuneful, rhythmically buoyant, skillfully scored pieces were from the pen of George Frederic himself. These so-called "symphonies", three-movement works most of which are cobbled from Boyce's stage compositions, are so ingratiating and melodically ear-catching that it's a wonder they aren't more common to concert programs. And certainly, if you're looking for a recording that shows these symphonies at their best, this one should be your first choice, as the vibrant sound, clean articulation, apt dynamic contrasts, and lively rhythms combine to make these performances both irresistible and worthy of many repeats. Kevin Mallon's Aradia Ensemble executes these pieces as well as we can imagine, and the sound places us in an ideal listening perspective. If you like Handel and you don't know these pieces, don't hesitate.

David Vernier, Classics Today.com

Boyce: Symphonies Op.2 - AAM, Christopher Hogwood

William Boyce
Symphonies Op.2
Christopher Hogwood, The Academy of Ancient Music
L'Oiseau-Lyre 436 761-2

I think I might have borrowed a couple of the scans from somewhere but unfortunately I forgot from where and who.

The Boyce Eight Symphonys (as he himself spelt the title) are one of the treasures of English eighteenth-century music, cheerful, unassuming and confident, full of good tunes, and typically English in the heterodoxy of their style—their quirky lines, their refusal to follow the regular procedures, their mixture of baroque and classical features, with their fugues declining to remain fugal, their very un-French French overtures: all this is part of their particular charm. These pieces started life as overtures, to stage works or to odes, and Boyce later collected them for publication as concert pieces. Some years ago, Trevor Pinnock and The English Concert made an excellent recording which I thought unlikely to be surpassed; but I'm not sure that this new one isn't even better. It is certainly different, in several ways.

Christopher Hogwood gives a great deal of attention to the textural depth of the music, and you hear a good deal more of inner detail; Pinnock rather favours a breezier approach, with more concentration on the melodic line and the momentum. And while Pinnock's performances have a lot of energy and spontaneity, Hogwood's are a good deal more thoughtful and more attentive to detail. He shapes the cadences with considerable care, for example in the first movement of No. 2 or the Gavotte of No. 5. The inspiriting first movement of No. 4 receives a particularly delightful performance, rich and solid, with a happy sense of the music's logic; and Hogwood catches the eccentric character of the music well, for example in the curious M'oderaio movement at the middle of No. 7 or in the odd little Vivace at the centre of No. 3. Vivace in these pieces signifies a slowish movement, but I fancy Hogwood overdoes it slightly in the middle movement of No. 4, which is surely a bit heavy-footed. All the fugal movements go well, done with vitality and a feeling for their logic.

If you already have the Pinnock version, you may safely remain content; if not, however, the new one should certainly be considered, for, at a very modest sacrifice of freshness, you do have readings that go just a shade deeper, with no want of spirit.

SS, Gramophon.net

Boyce: Symphonies Nos. 1-8 - Menuhin Festival Orchestra

William Boyce
Symphonies Nos. 1-8
Menuhin Festival Orchestra, Yehudi Menuhin
EMI 586 047-2

With so many competing performances at every price level why should you consider these 1971/72 performances under Yehudi Menuhin and the Menuhin Festival Orchestra? Indeed, it's difficult not to steer a prospective purchaser of the Boyce symphonies to the new recording on Naxos, which captures as much as any recording the wonderful upbeat spirit of this timelssly charming music. Perhaps the best answer is the inimitable and generally unique virtues of the Menuhin version among the multitude of Boyce symphonies available. We are fortunate that there are many fine versions, and this performance is also good enough to garner a full five stars, and so I make my plea so we not forget this fine achievement.

Menuhin's well-recorded performances (at Abbey Road) of these evergreen charmers offers a break from modern 'period' instrumental sound. While most modern performances of the Boyce symphonies wend their way through the eight works at over an hour, older versions were somewhat brisker. The excellent and universally praised Trevor Pinnock CD with The English Consort on DG, seeming from a very different musical venue, though only recorded a decade and half later in 1986, checks in at just about one hour, for example, while Menuhin moves through the eight symphonies about four minutes faster. I haven't timed my fifites monural recordings of the Boyce symphonies - these works quickly found a secure home among classical record buyers in the LP era - but I can't recall any of them slowing down quite as much as we do today. (I call this the Mahlex complex - the tendency of today's conductors to invest more and more detail into their performances by going slower.)

