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Krufft: Sonatas For Bassoon And Fortepiano / Wouter Verschuren, Kathryn Cok

Challenge Classics

$18.99 Jan 02, 2009

KRUFFT Bassoon Sonatas: in F; in Bb, “Grande” • Wouter Verschuren (bn); Kathryn Cok (fp) (period instruments) • CHALLENGE 72313 (61:32)

The name of Nikolaus von Krufft (1779–1818) might have been better known had he lived past the age of 39. As it happened, it simply wasn’t to be. He apparently succumbed to exhaustion while burning the candle at both ends. By day Krufft was a civil servant, and by night a composer. His musical legacy is small, and includes sonatas for violin, bassoon, and horn, plus a set of 24 preludes and fugues for piano after Sebastian Bach. Krufft’s Lieder are his most significant accomplishments, comprising his most influential body of work, which exerted a large influence on Franz Schubert.

The sonatas recorded here date from 1807 and 1818, respectively, and are certainly among the most difficult works from the era, surpassing the technical demands made on the soloist by Mozart in his Bassoon Concerto. Krufft places the instruments on equal footing, challenging not only the bassoonist but also the fortepianist with leaps of more than two-and-one-half octaves and dazzlingly brilliant runs. Both sonatas, though written in the early years of Romanticism, and clearly Classical in tone, owe more to the ghosts of Haydn and Mozart than to the youthful and muscular works of Beethoven.

The performances turned in here are about as good as one could want with virtuosic, elegant, and seamless playing from both participants. The light tone of Wouter Verschuren’s 1810 Cuvillier bassoon is nicely matched by the sparkling character of Gerard Tuinman’s 2007 copy of an 1805 Walther and Sohn fortepiano played by Kathryn Cok; and the recorded sound faithfully reproduces the unique tonal qualities of each of the instruments.

For the most part, the appeal of this compact disc will probably be limited, but those who are bitten by the bug certainly won’t be disappointed.

FANFARE: Michael Carter

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Krufft: Sonatas For Bassoon And Fortepiano / Wouter Verschuren, Kathryn Cok
Challenge Classics Jan 2009
CD
$18.99

Bach: Brandenburg Concertos, Etc / Bashmet, Et Al
Naxos Oct 2006
CD
$29.99

Arnold Bax, Stanley Bate: Cello Concertos

Lyrita

$20.99 Mar 11, 2016

As is to be expected of a Lyrita-sourced disc this is a programme of considerable musical interest and artistic merit. One small curio, it seems to have been created under the auspices of Dutton and the master-tape subsequently licensed to Lyrita. Quite why Dutton should choose not to release this disc under their own banner given that it fits their house style I do not know - the important fact is that we are able to hear it whatever the label.

Coupling Arnold Bax with Stanley Bate is an interesting and unique concept. Here we have two essentially lyrical/romantic concertos that explore the darker more troubled aspect of the cello's character. I have to admit to being an unrepentant admirer of Bax's music but the opportunities to hear his larger-scale music on disc and in the concert hall are limited. The fact that there are three complete cycles of the symphonies plus the five recorded for Lyrita (1/7; 2/5; 6) remains something of a miracle. The concerted works have fared less well and the cello concerto least of all. Commercially there is only the version on Chandos from Raphael Wallfisch accompanied by Bryden Thomson and the LPO to compete with this new disc. Prior to receiving this new disc I had not listened to the Thomson/Wallfisch for some time. The soloist on the new disc is Lionel Handy accompanied by Martin Yates and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Yates orchestrated the early Bax Symphony in F and the RSNO were the first orchestra to record a complete Bax cycle for Naxos. Add to that the fact that Handy performed the concerto as part of the Bax centenary celebrations thirty years ago and you will see that this is a performance that benefits from performers well versed in the Baxian sound-world. Michael Ponder acted as both producer and engineer and he creates a warm and detailed soundscape in Glasgow's Henry Wood Hall. Perhaps Handy has been placed a fraction further forward in the picture than I would ideally prefer but he plays with absolute security and conviction and his technique can bear such close inspection.

