"...slowly, as my musical path kept unfolding, I got to the point where more and more I was able to let go of my preconceived notions aout the Violin Concerto and more clearly start to see and hear my own voice in it. Over the years I got to know so much more music by Mendelssohn, from the inside out, and I felt the language become more fully my own. When working with Kees Bakels on it a couple of years ago things started to really fall into place, and last May when performing it with the Amhem Philharmonic I really was all of a sudden struck by a distinct feeling that I can only describe as falling in love all over again with this magical piece. Certain details in the score seemed to appear completely new to me and the idea of approaching the work with the same collaborative energy as in chamber music made me experience it completely afresh. The combination of passion, grand emotions and at the same time lightness and elegance, such characteristic traits for Mendelssohn, fell completely into place. To feel this way about such a familiar piece was revelatory and I knew I wanted to share these discoveries, if you like, with many more people." (Liza Ferschtman)

2019- an anniversary year. For three exceptional musicians 2019 brings cause for great joy and gratitude for several reasons. Ton Koopman, internationally renowned as a harpsichordist, organist, conductor, professor and musicologist, celebrates his 75th birthday. He also looks back on 40 highly successful years with the ensemble he founded, the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra. His wife, Tini Mathot, an outstandingly gifted harpsichord and fortepiano virtuoso as well as a very successful producer of countless international albums, celebrates her 70th birthday. Klaus Mertens, acclaimed for over four decades as an international concert singer with an admirably wide repertoire stretching from Monteverdi to contemporary composers, also celebrates his 70th birthday. "As the ideal conveyor of Bach's cantatas and passion texts..." he also receives the Bach-Medaille of the city of Leipzig in 2019. As if this were not sufficient cause to celebrate an anniversary, these three musicians cap it all by looking back on 40 years of successful and amicable music-making together in concerts and recording studios by presenting an anniversary album as well as several chamber concerts.

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An outstanding volume in Koopman's complete Buxtehude cycle from Challenge will delight, stimulate and please in every respect.

Ton Koopman's survey of the entire works of Buxtehude seems to be getting more enjoyable and exciting with each release. Here we are at what must be (just under) about two-thirds of the way through - volume 14, the fifth in the series of the composer's vocal works. The five high soloists and a tenor and bass are lively, confident, sensitive - the dialogue in Bedenke Mensch das Ende [tr.5] is a good example of real, studied drama - and technically brilliant (listen to the ensemble singing and pacing towards the end of Jesu, komm, mein Trost und Lachen [tr.7], for instance). They infuse their performances with joy, depth, clarity, devotion and the other emotions required by the glorious - yet almost unknown - writing of Buxtehude … essentially Germanic but with the inevitable influence of Italy in general and Monteverdi in particular also much in evidence.

Some of the works on this CD were recorded as long ago as 2007 and 2008; the booklet is unusually unforthcoming about which and where. This suggests that Koopman may be 'collecting' from Buxtehude's œuvre at this stage in the project. But there is nothing about the collection on this generous and amply-recorded CD to make us think we're experiencing the 'also-rans' or dregs. This is music of great exactness: penetrating, striking and original. Buxtehude's gift for melody, structure and the creation of complex, subtle yet highly meaningful textures is in evidence from first note to last.

Only three or four of the works presented here are otherwise available - in compilations and on DVD, for example. So there is every reason to acquire this CD without hesitation - even were its performances not of the extremely high calibre that they are. Each of the soloists has something definite, communicative and enriching to offer. The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra is also on typically excellent form.

The new impetus given to music after the devastation of the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) by the evolving Geistliches Konzert (sacred concerto) is also responsible for much of the measured yet unmistakable vivacity of Buxtehude's choral writing here … usually a short instrumental introduction, an impactful, self-contained and focused Biblical phrase or section of text is explored by one or more soloists - with instrumental 'support' rather than intricate comment in its own right. A true point of departure for and from the church cantata. The musicians involved in this excellent CD from Challenge thoroughly understand the idiom of the Geistliches Konzert.