Between the earliest monorual versions and today's Digital CDs came several LP versions, including the Menuhin. Among these was a set by the outstanding Haydn conductor, Antonio Janigro, (see Janogro's fabulous Marie Therese and others on his Haydn set on Vanquard). Sadly, Janigro never connected with Boyce, and his CD is hopelessly out of touch with Boyce and English Barogue style. Running through at a little over 51 minutes, Janigro never seemed to find any traction or depth in the works. Around this time the largely forgotten Jorge Faerber led a real gem of a recording of the Boyce symphonies, an utterly charming happy-go-lucky performance with the Wurttemberg Chamber Orchestra of Heilbronn issued in America on the Turnabout label. Though far too fast for today's pundits, Faerber's remains one of the most ebullient of all the recorded versions. In such joyous celebratory music as these pieces of Boyce Faerber's way is certainly the ideal approach. Sadly, his version exists only in a poor CD transfer with exaggerated bass ruining everything.

Which leaves the Menuhin version above, with the Menuhin Festival Orchestra. It seems to have gotten lost in the musical shuffle taking place during the seventies academic revolt against bloated romanticized performances of Baroque music. Yet I like it more than most of the recent CD sets of the Boyce symphonies. There remains much for fans of Boyce to admire in these performances, and in particular qualities no longer present in today's performances of Boyce's symphonies. Apart from a wealth of fine elevated music-making, Mehuhin's wonderful humanism, a major feature of his best work, is readily apparent throughout the set. All this care and loving attention is given in the service of music derived from the 1760 set, compiled from the highlights of Boyce's large ouerve; pieces chosen for their vivacity, melodious charm, and distinquished part-writing.

Menuhin, who left us equally carefully presented efforts in the music of Handel, never short changes Boyce's variety and color; as might be expected in a group led by such a great solo violinist these performances give greater emphasis than any others to the graces of exquisite string playing. Moreover, Menuhin highlights the soloist to a far greater extent than any performances before or since, a feature of his manner especially striking in the slow movements, where the Arcadian philosophy of rural England sets off in slower sylvan mis-en-scene intermezzos against the riotous uptempo jigs and prestos of theater music from Boyce's own 18th century urban London.

Boyce's eight symphonies can be heard in modern versions, with a greater emphasis on the most up to date scholarship. However, this 1973 recording remains one of my favorites, especially for its originality and grace. If you already own a modern version such as the fine performances by Marriner or Pinnock, this Menuhin CD makes for a pleasureable change of pace. You can most easily hear the differences between the modern versions and the Menuhin group by samplying the slow movements, where really distinquished soloists can be heard playing what sounds like mini-concertos.

I like this version a lot, and play it, along with the Faerber, more often than any of my other Boyce symphony CDs. From my point of view, you can never have too much Champagne, nor too many versions of Boyce's wonderful music!

LP buffs should know that both the Menuhin and the Faerber are readily available as long playing records on the used market for a 'pittance'. Both gain enormously when played in their orignal format. The strings in the Menuhin are truly captivating, rich bewitching sounds largely suppressed in the CD dub.

Boyce: Symphonies, Op.2 - AAM, Christopher Hogwood

William Boyce
Symphonies, Op.2
The Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood
Decca 473 081-2

Assuming that this is another release of the same recording I found it fitting to add this Gramophone Magazine review:

The Boyce Eight Symphonys (as he himself spelt the title) are one of the treasures of English eighteenth-century music, cheerful, unassuming and confident, full of good tunes, and typically English in the heterodoxy of their style—their quirky lines, their refusal to follow the regular procedures, their mixture of baroque and classical features, with their fugues declining to remain fugal, their very un-French French overtures: all this is part of their particular charm. These pieces started life as overtures, to stage works or to odes, and Boyce later collected them for publication as concert pieces. Some years ago, Trevor Pinnock and The English Concert made an excellent recording which I thought unlikely to be surpassed; but I'm not sure that this new one isn't even better. It is certainly different, in several ways.