In the liner Paul Conway draws attention to the detail of Bax's scoring and it is here in particular that this new performance scores over the older Chandos disc which is now - rather terrifyingly - some 27 years old. It dates from the time Chandos used All Saints Tooting as their recording venue of choice and for all the 'glamour' of the sound there is a rather glassy resonance that obscures the subtler details of the score. I have not heard the 2003 re-mastering to know how much of that has been tamed - certainly on the original disc it remains an issue but before dismissing the earlier performance, coming to it after the Handy/Yates I find Wallfisch/Thomson to be much more compelling story-tellers. Bax is always accused of rambling and becoming discursive; the new disc tends to reinforce that perception. In every movement this new performance is substantially longer than the earlier one. By movement (Wallfisch first): 14:16/16:25 - 9:29/11:36 - 8:46/10:03. The first movement in particular 'feels' long with Handy. That said, I like very much his muscular almost gruff approach. This does suit the craggy drama of the work but Wallfisch finds a lot more light and shade, his is a more febrile, edgy interpretation and one that benefits from Thomson nudging the music forward. In his cycle of the symphonies Thomson was sometimes criticised for the reverse - allowing energy to leak out of the scores. But in his time he was famed as an especially fine accompanist in concertos so perhaps he took his cue from Wallfisch. In his extraordinarily thorough book "A Catalogue of the works of Sir Arnold Bax" Graham Parlett quotes the composer writing to cellist Beatrice Harrison; "Be careful not to let the beginning hang about rhapsodically. It must go along with urge and fire. Cassado [the dedicatee and first performer] made this mistake at first, but the other day ... was just right". Elsewhere Bax wrote regarding Harrison - the work's main champion - "... she must be kept in order about rubatos ..." Both quotes tell me that momentum and impulse are important in this work.

That being said the way the Handy relaxes into the lyrical second theme [track 1 4:50] benefits the music - here Wallfisch feels restless - but he is better and picking the momentum back up where Handy continues his rather steady way.

The central movement is quite beautiful - unusually for Bax it is titled Nocturne and according to Harriet Cohen was written to quote Bax again; "to recall you to your naughty boy ..." Cohen had accompanied Cassado on a recital tour and pestered him to commission the work - he is the 'naughty boy' but this is rather chaste and lyrical music rather than the smouldering eroticism the title and quote might imply. Bax expert Lewis Foreman hears an oblique tribute to Strauss' Don Quixote in the duetting cello and solo viola in this movement and goes on to suggest that Moeran quarried some of the instrumental effects in the second and third movements for his own G minor Symphony which was being written at this time.

The poise and reflection of this slow movement suits Handy's style well and again the detailed new recording does allow the sophisticated detail of Bax's scoring to register. Again, valid though this approach is I find Wallfisch's greater fantasy ultimately more rewarding - he has the full measure of the range of Bax's pensive twilight. This movement is very fine indeed and probably contains the finest music on the whole disc. Early critical opinion was that the finale was something of a throw-away after the drama and atmosphere of the previous two movements. It certainly feels lighter in spirit and content but is effectively played by both cellists.

If it were for the Bax alone I would not hesitate in saying that collectors already possessing the earlier recording either in its original guise coupled with some orchestral works or the later re-mastering with the Violin Concerto and Morning Song need not buy this new disc. However, even for Bax admirers such as myself the curiosity-tweaking interest of this release is the presence of Stanley Bate's Cello Concerto in its premiere recording. Dutton have rather promoted Bate's work which makes it all the more surprising that they chose to pass on this release. As with the Bax, this is a work in the traditional three movement fast-slow-fast format. Again, as with the Bax, the scoring is relatively restrained although the Bate is slightly unusual in having reduced wind; two each of flutes, oboes and bassoons but only a single clarinet offset against a full brass complement. Until a revival in his music through the medium of CD he was truly a forgotten composer and one imagines a sense of being forgotten in his own time and writing music not of that time contributed to his suicide at the age of 47 in 1959.