This CD has other forms which are as striking by their then innovative nature at Buxtehude's time as by their 'stability' and overseeing command of the blend of musical form and idea with text are to us now. These include the strophic arias and ciacconne; and the concerto-aria cantatas ( Je hoher du bist [tr.1] and Herr, wenn ich nur dich habe [tr.2]). One senses Buxtehude's delight at the freedom of expression which these forms afford him. And the performers' responsiveness and involvement … Buxtehude was laying all sorts of ground for others - not least Bach. But he was also writing devotional music for local 'consumption' and probably specific occasions in Lübeck. So the singers need to steer a fairly narrow course between emphasising the historical moment in which the music was written; and its more general meaning. They do. At the same time, their singing and playing have a modern touch … it's immediate, 'edgy' almost, the singers' articulation of the all-important texts are crystalline, liquid, limpid - without ever being florid.

The acoustic is clean, though perhaps a touch too dry for the not ostentatious but peacefully declamatory nature of some of the music. The booklet with notes by Christoph Wolff is highly informative and has the texts in German (and Latin for Jesu, dulcis memoria) and English. If you're already collecting this cycle, don't hesitate for a second. If you want to sample historically significant and beautiful music from the under-performed Buxtehude, this is a great place to start.

-- Mark Sealey, MusicWeb International

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ITALIAN CONCERTOS AND SONATAS • Stephen Stubbs, cond; Lucia Swarts (vc); Teatro Lirico (period instruments) • CHALLENGE 72516 (3 CDs: 181:10)


Works by BOCCHERINI, JACCHINI, LEO, PLATTI, PORPORA, VIVALDI


This appears to be the third time around for the works on this disc, having been recorded back in 1997–99, and released individually by Challenge Classics then and once more in 2004–2007. This time, though, all of the works are available on a three-disc set, a sort of compendium, even though the programming becomes a bit more generic than one might expect. Lucia Swarts, a protégée of famed cellist Anner Bylsma, follows her mentor closely in style, with dexterous rapid passages and a sonorous, soaring, lyrical line as appropriate. Brian Robins reviewed the first disc, the Italian concertos, back in 2003, and the others have generally received excellent reviews for her performance in several online venues, so there is little to add here, save for my own immediate reactions.


First, Challenge Classics made no effort in the booklet notes to unify the release. All three of the previous discs’ notes are given verbatim side by side, and there is no overarching continuity or explaining just what “Italian concertos and sonatas” means in this context. On the other hand, despite the incongruity of the works, each has its own special purpose. The first disc is a compendium of concertos from about 1700 to 1730, an excellent means of demonstrating how this instrument came to prominence as a solo during this period. The first Platti concerto in C Major is more of a concerto grosso, with the solo instrument playing in the episodes of the ritornello, emerging as a textural contrast. The Leo concerto, on the other hand, has some extremely difficult passagework in the two fast movements, all of which foreshadow the more virtuosic lines of composer-cellists like Boccherini later in the century. Each of these varies between three and four movements, as one might expect of the late Baroque period, but there is ironically more of a hint of the emerging galant in the second Platti and the Leo, both of which straddle the stylistic periods. Here, the Teatro Lirico period-instrument orchestra provides a good background, with a fine sense of nuanced style and an excellent ensemble.


For the two sonata discs, the term “worlds apart” can distinguish them. Vivaldi writes four-movement works that are interesting but not especially unique. To be sure, he writes long lyrical lines and uses a fair amount of rhythmic syncopation. But it is Vivaldi, and he is deliberately writing apparently for well-trained but non-virtuoso musicians. There is of course no evidence that these were composed for the Ospedale della Pietà, where he worked for many years, but the style may be telling. For the Boccherini, however, we enter a time where the instrument’s potential had been released, thanks to that composer’s technical prowess, including the extensive use of the thumb position. The four sonatas are tours de force , often requiring extreme ranges and double- or triple-stop passages. I am particularly impressed by the first movement of the Sonata No. 2 in C Major, with figuration that really makes the performer sweat. All of these Swarts performs with an ease that is exceptional. One final word about the continuo on these two discs. In the Vivaldi, she expands the size, which I find gives a nice contrasting resonance to the character of the individual movements, while in the Boccherini she has chosen to have it performed by a continuo cello, ably played by Richte van der Meer, and a plucked instrument, varying between guitar in the fast movements and theorbo in the slow. I am not convinced by the musicological arguments for this arrangement, but from a musical standpoint, the results are eminently satisfactory. Indeed, for Boccherini, who spent so much time in Spain, there is more than a nice echo of Iberia in the opening Allegro militaire of the third sonata, with its marchlike rhythms for which the guitar is a perfect accompaniment. If you don’t already own these individually, this set is a good way to incorporate some great pieces from the 18th century into your collection.