Christopher Hogwood gives a great deal of attention to the textural depth of the music, and you hear a good deal more of inner detail; Pinnock rather favours a breezier approach, with more concentration on the melodic line and the momentum. And while Pinnock's performances have a lot of energy and spontaneity, Hogwood's are a good deal more thoughtful and more attentive to detail. He shapes the cadences with considerable care, for example in the first movement of No. 2 or the Gavotte of No. 5. The inspiriting first movement of No. 4 receives a particularly delightful performance, rich and solid, with a happy sense of the music's logic; and Hogwood catches the eccentric character of the music well, for example in the curious M'oderaio movement at the middle of No. 7 or in the odd little Vivace at the centre of No. 3. Vivace in these pieces signifies a slowish movement, but I fancy Hogwood overdoes it slightly in the middle movement of No. 4, which is surely a bit heavy-footed. All the fugal movements go well, done with vitality and a feeling for their logic.

If you already have the Pinnock version, you may safely remain content; if not, however, the new one should certainly be considered, for, at a very modest sacrifice of freshness, you do have readings that go just a shade deeper, with no want of spirit.

SS, Gramophon.net

Boyce: The Eight Symphonies - Bournemouth Sinfonietta

William Boyce
The Eight Symphonies
Bournemouth Sinfonietta, Ronald Thomas
CRD 3356

William Boyce (1710-1779) was the successor to the English baroque musical tradition pioneered by the great Henry Purcell. Though sometimes overlooked, Boyce was an important composer whose symphonic works serve as the transition from the purely baroque styles of Vivaldi and Handel to the early classical style of Haydn. In the Eight Symphonies contained here, it is impossible to not be struck by Boyce's brilliant orchestrations, especially his use of woodwinds and the dramatic flourishes he gave to the trumpet and horn parts. Ronald Thomas and the Bournemouth Sinfonietta bring out these stylistic details in this beautifully delineated recording.

Jacob Anthony, MusicalHeritage.com

Boyce: Symphonies I-VIII - Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields

William Boyce
Symphonies I-VIII
Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Neville Marriner
Argo 417 824-2

Release Information
* William Boyce (1711-1779) was the leading English composer of the late Baroque, equally at home in church and theatre music.
* His 8 Symphonies of 1760 are characteristically tuneful and appealing works.

"Marriner treats these superb examples of English baroque to exhilarating performances, with the rhythmic subtleties in both fast and slow guaranteed to enchant ...the recording has plenty of ambience.” The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs

Johann Friedrich Fasch: Trios & Sonatas - Epoca Barocca

Johann Friedrich Fasch
Trios & Sonatas
Epoca Barocca
CPO 777 204-2

Nach ihren erfolgreichen Einspielungen der Werke von Heinichen und Schaffrath, widmet sich das Ensemble Epoca Barocca jetzt Johann Friedrich Fasch, dessen "Musique de chambre"-Qualität die Musiker in vorliegender Aufnahme hinreichend zur Geltung bringen.
1735 durfte sich die Hofkapelle in Darmstadt über einen Neuzugang freuen: den virtuosen Fagottist Christian Klotsch. In seinem Gepäck brachte er Abschriften von Sonaten mit, die aus der Feder des Zerbster Kapellmeisters Johann Friedrich Fasch stammten. Einige dieser Werke wurden für diese CD eingespielt. An allen Höfen schätzte man die Triosonaten und Quartette des Zerbster Hofkapellmeisters wie die kaum eines anderen Komponisten der Zeit. Die letztlich entscheidenden Anregungen in Faschs Leipziger Schuljahren verdankte er einem rührigen Studenten an der dortigen Universität: Georg Philipp Telemann. Die Nähe zur Kammermusik Telemanns, wie sie die Werke dieser Einspielung allenthalben zu erkennen geben, erklärt sich nach Faschs eigenem Bekenntnis daraus, dass er sich in Leipzig und auch später noch Telemanns Werke zum Vorbild nahm. Fasch schrieb seine bewunderte Kammermusik für die unterschiedlichsten instrumentalen Kombinationenen. Neben die traditionellen Instrumente höfischer Virtuosen des Barock, Geige und Gambe, traten damals auch Oboe und Fagott, zwei Instrumente, die ihren Siegeszug durch Europa gerade erst angetreten hatten. Gerade sie spielen in Faschs Trios und Quadros eine herausragende Rolle. Der Musiktheoretiker Johann Adolph Scheibe betitelte Faschs Quartette mit Oboen und Fagotten als ideales Muster der Gattung. Epoca Barocca zeigt erneut eine barocke Klangwelt mit vielfältigen Klangfarben, die Fasch in vielen Schattierungen einzusetzen wusste.