Certainly this is instantly attractive and skilfully written music. Paul Conway in his liner rightly points out that Bate writes themes that are easily distinguishable and his sense of form is clear and well defined. This is unashamedly Romantic music which exploits the singing quality of the instrument. I see from the liner that Handy was responsible for creating both the score and a set of performing parts for the work - a very major undertaking even before learning a note of the solo part. Committed advocate though he is of the Bax concerto I cannot help wondering whether the Bate was the real impetus for the making of this disc. Clearly, there is not another recording available to compare or contrast with but I have a sense that Handy is even more engaged with the Bate than the Bax. My response is perhaps a little more lukewarm. Bate's orchestration here and in the other works I have heard I find thoroughly competent and effective but rarely inspired or imaginative. Likewise his harmonic palette; it is good and tasteful but with few of those sideslips and surprises that Bax produces by the bar - too often his detractors might say with some good cause. Martin Yates has been on the podium of nearly all the Bate recordings for Dutton so he can claim to be the most experienced conductor of his work today. As with the Bax, Yates and the RSNO prove sympathetic accompanists. Again, as with the Bax, the central movement - here an Andante - contains the best and most memorable music in the work. It starts with a chord that sounds as if it could have been lifted from Vaughan Williams' Tallis Fantasia and then moves on to a passionate extended arioso that brings out the considerable best in Handy. The Bate concerto predates Walton's essay in the form by some three years but they share the same sense of pained lyricism. This central movement contains the brief cadenza before an interesting passage where the woodwind carry the melodic content with the soloist accompanying with fluttering trills. Another similarity with the Bax is that the finale feels like the weakest music in the work - trying slightly too hard to be upbeat and with an even more abrupt conclusion than the Bax. Conway hears a melodic similarity to the song "Let's face the music and dance" which is passing at best - not too much "trouble ahead" for the plagiarism lawyers, I feel. My concern is that it feels rather more worked out than the spontaneous flow of melody the central movement contained. That being said it is a concerto I am very glad to have heard and certainly will be a piece admirers of the composer and those interested in British string concertos will want to hear.

As with all Lyrita discs this is immaculately presented; excellent concise - English-only - liner-notes and biographies, beautifully engineered - whatever the source and an attractive cover portrait of Bax. Interestingly this same painting - by Vera Bax - differently cropped is also used on Handy's disc of Bax's works for cello and piano. The only minor blot on the Lyrita presentation is that they state 'recording location and date' but give no date. Running at just over the hour mark perhaps it would have been nice to be offered another short (concertante?) work by either composer. Highly enjoyable music even if neither work represents the composer at his absolute finest.

- Nick Barnard, Musicweb International

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Arnold Bax, Stanley Bate: Cello Concertos
Lyrita Mar 2016
CD
$20.99

Vivaldi: Concertos For Diverse Instruments
Vanguard Records Jun 2010
CD
$15.99

Marcus Blunt: Orchestral Works

Metier

$19.99 Jan 19, 2018

Marcus Blunt, who turns 70 years old this year, is a well established British composer with an international voice – his harmonic language is distinctive and varied; arising from the Romantic tradition but full of complex contrapuntal chromaticism -and also touched by the mystic in subtle ways, perhaps more apparent in his solo piano music. These works are firmly in the modern mainstream and deserve a wide audience; from the convoluted lines of the Concerto, the restrained small orchestration of the Symphony to the picturesque nature of the Bassoon Concertino, Blunt’s works retain an intense interest for the listener. Murray McLachlan, one of the UK’s most celebrated pianists, has long championed Blunt’s work. Lesley Wilson is one of Britain’s most seasoned bassoonists and the award-winning Manchester Camerata has recently risen to the highest ranking among British chamber orchestra.

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Marcus Blunt: Orchestral Works
Metier Jan 2018
CD
$19.99

JOHANN NEPOMUK HUMMEL 1778-1837 'COLLECTION'

ALTO

$11.01 Oct 14, 2022

altogether this is as tempting a Hummel collection as any we know... His G major (mandolin) Concerto here in even more agreeable form, as Op.73 Piano Concertino, and Martin Galling is even more persuasive, helped by a very spirited backing in Berlin... also La Galante, a lilting Rondo for solo piano... Zukerman and Faerber return for Hummel's Bassoon Concerto, impressive to be discussed in the same breath as Mozart's, particularly with this splendid soloist, who is deliciously jocular in the characterful finale. The disc concludes with Septet Militaire, Op.114: the very happy finale, with it's ingenious upward scale, is most felicitous (Gramophone)

