Roman Sonatas

The re-invented Musica Antiqua Köln has released an album entitled Roma, featuring Italian works by Lonati, Mannelli, Lulier, Ravenscroft, Bonporti, et al. The new ensemble is called Alte Musik Köln. The sound quality, first, is excellent. Live, for sure, but each instrument is carefully and beautifully rendered.

I lack liner notes to say anything much about the music. It’s all of a pretty high quality, despite being obscure. The Caldara sonata in D minor features the cello, and presents enough virtuosity between the bass instrument and the two violinists. Energy abounds in this work like many others presented here. Slow movements can be sparse in terms of drama, but the fast movements allow these technical musicians to show off their abilities.

La Panuzzi’s second track is plenty showy, simply marked “3/4 time.” The ultimate track, 6/8, offers a counterpoint exercise in a light canon. The work is emblematic of many of the works on this recording: it glimmers in spots (3/4) but in others, simply plods along (6/8).

The final work on disc is a concerto da camera by Giovanni Lorenzo Lulier, which follows a Corellian-style format, but with a lighter, almost galante air. It gives far more gas to the bass line here with cello lines that emerge. You might think this work is a lightweight extra, but listen carefully, and little gems present themselves in the busy passagework.

What’s missing from the recording? I’m happy to hear that Goebel’s later creep of vibrato into his style is missing here from these violinists. But what they may have borrowed from Goebel is his verve and energy.

In all, this recording presents a nice variety of largely unknown, some quirky, and many energetic works that are nice additions to the canon. What’s most expressive is the sheer virtuosity captured in this one recording. I hope it’s a sign of more to come.

Bartók String Quartets

I recently acquired the Takács Quartet recording of Béla Bartók’s six string quartets… I’ll likely have a more substantial review later (as it has been some years since I have listened to these works), but thus far, my favorite quartet, number 4, is excellent: raw energy in all the right places.

My Collection

Late last year, I purchased the program “Delicious Library” for my Mac, from Delicious Monster. The application allows you to build a virtual library of your physical books, CDs, DVDs, and other items around the house. You can then use this “library” to check-out items to friends. The innovative part is its use of the iSight video camera (or a Bluetooth scanner) to read barcodes and automatically “know” a lot about the items you scan into the database.

With the most recent update, I was able to use the program to look at my iTunes library without the application crashing (was my collection too large? or was the new directory from iTunes 9 the fix?). So, now, I have exported my collection with nice bookshelves to HTML.

View my music collection online!

I think something worth exploring is whether or not I could review each album and have that display when you click on the CD covers. Hmm…

J.S. Bach: Orchestral Suites for a Young Prince

Ensemble Sonnerie under Monica Huggett records four (of the five) Bach orchestral suites on Avie.

Seemingly now, in 2009-2010, recording engineers have finally found their place, and can record music pristinely. It’s the first thing that hits you in this new rendition of Bach’s works for orchestra by Ensemble Sonnerie. Sonnerie’s smaller forces come across crystal clear in a vibrant recording of BWV 1066-1069.

It’s an interesting take, this record, because Huggett takes a bare, minimalist approach to offset her recorded rivals. Gone are the supposed later-additions Bach used to dress-up these works over time, the aim then, was to offer the original spirit behind these pieces. Not sure the reasoning for BWV 1068’s opening overture, but they take the faster sections at true breakneck speeds. I had a lot of fun with that, and Bach’s writing works just as well with the tempo dial turned up.

The next movement in Bach’s third orchestral suite is his famous Air, here presumably played not only on the so-called G string. What I don’t like is that Huggett doesn’t take the first violin line solo, instead, Sonnerie plays the movement as one big string piece. Thankfully I have other renditions in my personal catalog that do, in fact, use a solo violin there. If they have a historical reason for playing in unison, well, then I approve. It’s best not to let only my personal preferences mar an otherwise fair and balanced review.

So yes, BWV 1068 is a loud, festive work with brass (it’s been argued whether the definitive brass is trumpets, or perhaps earlier, horns) and timpani. Here that is gone, and you sing along those parts if you like, with Sonnerie’s punchy rhythms and foot-tapping fun. What does stand out instead of drums and brass is a really sparkling harpsichord and a sense that these folks are having real fun. It’s the kind of music making that makes you pause and simply smile as you really do tap your foot.