Jpc.de

Fasch: Concertos - Azzolini, Skuplik, La Stravaganza Köln

Johann Friedrich Fasch
Concertos
Azzolini, Skuplik, La Stravaganza Köln
CPO 777 015-2

In 1701 the 13-year-old Johann Friedrich Fasch and 20-year-old Georg Philippe Telemann arrived in Leipzig. Fasch's aim was to make a name for himself as a musician and Telemann intended to study law. Within a year, however, Telemann's roommate happened upon one of his amateur compositions and brought it to the attention of the mayor, who thought so highly of it that...well, you know the rest of the story. Fasch also did quite well for himself in Leipzig as one of Telemann's earliest and most outspoken disciples (even delighting in his occasional success in passing off one of his own compositions as Telemann's). Fasch continued to follow his mentor's lead and eventually formed a second Collegium Musicum in 1708 (Telemann established the first in 1702) that included such notable composer/musicians as Johann Heinichen, Gottfried Stölzel, and Johann Pisendel.

While Telemann's influence is more or less evident throughout this program, the opening 32-minute Overture in G major arguably is the most poignant if not egregiously shameless example of Fasch's debt to his mentor. Everything you'd expect from Telemann in one of his preferred forms (he wrote hundreds) is here, from the pomp and pageantry of the first-movement "Ouverture" to the skillful yet clearly allusive French-style pretensions that characterize all of the following movements.

The shorter, less-derivative Concertos that comprise the bulk of the program are much more interesting. For example, like Telemann, Fasch also frequently employed the bassoon in either solo or continuo roles, such as in the two Concertos in C and A major included here. In both, soloist Sergio Azzolini performs splendidly, with a pleasingly smooth, rich tone. Also offered is a stunning concerto in A major originally scored for bassoon, though Fasch later scrawled out the word "Fagotto" (bassoon) and substituted "Violino oblig." on the title page. Here Vivaldi's influence overwhelms Telemann's, with violin soloist Veronika Skuplik expertly negotiating the lively, boisterous displays in the outer movements and delivering an equally expressive yet more subtle, passionate rendering of the inordinately slow central adagio.

CPO's sound is excellent--well detailed with a convincingly life-like integration of the soloists with the ensemble. Christoph Lehmann and Azzolini's concise notes are informative and entertaining. Incidentally, after Leipzig Fasch's fame continued to grow, as did his originality--many observers believe that the harmonic and rhythmic vocabulary of his later orchestral works anticipated elements of Classicism that Haydn and Mozart would bring to fruition. However, the more conservative works offered on this program are often quite beautiful, and all enthusiasts of this period of Bach, Telemann, and their contemporaries will find much to enjoy here.

John Greene, ClassicsToday.com

Fasch: Cantatas - Accademia Daniel, Shalev Ad-El

Johann Friedrich Fasch
Cantatas
Klaus Mertens, Deborah York, Accademia Daniel, Ad-El
CPO 999 674-2

The Overture in D minor is one of Fasch's many overture-suites, yet not one of his more outstanding ones. The melodies are pretty much run-of-the-mill for the period (and all in the same key), and they aren't helped by their constricted arrangement for chalumeau, two oboes, bassoon, and strings. This feeling of confinement carries over into the vocal works as well, despite Klaus Mertens solid yet tender-voiced singing in Jauchzet dem Herrn and Laetatus sum (where he is ably partnered by Deborah York's beautiful soprano). Things liven up a bit in the Concerto in B-flat minor, joyfully realized by the Accademia Daniel under Shalev Ad-El's leadership, so that the final cantata Sanftes Brausen seems less wearisome after the break. Maybe I was expecting more after that excellent disc of Fasch Overture-suites on Berlin Classics a few months back, but this one's for serious Baroque fanciers only.

Victor Carr, Classics Today.com

Fasch: Ouvertüren - Concerto per due corni da caccia

Johann Friedrich Fasch
Ouvertüren - Concerto per due corni da caccia
Virtuosi Saxoniae, Ludwig Güttler
Berlin Classics 0021522BC

Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688-1758) was highly regarded by his contemporaries (J.S. Bach owned copies of his compositions), and although he was largely forgotten after his death his reputation began to recover during the early 20th century. Fasch is seen as an innovator whose move from fugal writing to thematic development foreshadowed the achievements of Haydn and Mozart. His Overture Suites, following in the style of Telemann, consist of an overture followed by the customary set of dances. However, Fasch invests his works with considerably more melodic richness and far superior orchestral coloring and variety. The irresistible sound of three flutes makes the D minor suite a delicious experience indeed, as do the beautiful melodies appointed by catchy rhythms. The B major suite is in a brighter mood, and the larger orchestra creates a slightly fuller sound picture. Here, as in the D minor suite, the changing orchestral palette keeps the dances continually captivating. A special treat is the tuneful and lively Concerto in D for two Corni da Caccia. Ludwig Güttler and Kurt Sandau play the unusual instrument, which sounds like a cross between a trumpet and French horn, with consummate skill and audible delight. The same can be said for Virtuosi Saxoniae which, under Güttler's direction, makes Fasch sound like he should be a household name. Berlin Classics' sound is demonstration class. This is baroque for everybody.

Victor Carr, ClassicsToday.com

CPE Bach: Symphonies For Hamburg - Solamente Naturali

Carl Philip Emanuel Bach
Symphonies For Hamburg
Solamente Naturali, Didier Talpain
Brilliant Classics 94042

This CD presents the 4 symphonies that Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach wrote during his stay in Hamburg. In these large-scale works the string section is extended with 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 horns and bassoon, instruments which are treated quasi solistically, so that one can almost speak of a Sinfonia Concertante. The musical language is clearly "Sturm und Drang", full of vehement dynamics and changes of sentiment, the fingerprint of this most famous son of Johann Sebastian. Brilliant performances on period instruments by Solamente Naturali, an exciting group of early music players from Bratislava. New recordings, extensive liner notes by specialist Didier Talpain.

Manfredini: Sei Sonate per due violini e basso continue

Francesco Manfredini
Sei Sonate per due violini e basso continue
Ensemble Orfei Farnesiani
Tactus TC 681301

Much has been written about Bologna greatness as a barycentre town of the European music culture but a historically detailed survey on its protagonists has not found its right dimension yet. A space enabling us to understand the total artistic reality of the second town of the Papal States in the field of its music wonders, from the end of the XVI till the middle of the XVIII century, showing how they can reproduce themselves in the wholeness of their main aspects: the town, seen both in the Court sphere and in the Church sovereignty, as a real developing laboratory and not as a simple storehouse anthology of practical examples. In this extraordinary shop the Bolognese school probably gives birth to the most extraordinary names of the middle baroque which finds in Laurenti, Degli Antonii, Torelli, Perti and Corelli its most authoritative witnesses. In this tradition the artistic parabola of Francesco Onofrio Manfredini (Pistoia, 1684 – there, 1762) outlines: he was the continuator of Giuseppe Torelli’s progressive aesthetics – the latter was the first master who put him in touch with the complex elaboration of the baroque instrumental music, in the same period in which in Rome Arcangelo Corelli’s and the Venice school’s stars, finding its absolute top with Antonio Vivaldi, shone more than ever.

CPE Bach: 4 Hamburg Sinfonias - Franz Liszt CO, János Rolla

Carl Philip Emanuel Bach
4 Hamburg Sinfonias
Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, János Rolla
Apex 2564 60349 2

No review currently available.
Please let me know if you find a one somewhere.

Corelli: Concerti Grossi Op.6 Volume II - Eu. Galante, Biondi

Arcangelo Corelli
Concerti Grossi Op.6 - Volume II
Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi
Opus111 OPS30-155

There is no shortage of recordings of Corelli’s celebrated and only set of Concerti grossi, Op. 6. Some favour large groups, others much smaller ones. Europa Galante inclines towards the latter category, with 12 players, in addition to the two violins and cello of the concertino, which provides the contrasting element. This is the second volume of the recorded set, containing Concertos Nos 7-12. Two of these, one of them the much-loved Christmas Concerto, are ostensibly in the serious da chiesa mould, while the four remaining pieces are concerti da camera with their closer identity to dance measures.

But often the dividing line between the two is blurred and the matter is, anyway, hardly of overriding importance. The playing is enjoyable for the most part, though I felt a lack of Corellian nobility and resonance in the Seventh and Eighth Concertos. The two concertino violinists ornament the music tastefully and spontaneously yet are inclined to overdo it with fussy arabesques, and in one or two of the slow movementsI felt an intrusive element of sentiment creeping in. I also found the spacious, reverberant recording acoustic is inappropriate to the modestly-sized band. A mixed pleasure.