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JOHANN NEPOMUK HUMMEL 1778-1837 'COLLECTION'
ALTO Oct 2022
CD
$11.01

Mozart & Beethoven: Quintets for Winds & Piano

Haenssler Classic

$20.99 Aug 14, 2015

The Staatskapelle Dresden unquestionably belongs to the international elite of orchestras. Here, the outstanding wind soloists of this vaunted orchestra, together with the Munich-based pianist Margarita Höhenrieder, perform two special works from the Viennese classical repertoire: Mozart's Quintet for oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon and piano in E flat major, K. 452, and the Quintet in E flat major, Op. 16 by Beethoven. As a very special encore, oboist Bernd Schober has edited the beloved Andante from Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 for wind quintet and piano.

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Mozart & Beethoven: Quintets for Winds & Piano
Haenssler Classic Aug 2015
CD
$20.99

Bach: Concertos Vol 1 / Suzuki, Terakado, Wakamatsu, Et Al

BIS

$21.99 Apr 01, 2000

This new recording from the Bach Collegium Japan contains the three violin concertos by Bach which have been preserved in their original form (BWV 1041-3) and another, for violin and oboe (BWV 1060), which has survived only in a version for two harpsichords and strings. But since Bach has left us arrangements of all four works for one or two harpsichords, it seems probable that BWV 1060 was also originally a work for two melody instruments, the writing suggestive of an oboe with violin.

Though plenty of recordings exist of these concertos played on period instruments, few if any entirely satisfy my sensibilities. Solo violinist Ryo Terakado, who customarily leads the Bach Collegium Japan, perhaps comes as close as any to fulfilling hopes and expectations. His playing in the A minor and E major Concertos is clearly articulated with eloquently shaped phrases – the Andante of the A minor work provides a good instance of these virtues. His tone, furthermore, has a sweetness in the upper register which is all too often lacking in performances by his period instrument rivals. In the D minor Concerto for two violins, Terakado is joined by Natsumi Wakamatsu, another member of Bach Collegium Japan. Their partnership, evenly balanced and animated in the outer movement dialogue, is rewarding, while the lyrical Largo ma non tanto is sensitively played with alluring inflections.

The oboist in the remaining work (C minor) is the Belgian virtuoso Marcel Ponseele. He is one of the finest Bach oboe players around and nowhere here does he disappoint. In short, this version of the violin concertos, as well as that for violin and oboe, is comfortably my first choice.

-- Nicholas Anderson, BBC Music Magazine

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Bach: Concertos Vol 1 / Suzuki, Terakado, Wakamatsu, Et Al
BIS Apr 2000
CD
$21.99

Michl: Quartets Nos. 1-6 for Bassoon, 2 Violins & Cello / Hoadley, Hall String Trio

Naxos

$9.99 ~~$19.99~~ Save 50% Apr 24, 2020

Upon hearing a chamber piece by Joseph Michl in Munich in 1772 the English composer and music historian Charles Burney wrote, ‘I hardly ever heard a composition that discovered more genius and invention.’ Even though Michl achieved success writing for the operatic stage and his contemporary reputation rested on his sacred works, the Bassoon Quartets present the epitome of urbane sophistication – elegantly constructed and full of imaginative detail – and at times resembling miniature concertos.

Ben Hoadley is one of Australasia’s finest bassoonists, performing on modern and historical instruments. He is also an award-winning composer whose works are performed and recorded internationally. Hoadley has appeared frequently as guest principal with many of the professional orchestras in both Australia and New Zealand, and as a recital and concerto soloist and chamber musician. His special interest in music by New Zealand composers has led to many collaborations in the creation of new music for bassoon. The Hall String Trio (Lara, Amalia and Callum Hall) are siblings from Auckland, New Zealand who have performed together extensively since childhood, primarily as a string quartet with their brother Elroy. Continued performances together have included duos, trios and collaborations with non-family members.

REVIEWS:

Hoadley tosses it all off flawlessly without any sense of strain, and always mindful of the prime directive to produce a smooth, seamless, and beautiful tone.

