If the history of eighteenth-century cello music and performance in Spain is still waiting to be written, Josetxu Obregón and La Ritirata are bringing us up close to the instrument’s role during that time with their Glossa CD, The Cello in Spain. The selection made by this exciting cellist provides a sample of pieces which undoubtedly would have been heard in Spain during the infancy of the instrument there and in the period leading into the Age of the Enlightenment.

La Ritirata’s choices of instruments and performing styles admirably match the demands of music ranging from the Baroque to the Classical and this disc paves the way for a broader exploration of the presence of the cello in the group’s home country.

As a guide to the music of Luigi Boccherini written in Spain there is no one better today than Emilio Moreno; this string player, director and scholar knows in a profound way how music composed across the map of 18th century Europe can live and breathe. For a new GLOSSA release Moreno is once again focusing on an important aspect of Boccherini's output from the more than 35 years he spent working within that late 18th century Spanish mixture of a severe tradition, a vibrant popular culture and an openness to culture trends coursing throughout the Europe of Haydn and Mozart. Joined by the talent of Dutch keyboard player Arthur Schoonderwoerd, Moreno leads La Real Cámara (with regular partners violist Antonio Clares and cellist Mercedes Ruiz) in six piano quartets transcribed from Boccherini's Op 26 two-movement quartettini of 1778, and published some years later. Moreno takes us back to the Age of Enlightenment, to the cultured court of the Infante Don Luis de Borbón (the brother of the Spanish king) in Arenas de San Pedro - a royal residence outside Madrid but also near Ávila, and clearly within the scope of the European postal service - and to those substantial demands for chamber music of all confi gurations which the Font family quartet and Boccherini (a noted cellist himself) were adept at performing with technical assurance and artistry. Here, fortepiano joins violin, viola and basse obligé coming together in elegant, witty and graceful chamber music, in scores touched by those popular Spanish motifs cheerfully incorporated by Boccherini.

Classical Music

Different stages in the life of Luigi Boccherini are clearly mapped out in th emusic he wrote. None more so than the 6 String Trios, Op. 34, written around 1781 - at the time of the Stabat mater - during the nine-year period when teh composer forsook the precariousness of life within the hustle and bustle of Madrid for the tranquility of Arenas de San Pedro, nearer Avila, as he followed his patron, the Infante Luis de Borbon, in the latter's banishment from the Spanish court, In conditions of comfort for himself and his young family Boccherini prospered on the artistic level as well: some 80 compositions emerged, many for the regular chamber music performances called for by the Enlightened pricne, the maecenas also for painters such as Goya, Flipart and Paret. In a pair of its earlier recordings, newly remastered and now appearing on Glossa, La Ritirata demonstrates complete sympathy with the Classical-era intentions of a composer in full maturity: no surprise when the three players are of the calibre of violinists Hiro Kurosaki and Lina Tur Bonet and cellist Josetxu Obregon. In this string trio configuration, Boccherini demanded great technical skill from the musicians, notably from the cello part and requiring it to take on much of the role assumed by the viola in a quartet. Pervading all is the composer's melodic invention, his preference for the galant style and the harmonic boldness which together assured his popularity throughout Europe at the time.

There's always room in the catalog for enterprising budget-priced performances like these. The string quartets of Luigi Boccherini, though perhaps not as historically significant as his quintets, are engaging and under-valued pieces. If you want to try out a representative selection at minimal cost, you'll find this Naxos disc nicely fits the bill. The Borciani Quartet was formed in 1984 and named after the group's teacher, Paolo Borciani, who was the founding leader of Quartetto Italiano. In these performances the Borcianis successfully emulate the famous clarity and refinement of their models, providing assured, imaginative readings of the first two quartets from Boccherini's Op. 32 set--the best known and most frequently performed of the Boccherini quartets. All six were recorded on period instruments by the Esterházy Quartet for Teldec in 1976. That fine survey had the advantage of completeness, and the lighter instrumental textures brought pleasing clarity and immediacy. However, the Borcianis' well-prepared and naturally spontaneous accounts are equally well played, and the Naxos sound is certainly superior. Better still is the Borciani Quartet's splendid reading of the more substantial A major work, a polished and cultured performance made more compelling by energetically pointed rhythms and marked dynamic contrasts, which listeners will best appreciate during the lyrically expressive slow movement. An excellent disc all round. --Michael Jameson, ClassicsToday.com

Inventive, aromatic and breezy.