Aside from Huggett not taking the Air solo, my other complaint with this recording is the lack of BWV 1070 in the mix. Okay, perhaps it wouldn’t have fit on one disk. And maybe they didn’t include it because it was likely written by W. F. Bach and not his dad. But no bother, the music on this CD has the same intimate joy that I have gotten listening to Bach’s “5th” orchestral suite from MAK, on a recording made in the early 1980s. And if Sonnerie in 2010 is making me think of Musica Antiqua, Köln from the 1980s, then that should be hearty praise.

Where Sonnerie lacks color without drums and such in BWV 1068 and 1069, they do add color in the form of double reeds in both the second and fourth orchestral suites (BWV 1067, 1069). Rarely, however, do we get the treat of such deft bassoon playing (Bourées, BWV 1069) or technical facility (oboe, Battinerie, BWV 1067). That’s right, no flute here. The Sonnerie oboist has made the case for the second suite being originally written for oboe.

Sonnerie has made a most refreshing recording. The historical authenticity of their efforts may never be truly tested, but their thinking on a smaller scale along with some talented recording engineers has made a real treat. I highly recommend your future purchase of Sonnerie’s Orchestral Suites for a Young Prince.

Matteis: False Consonances of Melancholy

Amandine Beyer and colleagues have recorded various ayres for the violin and continuo on Zig-Zag Territories by composer N. Matteis.

I’ve run across Matteis’ in small doses over the years, one or more of his dance movements appearing in compilations (such as those by Florilegium with Rachel Podger), but this is my first album dedicated to Matteis altogether. Despite his name (which looks French to my eyes), he was an Italian who found success in his career in England.

Ayres are good names for the pieces, all short by just a few minutes in length, organized loosely in mini suites. Having watched a promotional video that was made for this album, I learned violinist Beyer plays “off the shoulder,” to mimic the professed playing style by Matteis, who seemed to be a sort of virtuoso fiddler.

The ensemble assembled here has a richness about their sound, with Beyer standing in the front with a leading, affective virtuosity about her playing. These are therefore performers who like the music they’re playing, exploring the music’s emotional and affective depths.

While the length and severity of Matteis’ music may be unusual, the music nevertheless is engaging and sensitively performed–representing several diverse ranges of mood.

Warmly recommended.

Krieger: 12 trio sonatas

The obscure German composer, Johann Philipp Krieger, has been recorded in a series of 12 published trio sonatas (for 2 violins and b.c.) by Parnassi Musici.

I purchased the CD after reading about the ensemble from the Folding Harpsichord Blog, where Jack reviews their recording of works by Domenico Gallo.

Gallo’s music is not available currently in Mp3 format, but the later recording of works by Krieger are. Despite being a prolific composer (not unlike Bach), so many works by this composer have been lost.

The trio sonatas are written in a harmonic style not that foreign from Italian models, such as some of Corelli’s unpublished works. In terms of style, the works are rather conservative, with much of the writing keeping the two violins together in passages of thirds, save for when one starts a short contrapuntal exchange.

To my ears, the style of this composer isn’t terribly far either from some of the “Baltic” works in MAK’s recording musica baltica. The prevalent German style seems to tap, too, into the string ensemble works by Lübeck composers Buxtehude and Johann Pachelbel. In this comparison, Krieger is definitely following a more Italiante model, but at the same time, his writing is far less daring.

Which leaves us with performance questions for the players: what style should we adopt? Parnassi musici have a nice string sound, but I found two faults with their playing that prevent this disc from being truly a standout.

For one, they often adopt very strict tempi that appear to be super-aligned with a metronome. The Affekt of baroque music, to my ears, needs a more liberal interpretation when emphasizing the resolution of dissonance, when landing a delicious chord, or when you simply want to–to make the music more interesting. This isn’t to say they can’t–they can change tempo, but the only time it isn’t an abrupt change is at the tail-end of a movement where a natural ritard is called for.

The second criticism is related, but deals with their willingness to “lean” into some of the music, or to project more “feeling” into it. This is not to say they are emotionless players, but that Krieger’s plainess in his writing would only be enhanced by some more colorful interpretation.

To their credit, the ensemble takes on faster movements with aplomb and plenty of speed and technical ability.

In conclusion, an interesting release of a very unknown composer’s work, but one that likely hasn’t risen to well-known heights on the merit of his compositional abilities. The ensemble shines more than the music, but they could have helped it along with a more daring big-picture view of these works caught somewhere between an older German and emerging Italian style.