…Hoadley is companioned by three sibling Halls—Laura and Amalia, violins, and Callum, cello—who know their place in these works and play with deference to the bassoon. I would very much like to hear them in works composed for string trio, for their modest contributions in these bassoon quartets hint at an ensemble of string players that would really shine on their own.

-- Fanfare

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Michl: Quartets Nos. 1-6 for Bassoon, 2 Violins & Cello / Hoadley, Hall String Trio
Naxos Apr 2020
CD
~~$19.99~~ $9.99

Bax: Piano Concertino - Ireland: Piano Concerto & Legend
SOMM Recordings Mar 2009
CD
$20.99

Crusell, B.H.: Clarinet Concertos Nos. 1 and 3 / Concertante
Centaur Records May 1997
CD
$18.99

QUARTETS & CONCERTOS

Linn Records

$20.99 Jul 12, 2019

Ensemble Marsyas' recording of Johann Fasch's finest chamber music demonstrates why the man and his music were so appreciated in his own lifetime. Founding member Peter Whelan and "the queen of the recorder" (BBC Radio 3) Pamela Thorby are the soloists challenged with meeting the virtuoso demands of this engaging music. The four-movement Quartet in B flat major for recorder, oboe, violin and continuo is among one of Fasch's most popular works; full of catchy tunes and contrapuntal ingenuity in equal measure, virtuosity is demanded from all concerned. The Concerto in F major for recorder and strings was only recently attributed to Fasch. It is full of characteristic Fasch-isms and of the same dramatic quasi-recitative style as his Bassoon Concerto. Upon release Fasch: Quartets and Concertos was named a Chamber Choice by BBC Music Magazine and awarded the maximum five stars for both Performance and Recording.

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QUARTETS & CONCERTOS
Linn Records Jul 2019
CD
$20.99

VIVALDI IN PRAGUE

ACCENT

$22.00 ~~$22.01~~ Save 0% May 15, 2026

Vivaldi's famous Four Seasons are dedicated to Count Wenzel von Morzin from Prague. In 1718, he traveled to Venice with his 'virtuosissimo orchestra' and hired Vivaldi as 'maestro di musica italiano'. This marked the beginning of an era of close musical exchange between Venice and Prague. This relationship, which shaped an entire generation of Czech composers, is the focus of Vivaldi in Prague. The program includes concertos by Frantisek Jiranek, who was employed in Count Morzin's chapel and studied in Vivaldi's circle in Venice from 1724 to 1726, and by Antonin Reichenauer, whose musical thinking was strongly influenced by Vivaldi's school. The program is complemented by a bassoon concerto by Vivaldi dedicated to Count Morzin, an aria from a Vivaldi opera performed in Prague in 1730, and two arias from Vivaldi pasticcios reconstructed by Robert Rawson for this production. These pasticcios were compiled by the Venetian impresario Antonio Denzio from popular Vivaldi operas and presented to Prague audiences with new texts, including some in Czech.

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VIVALDI IN PRAGUE
ACCENT May 2026
CD
~~$22.01~~ $22.00

Mix & Match

Sir Colin Davis Conducts Mozart

Sony Masterworks

$11.48 ~~$22.98~~ Save 50% Jan 21, 2022

Sony Classical is pleased to announce a new batch of reissues from the CBS/Sony and RCA Victor/BMG back catalogues. This latest instalment of the popular series showcases Mozart and Chopin along with conductor Robert Craft’s pioneering Webern recordings and the global journeys of that irrepressible musical explorer Yo-Yo Ma.

Sir Colin Davis was indisputably one of the greatest Mozart conductors of the last century, both in the opera house and in the recording studio. In Munich in the early 1990s, near the end of his tenure as chief conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, he recorded several of the popular serenades and wind concertos (“Davis is completely at home in this music and brings to it grandeur and delicacy in good measure and judicious balance” – Gramophone). And in 1998, as the Dresden Staatskapelle’s first-ever conductor laureate, he recorded twelve opera overtures (“Beautifully turned string playing, wonderful contributions from the wind section, and transparent textures: it all represents splendid ‘big band’ Mozart in the modern tradition” – Classics Today). These superb RCA recordings are now reissued in a 4-album box set.