As the recording date suggests, this disc is a reissue. It was originally released by Italian label Dynamic in 1995 (CDS111) as the first of three Boccherini volumes by the Venezia (or Venice) Quartet. At the time this was the Quartet's first commercial recording, and the first of ten for the label, including for example the complete quartets of Malipiero.
 
Happily, the Quartet are still making music - these days they even have their own Facebook page! - with three of the four musicians here still going strong in 2012, Giancarlo di Vacri having replaced Luca Morassutti as violist in 2010. Perhaps their most significant recording in recent years was the complete quartets of Luigi Cherubini on 3 CDs for Decca (476 3604, 2010). It should be said that none of this information is available in the accompanying booklet, which for some reason eschews performer biographies. Nor will it be found on Dynamic's less than exemplary website - the "online catalogue" promised in the booklet lists nearly 400 items but they can only be viewed ten at a time scrolling down through a small window! There is therefore no news there as to why this CD has been re-released now, other than that it constitutes Volume 27 in an apparently random series entitled 'Delizie Musicali' ('Musical Delights'). The original disc is still widely available on the internet.
 
Nevertheless, the Dynamic catalogue is laden with musical delights, and Boccherini's op.8 falls easily into that category. As far as his Quartets go, this set is inexplicably neglected, having been only rarely recorded. Spanish label Columna Música issued the Artaria Quartet's account of them only two years ago (1CM0221, two CDs), but there is little other competition, not even at the individual quartet level. This, then, counts as an important recording for string quartet lovers everywhere.
 
The first Quartet in D gets straight down to the business of being inventive, aromatic and breezy. The Venezia Quartet are in their element for the next 75 minutes, turning on the style and, taking full advantage of Boccherini's predilection for demonstrative markings in the scores - the second movement of the A major Quartet is marked 'Amoroso', for example - the expressive phrasing to communicate Boccherini's mellifluous, immaculately fashioned ideas. Boccherini was a renowned cellist, and he unsurprisingly gives his instrument a lot of virtuosic turns. Actually these are 'new school' Quartets, where the parts are divided fairly and squarely, and all four members of the Venezia get plenty of time in the sun. Boccherini's elegance is more than skin-deep, though, and the lively, witty radiance for which he is rightly famed alternates frequently with sections or indeed whole movements that are more introverted, darker, serene.
 
Sound quality is good for the mid-Nineties - just a little raw-edged by current standards, but nevertheless perfectly acceptable. Dynamic's booklets are a bit hit-and-miss: sometimes they are quite good, other times rather too minimalist. Love it or leave it, the cover graphic is by Martha Pilarz, no doubt related to Daniela Pilarz, Dynamic's resident translator. The brief notes are by the now-deceased Paganini authority Edward Neill, Italian despite his name, and whose own label morphed into Dynamic in the late 1970s. Daniela's translation into English does have a few odd turns of phrase as usual, as well as one or two errors, both by translator - such as "Mittleuropean" for 'central European' - and, presumably, by Neill, who states that Mozart was fifteen in 1769.
 
-- Byzantion, MusicWeb International

Shortly after Luigi Boccherini’s death on 28 May 1805, two journalists in Leipzig and Paris agreed that he had been “an excellent cellist capable of bewitching audiences with the incomparable sound and expressive melody of his instrument” and “a wonderful cellist. He especially charmed us with his incomparable sonority and the very expressive song of his instrument.” However, posterity in the nineteenth century was most unkind to him, allowing him to “survive” thanks to a Minuet chosen at random, transposed for and endlessly churned out by every possible instrument (and even the voice), a somewhat “doctored” concerto, and finally editions of a small batch of “sonatas for cello and piano” adorned with an improbable arsenal of technical and performance markings far removed from the Boccherinian spirit. Bruno Cocset pays tribute to one of the precursors of the Golden Age of the cello by recording five sonatas based on the manuscripts of the extensive Noseda Collection of the Milan Conservatory. He is accompanied by his partners from Les Basses Reunies, Maude Gratton , Bertrand Cuiller (harpsichord), Emmanuel Jacques (cello continuo) and Richard Myron.

