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