REVIEW:

Colin Davis’s RCA Mozart CDs from the 1990s, mostly with the Bavarian RSO, tend towards more relaxed tempos than on his earlier analog recordings, a live coupling of the Posthorn Serenade and the Bassoon Concerto recorded at the Mozartfest in Würzburg in June 1992 claiming among its many virtues textural opulence (Eberhard Marschall’s bassoon is among the richest in tone that I’ve ever heard) and, as Christopher Headington noted in these pages (9/94), an unhurried finale ‘despite the Presto marking that tempts less experienced conductors’. You might additionally note Davis’s Toscanini-like vocalizing at the start of the Andantino, a romantic reading that works wonderfully well. Also included are similarly affecting accounts of Eine kleine Nachtmusik, the Wind Serenades Nos 10-12, the Clarinet Concerto (with a mellifluoussounding Karl-Heinz Steffens), and the one CD featuring the Dresden Staatskapelle, an hour’s worth of overtures. I’d never clocked on previous occasions the strong similarity between the very brief Bastien und Bastienne Overture and the opening of Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony. As Mozart orchestral compilations go, this is among the best, one that you should return to with constantly renewed pleasure. The recordings are full-bodied.

--Gramophone

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Sir Colin Davis Conducts Mozart
Sony Masterworks Jan 2022
CD
~~$22.98~~ $11.48

Reichenauer: Concertos. Music from Eighteenth-century Prague
Supraphon Dec 2010
CD
$31.99

Vivaldi: Concerti per fagotto, Vol. 2 / Fukui, Power, Ensemble F

Ars Produktion

$21.99 Sep 21, 2018

Antonio Vivaldi's bassoon concertos convince not only with their astonishingly authentic composition, but also with their almost inexhaustible ingenuity and their extraordinary musical quality. On her second release for Ars Produktion, featuring bassoon concertos by the Venetian composer, Miho Fukui also plays works in which the oboe takes part as well. Miho Fukui was born in Japan. After receiving her degree in Tokyo, she went on to study in Frankfurt and Lubeck. She plays regularly in several different orchestras and ensembles in Switzerland, Japan, and Germany, where she performs on both the modern and baroque bassoon. In 2009 she founded the “Ensemble F,” which is dedicated to Vivaldi’s 39 bassoon concertos.

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Vivaldi: Concerti per fagotto, Vol. 2 / Fukui, Power, Ensemble F
Ars Produktion Sep 2018
CD
$21.99

Sebastian Fagerlund: Drifts, Stonework & Guitar Concerto "Tr

BIS

SACD

$21.99 Mar 02, 2018

Sebastian Fagerlund has been described as ‘a composer who commandingly bridges tradition and modernity’ (Klassik-Heute.de) while his music is ‘modern and unorthodox, opulent and strange, masterfully composed and orchestrated’ (MusicWeb-International). Previous acclaimed recordings on BIS include the chamber opera Döbeln, as well as orchestral works and concertos for clarinet, violin and bassoon respectively. Another concertante work froms part of the present programme: Transit for guitar and orchestra, written for Ismo Eskelinen who also performs it here. He is partnered by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Hannu Lintu who have previously championed Fagerlund’s music: the orchestra has commissioned several works, including the guitar concerto as well as Drifts, the opening work here. The release takes its title from the third composition, Stonework, named after those man-made stone structures that are found all over the world, serving a range of purposes, from landmarks and navigational aids to burial monuments.

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Sebastian Fagerlund: Drifts, Stonework & Guitar Concerto "Tr
BIS Mar 2018
SACD
$21.99

Poulenc: Piano Concerto, Concerto Champetre & Other Works / Rebbington, Latham-koenig, Royal Philharmonic

Resonus Classics

$18.99 Apr 03, 2020

The acclaimed pianist Mark Bebbington marks his Resonus Classics debut, and the start of a new French music series, with a major new recording of works by Francis Poulenc. Joined by conductor Jan Latham-Koenig, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, this varied programme of works for piano features the Piano Concerto (the last of his five concertos) and the rarely-recorded piano version of the Concert champêtre so often performed by Poulenc himself. Bebbington is also joined by oboist John Roberts and bassoonist Jonathan Davies for the Trio for Piano, Oboe & Bassoon, and the Sonata for Oboe & Piano.