FANFARE: Bertil van Boer

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A fine production which sheds light on a composer whose violin concertos need to be further explored.

The Graun brothers, Carl Heinrich and Johann Gottlieb are important representatives of the generation of composers between the baroque and classical eras. Johann Gottlieb attended the Kreuzschule in Dresden and later studied at Leipzig University. He received lessons on the violin from the then most prominent violinist in Germany, Johann Georg Pisendel. He also travelled to Italy, where he became acquainted with Giuseppe Tartini. Back home he was appointed concertmaster of the orchestra of the Prussian Crown Prince Frederick, while Carl Heinrich secured the position of Kapellmeister. Graun held this position until his death. He was also active as a violin teacher; among his pupils were Franz Benda - from 1733 onwards also a member of Frederick's orchestra - and Wilhelm Friedemann Bach.

Graun composed many concertos, mostly for violin, which were to be played by himself and reflect his own skills as a violin virtuoso. Burney reports that he was greatly admired as a composer who combined pleasant melodies with counterpoint and was generally considered "one of the greatest violinists of his day".

The concertos on these two discs show that he gradually moved away from counterpoint. The Concerto in c minor is the earliest piece in this set and was written in 1730 or even earlier. Particularly beautiful is the largo in which the violin moves over a tutti which is dominated by a motif of three notes. Although the scoring includes two oboes they have no independent parts but play colla parte with the violins.

That is also the case in the Concerto for two violins in G. The scoring includes two parts for horns, and these are independent and play a noticeable role in the fast movements, but are silent in the adagio. This movement is dominated by Seufzer and descending figures, both in the solo parts and in the tutti.

Graun's acquaintance with Giuseppe Tartini has had a strong influence on his compositional style. The Italian master didn't avoid virtuosity, but gave priority to expression. That is also the main feature of Graun's concertos, and it is no coincidence that in two concertos the slow movements are the longest. In the Concerto in F the second movement, mesto, is almost twice as long as the fast movements. That is different in the Concerto for viola in E flat. It is one of only two concertos for this instrument which are known from Graun. It is a particularly beautiful work, with a magnificent cantabile solo part in the middle movement, with the character indication 'adagio, un poco andante'.

The only piece which is not by Graun is the Concerto in A, which is attributed to Markus Heinrich Grauel. He is an almost completely unknown quantity, and has no entry in New Grove. The concerto is to be found in the archive of the Berlin Singakademie, and it says 'del Sigr. Grauel'. The man to which it is attributed was cellist in the court orchestra in Berlin from 1763. Considering his style he is thought to have been a pupil of Graun. It is less virtuosic but quite beautiful. The first movement is dominated by drum basses, a feature of many compositions from the mid-18th century.

Ilia Korol and Piroska Batori give excellent performances of the solo parts. The dialogue between the two violins is very well worked out and there is a good balance between the two violins. The viola concerto is definitely one of the highlights of this set, and the viola is brilliantly played by Ilia Korol. The horn parts are impressively executed by Oliver Kersken and Stefan Oetter, and also well recorded as they are clearly audible.

In short, this is a very fine production which sheds light on the oeuvre of a composer whose violin concertos need to be further explored.

-- Johan van Veen, MusicWeb International

In these new reconstructions of Delalande's all-too-rare "table music" for the French court of Louis XIV - on CD for the first time - the music is performed in the original five-part textures and on period instruments. Immediately after starting in his post as Superintendent of the House Music in 1689, Delalande began composing instrumental movements. These suites were chiefly intended for the king's suppers which, in reality, were "performances" before an audience. It was an honor to be allowed to watch the king eat, a greater honor to be spoken to during the meal, and a supreme honor to be invited to serve him his food or eat with him. In this context, instrumental music played an important role, it's magnificence reflecting the regent's powerful self-image. Since new works were continually being demanded, this practice resulted, over the course of the years, in an impressive body of works.

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Beethoven’s primary reason for settling in Vienna in 1792 was to study with Joseph Haydn, who at the time was widely considered the greatest living composer. Beethoven’s three Piano Trios op. 1 were the first compositions that he deemed important enough to give an opus number. They were dedicated to Prince Karl Lichnowsky, a patron of Beethoven in whose house he lived for some time. According to Beethoven’s lifelong friend Ferdinand Ries, Haydn was complimentary about the set of trios. The trios combine various elements that would have been familiar to Beethoven’s contemporaries. Less familiar, however, would be the fact that the trios contain four movements rather than the three that had been traditional in this genre. Although changes from major to minor had been common in the music of previous generations, where they would normally apply to just the last chord, Beethoven employs this technique more extensively here than was probably common at that time. This recording was made using a Chris Maene Concert Grand built in 2017. This remarkable instrument combines the knowledge and materials used in modern piano building with those found in older historical instruments.