Nicholas Anderson, BBC Music Magazine

Corelli: Concerti Grossi Op.6 Volume I - Eu. Galante, Biondi

Arcangelo Corelli:
Concerti Grossi Op.6 - Volume I
Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi
Opus111 OPS30-147

There are for most of us definitive interpretations of familiar works, some of them live, some recorded. We can never quite put them out of our minds when listening to further performances. For me, the definitive recorded version of the Corelli concertos remains Trevor Pinnock's; no one else has yet captured so well the spirit, and in particular the harmonic intensity, of these works. That said, Fabio Biondi and Europa Galante play with all the precision and virtuosity one could wish for. The concertino ornamentation is often daring, as are some of the tempos. They have opted to use a light, off-the-string bow stroke as the norm, which enables them to produce almost transparent textures. There are moments, as in the sprightly Allegro of the Christmas Concerto, when everyone seems to be playing on a single bow hair. Elsewhere, they achieve what I can only describe as a gently brushed effect in such movements as the Adagio of Concerto No. 4 or the first Allegro of No. 6. The harpsichord continuo playing of Ergio Ciomei and the cellist Maurizio Naddeo is exquisite throughout, and the organist Fabio Bonizzoli contributes artfully, here and there (for example, the Allegro of Concerto No. I and the Adagio of No. 12), to the concertino ensemble timbre.

However, Biondi and Europa Galante romp through these works, indulging here and there in a little well-placed ntbato, with seemingly hardly a glance at the harmony. For all their sophistication, and even wit, these performances fail to convey the dynamism crafted into the sequences and trills, the pathos of the suspensions, the engagement of the antiphonal and echo effects: elements central to Pinnock's interpretation. Certainly, the lightness of their preferred bowing would have hampered the projection of these elements, though one begins to suspect that they were never priorities. Where is the exhilarating joy of the opening Allegro of Concerto No. 4? Where is the passion of the slow movements? Without due attention to the harmony, these performances are, ultimately, deprived of drama and represent, at best, understated reflections of Corelli's flesh-and-blood music. The humanity of this music, fired by virtuosity, inspired a generation of concerto composers, most notable among them Handel. This quality is what, ideally, should inform readings of these works.

JAS, Gramophone.net

Barsanti: Concerti Grossi - Auser Musici, Ipata, Motzo

Francesco Barsanti
Concerti Grossi - Opera III
Auser Musici, Carlo Ipata, Attilo Motzo
Tactus TC 690201

Francesco Barsanti was one of the many extraordinary Italian instrumentalists – virtuosi and composers – who throughout the 18th century, travelling across the whole of Europe, contributed in a decisive way with their activity to the definitive success of instrumental music – in particular the sonata, the concerto and the symphony – and to the formation of an international language. Lucca, the town where he was born in 1690, seems to have been particularly rich in this kind of musician, going back even to earlier centuries: it is enough to remember, apart from Barsanti, Gioseffo and Francesco Guami (obviously for different types of instrumental music), Gio. Lorenzo Gregori (his name is linked to the first steps of the history of the concerto, but he worked only in Italy), Francesco Xaviero Geminiani (the greatest diffuser of Corelli’s works and style), Filippo Manfredi (another excellent violinist who besides performing in France and Spain, had a school in Italy, particularly in Genoa: it was probably due to one of his pupils that Niccolò Paganini gave his first concert at Lucca, where he then composed many of his masterpieces) and finally Luigi Boccherini, the worthy climax to such a long tradition.

La Folia - The Purcell Quartet, Robert Woolley

Corelli, Marais, Scarlatti, Vivaldi, CPE Bach, Geminiani
La Folia - Variations on a theme
The Purcell Quartet, Robert Woolley
Hyperion CDA 67035

The tune known as 'La Folia' has fascinated many composers since the seventeenth century. Portuguese in origin, the word means 'mad' or 'empty-headed' and until the 1670s it indicated a fast and noisy dance in which the participants seemed to be 'out of their minds'. By the end of the century a new, slower form had developed which threw the accent from the first beat on to the second every other bar and slightly adjusted the harmonic structure to form the perfect symmetry which inspired Corelli to use it in the twelfth of his Violin Sonatas, Op 5. That famous work further inspired Vivaldi, C P E Bach, Alessandro Scarlatti and other composers to write variations on 'La Folia' - including even Rachmaninov (though his 'Variations on a theme of Corelli' seem to indicate that he thought the tune was by that composer). This CD assembles 'La Folia'-inspired works by six composers, starting with the original Corelli Sonata and ending with Geminiani's orchestral arrangement of it. The C P E Bach and Scarlatti works are for solo keyboard. The six pieces are all taken from a series of earlier Hyperion CDs individually devoted to the respective composers.