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Poulenc: Piano Concerto, Concerto Champetre & Other Works / Rebbington, Latham-koenig, Royal Philharmonic
Resonus Classics Apr 2020
CD
$18.99

Trumpet Concert: Basch, Wolfgang / Kremer, Pierre – NERUDA,
Profil May 2009
CD
$21.99

VIVALDI: Chamber Concertos

Naxos

$19.99 Dec 13, 2005

László Kecskeméti was born in 1972 in Budapest and is proud to have been a pupil of László Czidra. Since completing studies in 1993, and in the class of Lõrincz László in 1997 in Szeged, he has performed frequently as a soloist and as a member of different early music ensembles. He also teaches at a music school in Budapest. Kecskeméti is joined in five of the concertos by oboist Lászlo Hadady. Undergirding these performances is the fine and often virtuosic harpsichord and cello continuo played by Borbála Dobozy and György Kertész respectively. The bassoon joins the fray in four of the concertos and is played by the redoubtable György Olajos. The two violinists are Attila Falvay and Katalin Párkányi. The little cadential flourishes that all the soloists make at appropriate moments are delightful.

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VIVALDI: Chamber Concertos
Naxos Dec 2005
CD
$19.99

The Brandenburg Project - 12 Concertos / Dausgaard, Swedish Chamber Orchestra

BIS

SACD

$22.48 ~~$44.99~~ Save 50% Apr 23, 2021

Along with Vivaldi’s ‘Seasons’ or Beethoven’s ‘Fifth’, Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos belong to those works that are so well-known that we risk taking them for granted. In order to (re-)discover the special qualities that can inspire us today, in 2001 Thomas Dausgaard and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra decided to contact six contemporary composer, asking each of them to compose a companion piece to one of the concertos. Seventeen years later, in 2018, it was time to present the result, with a performance at the BBC Proms of all the works – new and old. Recorded over a period of 18 months leading up to this event, the present boxed set provides a unique opportunity to experience six very different musical minds and idioms entering into conversation with Bach: Mark-Anthony Turnage, Steven Mackey, Anders Hillborg, Olga Neuwirth, Uri Caine and Brett Dean. Bach’s concertos are remarkable in that they are all scored for different instrumental combinations, and part of the brief to the group of composers was to reflect this. In her Aello, Olga Neuwirth has for instance used several ‘instruments’ to stand in for Bach’s harpsichord, including a synthesizer, a milk frother and a typewriter. Brett Dean, on the other hand, has stayed very close to Bach’s instrumentation, but has chosen to write his work as a preparation for Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 – an Approach to Bach’s extremely tight canonic writing. In performing the twelve works the orchestra and Dausgaard are joined by leading soloists including Clare Chase, Mahan Esfahani, Håkan Hardenberger, Pekka Kuusisto and Tabea Zimmermann.

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The Brandenburg Project - 12 Concertos / Dausgaard, Swedish Chamber Orchestra
BIS Apr 2021
SACD
~~$44.99~~ $22.48

Bassoon Images (Live)

Datum

$13.99 Oct 06, 2017

Any attempt at a review of compositions devoted to the bassoon, will inevitably reveal how few of them there are, despite the fact that, in our century, greater exploration of the possibilites of this instrument has led to an increase ia a repertoire which is fundamentally very limited. On the other hand, the many technical improvements have resulted in the bassoon's icreased participation in ensemble chamber compositions, frequently accompanied by the piano. In addition to compositions originaly conceived for piano and bassoon, this release includes, in the second half, trascriptions of compositions originally written for variously formed ensemble, which have contributed to the extension of the repertoire, at the same time exploiting to the full many possibilites offered by these instruments. The works are performed here by Stefano Canuti and Massimo Somenzi, two of Italy's most sought-after bassonists.

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Bassoon Images (Live)
Datum Oct 2017
CD
$13.99

Davies: Strathclyde Concertos Nos. 7 & 8

Naxos

$13.99 ~~$19.99~~ Save 30% Nov 19, 2013

Some of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies' most imposing and important music for solo instruments can be heard in his cycle of ten Strathclyde Concertos, composed for, and premiered by the soloists of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. The ingeniously structured Seventh Concerto, for double bass, is both tense and haunting. The more conventionally laid out Eighth Concerto, for bassoon, is by turns playful and lyrical, and features an important role for timpani. A Spell for Green Corn was written to celebrate the 21st anniversary of the SCO and Maxwell Davies' 60th birthday.