Classical Music

BOCCHERINI: Guitar Quintets, Vol. 3

BOCCHERINI: Guitar Quintets, Vol. 1

Boccherini’s guitar quintets are arrangements prepared from material originally used in a cycle of piano quintets, written in Madrid during the final years of the eighteenth century. Although Boccherini received support from then French ambassador Lucien Bonaparte, contemporary reports suggest that the years prior to his death in 1805 were spent in abject poverty. Nevertheless, he remained as musically productive as ever, and the works recorded here are typically fresh and inventive.

This is one of the greatest recordings Glossa ever produced, as well as being the only recorded occasion in which the two co-founding brothers of the label – guitarist José Miguel and violinist Emilio Moreno – have taken part together. In the hands of these specialists, accompanied by a tiple treble guitar and castanets in the famous Fandango, two of Luigi Boccherini’s guitar quintets resound here with unparalleled intensity and brightness.

The Oratorio Gioas re di Giuda, “a Sacred Drama,” was probably the first important symphonic-choral work by Boccherini, composed during the years 1764-1765 for performances in Lucca, the musician’s native town. After his studies in Rome and his successes in Vienna, where his brother GianGastone worked as a dancer and also as librettist for Haydn, Boccherini returned to Lucca and applied to join the Cappella Palatina. Shortly afterwards, Boccherini again began touring Europe in a Duo together with his friend Filippo Manfredi, concertmaster of the Lucca orchestra: they went first to Genoa- where evidence suggests performances of his first two oratorios- then to Paris and finally Madrid. Metastasio’s libretto for Gioas is based on one of the numerous struggles for the control of Jerusalem. Athalia usurps power after having assassinated David’s last descendants. Saved by a miracle, the youngest one, Joash, is reared in the temple by the wife of Jehoiada, the high priest. The drama opens when Ismael (one of the Levite leaders) is informed of the plan to overthrow the usurper. At the same time Athalia, with the help of her minister, Mattan, summons Sebia, unfortunate mother of the victims, in the hope of convincing her to present a false heir to the people of Israel. In Part Two, Jehoiada succeeds in thwarting the evil plan of treacherous Athalia and her wicked counselor, Mattan. Jehoiada finally overthrows the tyrants and offers Joash the throne to great jubilation of the people.

Luigi Boccherini is now best known for his chamber music, which is handsomely represented on Brilliant Classics in recordings by period-instrument ensembles. However, as part of his duties to the royal courts of Europe in which he made his long and distinguished career, Boccherini also wrote operas and zarzuelas – popular Spanish musical theatre – of which few examples survive. There are 18 extant, standalone concert arias, of unknown date, though probably composed between 1786 and 1792. Six of them are presented here, all composed for soprano, and all bold and technically challenging works which would fit within the opera seria genre. The texts are by Metastasio, prolific librettist of the period, whose classically-themed dramas were set by Salieri and Mozart, among many other composers. Sung texts are included in the booklet. The soloist on this recording is the Spanish soprano Sandra Pastrana, who has appeared in all the major Italian opera houses.

Among the motivations of this disc, the most important one is the wish to present the various styles and periods in a clear, simple way, endeavoring to avoid superabundance and the accumulation of crossover deposits that are often heard where it seems that the music of the past cannot be self-sufficient and needs an extra chromatic and rhythmic shove in order to catch the listeners’ attention, inducing them to compare it with the commercial, repetitive entertainment repertoire. In this musical journey between Italy and Spain of the Baroque era, Paolo Rigano on the archlute and baroque guitar and Cinzia Guarino on the harpsichord are interpreting a singular anthology of pieces enriching the playing through the practice of the basso continuo that marked the entire musical period from the Renaissance to the late Baroque.