The Hoffnung Festival of Music (1988)

This CD set was distilled from a 1988 gala at London's Royal Festival Hall by the Philharmonia Orchestra and a multitude of guests, all performing in a satiric salute to Gerard Hoffnung and the peculiar brand of classical music satire that the cartoonist and humorist devised in the 1950s.

It contained Reizenstein’s Concerto populare, which starts out with Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto in the orchestra while the pianist is wrestling with Grieg's. Not only are the themes intertwined but imaginative additional touches abound. On to Rachmaninov 2, Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, Addinsell’s Warsaw Concerto, Pop Goes the Weasel and Roll Out the Barrel, played in various styles, and back to the Tchaikovsky against the Grieg, except now piano and orchestra are transposed ...

And it included Malcolm Arnold's Grand, Grand Overture (dedicated to President Hoover), of which also the video of a recent performance is available here (illustrating the dedication more clearly than the audio-only version).

Venezia: a sampler

Various composers, various performers
HMI 987076

For those who don't quite understand why such an obsession with the music of Venice (and for those who do), you might like to test this very enjoyable sampler album (out of print as far as I can tell).

Instrumental and vocal music, sacred and profane, from the likes of Gabrieli, Merulo, Monteverdi, Kapsberger, Cavalli, Marini, Rosenmüller, Galuppi, Vivaldi, Tartini, Bonporti, Caldara, Scarlatti, Uccellini, Porpora and Händel (all of whom somehow had a Venice connection), performed by the likes of O'Dette, Manze, Dieltiens, Verbruggen, Banchini, Christensen, Nasilio, JW Jansen, Kiehr, Scholl, Genaux, Fink, Schaffer, McGegan, Aymes, Jacobs and Junghänel.

The pictures are nice, too.

CPE Bach: Four Symphonies Wq.183 - OAE, Gustav Leonhardt

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Four Symphonies Wq.183, Symphony No.5 in B minor
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Gustav Leonhardt
Virgin VC 7 90806-2

It was in August last year that I wrote enthusiastically about a recording of Emanuel Bach's second Hamburg set of symphonies, Wq 183, by the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra under Ton Koopman on Erato (not currently available). Now it is followed by another, directed by Koopman's compatriot Gustav Leonhardt; this time, though, the band is an all-British group, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. These four symphonies were composed in about 1776 when, according to the German Enlightenment poet, Klopstock, they were performed by 40 instrumentalists comprising an orchestra of horns, flutes, oboes, bassoon, violins in two parts, viola, cello, bass and continuo. Emanuel Bach regarded them as the most substantial works of the kind that he had written; "modesty forbids me to say more," he added somewhat coyly. Koopman chose a much smaller string ensemble than Bach's, consisting of only seven violinists, a single violist, two cellists and a bass. Leonhardt, on the other hand, prefers a considerably larger body of strings: six first and six second violins, four violas, three cellos and bass; both field similar wind groups, that is to say pairs of flutes, oboes and horns with a single bassoon.

While I liked Koopman's spontaneity and his ability to realize Bach's colourful textures I found a tendency towards rhythmic rigidity. Leonhardt's rhythms are invigoratingly taut but with an effective elasticity which suits the quirky temperament of Bach's idiom. Tempos are, by and large, comparable with those of Koopman, at least in the outer movements, but where Leonhardt really scores over the rival set is his more assertive body of strings which lends greater substance to the music and provides opportunity for more telling contrasts between strings and wind; and these are vividly apparent in the first-rate recorded sound which allows the listener to enjoy the subtle nuances in Bach's orchestral textures.

For good measure, Leonhardt gives us an additional symphony, one in B minor from Emanuel Bach's earlier Hamburg set of six, Wq182 (1773). These are for strings only and as a complete set are currently available on Archiv Produktion in excellent performances by the English Concert directed by Trevor Pinnock. The new version of the B minor Symphony is lively but lacks the infectious élan of the Archiv performance. In conclusion a stimulating issue which captures the elusive spirit of the empfindsamer Stil affectingly and with stylistic assurance.

N.A., Gramophone.net