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Naxos

Vivaldi: Bassoon Concertos Vol 5 / Benkócs, Drahos

$19.99

Details

Composer
VIVALDI, ANTONIO
Artist
Benkocs, Drahos, Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia
Format
CD
Label
Naxos
Released
Dec 16, 2008
Catalog #
8570798
UPC
747313079872

About



VIVALDI Bassoon Concertos: in a, RV 497; in C, RV 473; in F, RV 491; in C, RV 466; in C, RV 469; in g, RV 496 • Tamás Benkócs (bn); Béla Drahos, cond; Nicolaus Esterházy Snf • NAXOS 8.570798 (65:04)


For anyone wishing recordings of all 37 completed bassoon concertos by the Red Priest, there is currently only one choice: Daniel Smith on five ASV CDs (552). While this is hardly a bad deal—Smith and his two conductors and orchestras present the works with great energy and dazzling virtuosity—there have always been nagging irritations. Smith is an amazing performer, but every concerto seems like an Olympic event; faster is better—faster and louder better still. If, in the process, he produced a hollow tone—made coarse when overblown, barking low notes here and there, occasional dicey intonation, intermittent fudged figurations where the tempo was set faster than the fingers could fly, it was all in the name of the race. He and the orchestra always got to the end, together, and by golly it was exciting. And yet—and yet—!As much as it seems like ungrateful nit-picking and as much as one is thrilled just to have all of these inventive works so well played, or played at all, in the end one feels that there should be something more than mere pyrotechnics, however breathtaking they might be.


Enter the extraordinary Hungarian bassoonist Tamás Benkócs, principal of the superb Budapest Festival Orchestra. Here at last is the poetry, not the race. Here is elegance and wit and wistfulness and moments of repose to go along with the amazing technical virtuosity. Benkócs doesn’t have us on the edge of our seats, wondering if he is going to make it through a passage; rather he tackles the sometimes-staggering technical challenges with deceptive ease. The tempos are generally a bit slower than are Smith’s, but with that slight relaxation one starts hearing the extraordinary music instead of just the amazing rush of notes. The middle slow movements benefit the most—Benkócs plays them as if he were singing an aria—but the variety that he finds in the fast movements, not to mention the warm solid tone, impeccable intonation, seamlessly blended tenor and bass registers, and precise articulation of even the most demanding passages, is well worth a little loss in raw excitement. I like his playing as well as that of Klaus Thunemann on Philips, and that is high praise indeed. Béla Drahos and his excellent modern-instrument band provide sympathetic accompaniment: buoyant, transparent, restrained in use of vibrato, harpsichord dominated, but with attractive depth. I would have liked them a bit farther forward on the sound stage, but that is a minor quibble. Collectors who have a wider interest in this repertoire will want to sample some of the colorful period-instrument performances on Naïve 30379 and 30409, but there is still a great deal of vitality in these traditional modern-instrument performances, as well.


With this volume, Mr. Benkócs has finished five CDs and 31 concertos. Assumedly, he will complete the series in one more volume. Two other Fanfare critics have weighed in on the series; David L. Kirk warmly welcomed Volume 2 (8.555938) in 28:6; but in 30:2, Laura Rónai found Volume 3 (8.557556) too polite by half, and non-descript to boot. I certainly side with Mr. Kirk, but obviously opinions vary. The nice thing about Naxos recordings is that one can experiment for a relatively small investment. That’s what I recommend. Then you can buy the other four, as I did.


FANFARE: Ronald E. Grames

Tracklist 18 tracks

  1. 1 I. Allegro molto 03:40
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. Allegro molto
    Duration
    03:40
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Performer
    Tamás Benkócs
    Ensemble
    Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia
    Conductor
    Béla Drahos
  2. 2 II. Andante molto 03:23
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. Andante molto
    Duration
    03:23
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Performer
    Tamás Benkócs
    Ensemble
    Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia
    Conductor
    Béla Drahos
  3. 3 III. Allegro 02:55
    Track
    3
    Title
    III. Allegro
    Duration
    02:55
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Performer
    Tamás Benkócs
    Ensemble
    Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia
    Conductor
    Béla Drahos
  4. 4 I. Allegro 03:32
    Track
    4
    Title
    I. Allegro
    Duration
    03:32
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Performer
    Tamás Benkócs
    Ensemble
    Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia
    Conductor
    Béla Drahos
  5. 5 II. Largo 03:26
    Track
    5
    Title
    II. Largo
    Duration
    03:26
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Performer
    Tamás Benkócs
    Ensemble
    Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia
    Conductor
    Béla Drahos
  6. 6 III. Minuetto 07:48
    Track
    6
    Title
    III. Minuetto
    Duration
    07:48
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Performer
    Tamás Benkócs
    Ensemble
    Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia
    Conductor
    Béla Drahos
  7. 7 I. Allegro molto 03:38
    Track
    7
    Title
    I. Allegro molto
    Duration
    03:38
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Performer
    Tamás Benkócs
    Ensemble
    Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia
    Conductor
    Béla Drahos
  8. 8 II. Largo 01:40
    Track
    8
    Title
    II. Largo
    Duration
    01:40
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Performer
    Tamás Benkócs
    Ensemble
    Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia
    Conductor
    Béla Drahos
  9. 9 III. Allegro 02:48
    Track
    9
    Title
    III. Allegro
    Duration
    02:48
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Performer
    Tamás Benkócs
    Ensemble
    Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia
    Conductor
    Béla Drahos
  10. 10 I. Allegro 03:42
    Track
    10
    Title
    I. Allegro
    Duration
    03:42
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Performer
    Tamás Benkócs
    Ensemble
    Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia
    Conductor
    Béla Drahos
  11. 11 II. Largo 02:52
    Track
    11
    Title
    II. Largo
    Duration
    02:52
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Performer
    Tamás Benkócs
    Ensemble
    Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia
    Conductor
    Béla Drahos
  12. 12 III. Allegro 03:10
    Track
    12
    Title
    III. Allegro
    Duration
    03:10
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Performer
    Tamás Benkócs
    Ensemble
    Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia
    Conductor
    Béla Drahos
  13. 13 I. Allegro 03:48
    Track
    13
    Title
    I. Allegro
    Duration
    03:48
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Performer
    Tamás Benkócs
    Ensemble
    Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia
    Conductor
    Béla Drahos
  14. 14 II. Largo 03:52
    Track
    14
    Title
    II. Largo
    Duration
    03:52
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Performer
    Tamás Benkócs
    Ensemble
    Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia
    Conductor
    Béla Drahos
  15. 15 III. Allegro 03:36
    Track
    15
    Title
    III. Allegro
    Duration
    03:36
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Performer
    Tamás Benkócs
    Ensemble
    Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia
    Conductor
    Béla Drahos
  16. 16 I. Allegro 03:26
    Track
    16
    Title
    I. Allegro
    Duration
    03:26
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Performer
    Tamás Benkócs
    Ensemble
    Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia
    Conductor
    Béla Drahos
  17. 17 II. Largo 03:56
    Track
    17
    Title
    II. Largo
    Duration
    03:56
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Performer
    Tamás Benkócs
    Ensemble
    Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia
    Conductor
    Béla Drahos
  18. 18 III. Allegro 03:10
    Track
    18
    Title
    III. Allegro
    Duration
    03:10
    Composer
    Antonio Vivaldi
    Performer
    Tamás Benkócs
    Ensemble
    Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia
    Conductor
    Béla Drahos