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Davies: Strathclyde Concertos Nos. 7 & 8
Naxos Nov 2013
CD
~~$19.99~~ $13.99

CONCERTO

Resonus Classics

$9.49 ~~$18.99~~ Save 50% May 19, 2017

Following much critical acclaim for his debut solo album Ciaccona, harpsichordist Guillermo Brachetta returns to the Resonous label with Concerto, a thrilling programme of works for one and two harpsichords composed seza ripieno. This stunning album features J.S. Bach's Italian Concerto, the second part of his Clavier-Übung and solo concerti from Wilhelm Friedemann Bacha nd Carl Heinrich Graun. Bachetta is joined by Menno van Delft for the original two-harpsichord version of J.S. Bach's Concerto a due cembali in C major, BWV 1061a. ''Superb performances by Brachetta'' (Financial Times)

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CONCERTO
Resonus Classics May 2017
CD
~~$18.99~~ $9.49

Handel: Concerti Grossi Op. 3 / Mortensen, Concerto Copenhagen

CPO

$18.99 Feb 28, 2012

Concerto Copenhagen’s performances ooze abundantly with charm, wisdom and warmth. Passages for recorders, oboes and bassoon during the Largo of Concerto No 1 in B flat are played exquisitely. Courtly rhythms spring disarmingly in the Vivace of Concerto No 2 in B flat…Lars Ulrik Mortensen’s harpsichord continuo is imaginative in its support for the intimate dialogue between two cellos and Frank de Bruine’s beautifully judged oboe solo. The Minuet that concludes Concerto No 4 in F major is correctly an elegant dance…Mortensen’s fluent playing of the tricky quick organ solos in the concluding Allegro are articulated flawlessly. Such classy moments make this one of the most endearing artistic interpretations of Op 3 in recent years...

-- David Vickers, Gramophone [6/2012]

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Handel’s op. 3 concerti grossi have long been viewed unfavorably in some critical circles thanks to the reflection cast by the composer’s superior op. 6 collection. Yet the earlier works are thematically attractive, rhythmically varied, and expertly sequenced, despite being constructed piecemeal out of music composed over a long period of time. They’ve proven popular as well with modern listeners as a whole, and there’s no danger of their falling out of circulation—not with more than 15 recordings available in the current catalog.

Lars Ulrik Mortensen’s approach is straightforward, and inclining a bit to the decorous side. He phrases elastically in the adagio of the Third Concerto (the alternative solo flute version, rather than the usual oboe), but not as freely as Egarr/Academy of Ancient Music (Harmonia Mundi 2908292). Again, the opening vivace of the Sixth Concerto moves along with stately pride, but it misses the snap of Egarr’s trills that give it a swaggering air, or the delicacy and fleet pacing of Creswick/Northern Sinfonia (Naxos 8.553457). Next to these two versions, there’s a slight facelessness to this album, despite the virtuosic performances of Concerto Copenhagen.

Which isn’t to discount it; those listeners who find the likes of Egarr or Creswick too characterful will probably prefer these readings. There’s a fine sense of energy, movement and balance to timbres from Mortensen in the Fourth Concerto’s Ouverture, and as in the fugal allegro of the Fifth Concerto, all lines are clearly exposed, easy to follow. Then, too, if he doesn’t accent as sharply as several others, Mortensen does use longer-held notes as one among several methods of accenting—a period-accurate point, and providing a subtle variation to the standard phrasing heard on most other discs.

My own preferences still lie with Egarr in a period-instrument mood, and with Iona Brown/Academy of St. Martin (Hänssler 98.918) when not: unsentimental, brightly articulated, dance-like where required, but capable of great flexibility. But there’s much to be said in favor of this expertly performed recording.

FANFARE: Barry Brenesal

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Handel: Concerti Grossi Op. 3 / Mortensen, Concerto Copenhagen
CPO Feb 2012
CD
$18.99