This debut album of L’Estro d’Orfeo ensemble takes its title Altri Canti d’Amor from a madrigal found in Claudio Monteverdi’s Eighth Book of Madrigals. The program focuses on the music of the Italian Seicento and more precisely on the schools of northern Italy; mainly the Venetian school. It combines both instrumental and vocal pieces- the latter in instrumental versions- connected to the subject of ‘love’. Using instruments instead of the voice may initially seem perverse for such a title, but to the ensemble it suggests the idea of “other ways of singing about love.” This album thus reaffirms the great value and importance that instruments started gaining in the first half of the 17th century, where they ceased serving merely as accompaniments to the voice and gradually became the main protagonist of the musical scene, attaining a level of virtuosity that had never been explored before.

Raaf Hekkema writes of his new release: "Since I started teaching at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, I have become more conscious of my self-chosen mission: to create a place for the saxophone within the classical music tradition. One way to do this is to forge a stronger bond between the players and the classical tradition, in the knowledge that the saxophone repertoire too is indebted to the great composers of the past. The most influential of them all is, without a doubt, Johann Sebastian Bach. The path to this recording was long, windy and fascinating. It started with the awareness that the cello suites provide exceptional playing material for saxophonists. But I long felt that for playing Bach on the saxophone, only the light-sounding soprano saxophone would do- which was, I believed, incompatible with the instrument for which the suites were written. During preparations for my previous recording of Bach's partitas for violin, I discovered that the alto sax- fitted with an old-style mouthpiece- could reproduce the refined articulation of the violin. Vintage mouthpieces represent the sound ideal of days gone by. Then came the idea to play the suites on six different saxophones, each of which holds a unique place in the history of the instrument. After that, much time went into working out a usable assignment of transpositions and an appropriate choice of instruments, the resulting sound character being the deciding factor.

The voluminous oeuvre of Fritz Kreisler for violin and piano includes many themes of composers from the Baroque to the beginning of the twentieth century and pieces composed by the great violinist himself. We were especially interested in the last category, from which the three Viennese dances Liebesleid, Liebesfreud and Schon Rosmarin are the most famous ones. For this album we chose to record the complete collection of original pieces, no adaptations of other composers. When composing the list of original pieces we had concerns about two pieces not being sure that they are purely Kreisler. The theme of the Rondino in the style of Beethoven could possibly be a lost piece for winds, but we could not find any proof of that. In the Grave, in the style of Friedemann Bach it was also impossible to find the hand of Bach. Thus we included these pieces. The most curious piece on this album is the song, Op. 6. We found it in a collection of works where it seemed untouched. Until now we have found no recording or even a record of a performance. Be it so, we recorded thi smelancholy little piece as a premiere. With this recording, we tried to follow as many notes he made regarding bowings and finger positions. Violin playing has changed since the time of Kreisler and the knowledge of period style performances influences the way we play. Inevitably, our own ideas and taste also influence the way we perfrom on the album.

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Here we present the follow-up to the critically acclaimed first volume of Bach's Harpsichord Concertos by Fabio Bonizzoni and his group La Risonanza. This second volume includes a more varied range of works as it starts with the most famous Brandenburg Fifth, which is the first ever harpsichord concert. After the BWV 1054, we have the rather rare BWV 1057, which is the harpsichord version of the Brandenburg Fourth. To end Bonizzoni's survey of all Bach's harpsichord concertos, we find the famous and beloved Triple concerto, with violin and flute. Of the first volume, critics wrote: "Harpsichordist Fabio Bonizzoni does a credible job in integrating the concertos so that they appear not as a soloist versus the ensemble, but rather as an integral part." (Fanfare) "Bonizzoni achieves the difficult task of combining subtle artifice and interpretative joie de vivre with a manner that appears natural and uncomplicated... enticing for it's musical strengths." (Gramophone)

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REVIEWS:
"...Lisa Larsson and Klaus Mertens are superb, and Koopman directs with an appropratiely light touch....all round a strong recommendation for persuasive performances of Bach's too-seldom-heard early Leipzig cantatas."

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