Biber Mystery Sonatas - Meret Lüthi
Meret Lüthl and Les Passions de l’Ame have recorded Biber’s Rosenkranz-Sonaten on Prospero.
On the heels of the recent recording by Amandine Beyer came this recording of the same set of sonatas by Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, the composer whose Rosary or Mystery sonatas had inspired me in 1996 to adopt the new online handle biberfan.
While at the time the only recording I had access to was the very excellent one made by Reinhard Goebel, today thankfully many more violinists have taken to record this extraordinary collection of sonatas written for scordatura violin and continuo. Thankfully, too, for us, they don’t all adopt the same mindset when doing so. I was thankful when Andrew Manze and Richard Egarr chose to record the set with a minimum of continuo. While I ultimately wasn’t the biggest fan of Manze’s more meditative approach to the works, I still admired their artistic point of view and the different approach that let us hear the works less as extravagant showpieces and more appropriately as personal religious meditations.
Beyer, I thought, struck a good middle ground in her recording. There was much to admire about that recording, in the way she played freely and seemingly without restraint.
This new recording by Les Passions de l’Ame featuring violinist Meret Lüthl follows their earlier strong presentation of Biber and his contemporaries in an earlier recording, I believe, entitled Spicy baroque. I might have waited to review both the Beyer and Lüthl releases together but based on group’s past efforts, I anticipated that this release might deserve its own spot on the biberfan shelf.
As far as approaches go, Lüthl and friends go for gilding the lily with a full, rich continuo ensemble. In his Gramophone award-winning release, John Holloway also adopted a fuller backup band, but this one is pretty colorful, as far as they all go: both viola and lira da gamba are used, basse de violon, claviorganum, theorbo, archlute, and salterio. The lack of harp is disappointing. (I’m kidding, of course, but it has been used!)
Lüthl uses two Stainer instruments (how so appropriate!), both supposedly made in 1659.
I’d encourage you to start with the ninth track, marked Double from the third sonata, the Nativity. Beyer’s release had all been about dance, but doesn’t this reading really inspire you to get up and start dancing? When the salterio comes in, I’m ready smile all afternoon long. The strumming on the lute completes for me the approach that’s taken on this entire album, fun, for sure, and also a little bit of spice they introduced us to in their earlier album. More of that flavor continues in the gigue from the 8th sonata, track 22, although wrapped in a completely different sound world, with changes in the violin’s tuning and choice of continuo complement. The issue with this movement is how the violin’s sound can be become overwhelmed with a large menagerie of continuo instruments, within a very live performance space. Despite this, Lüthl’s sound is omnipresent, and ever confident in her playing.
Among the most well-known sonatas in the collection is the tenth (X), marked here as the Crucifixion. Another version of this work exists in an “arrangement”, by being transposed and with an additional movement, by a relative of Schmelzer. It’s unique for Biber asks the performer in this edition to cross the two middle strings of the violin to form an “x” or cross below the bridge. This recording for me highlights how these musicians are able to balance the slow and contemplative nature of these works alongside the more showy portions, for whom Biber was famous for in his lifetime as a virtuoso. This balance, I think, ultimately is a win for us, the audience. It also seems well positioned to represent the stylus fantasticus style of contrasts which dominated the musical language during Biber’s time.
The recording made by Beyer does favor the sound of the violin over the continuo group, which is also diverse. For whatever its worth, I’m divided. I much favor the timbre of the instruments Lüthl uses, although they often are more deeply surrounded by her friends in the menagerie.
The final piece in this collection comes for solo violin and is often called the Guardian Angel due to the engraving that appears next to the work in the score. It’s difficult to not see this work alongside the ciaccona by Bach in his 2nd partita. While there’s little question about the superiority of the Bach, this piece is nevertheless remarkable. I kept going back and forth to the Beyer recording for trying to hear these two musicians’ own voices side by side; I think using this piece as a guide it reinforces for me that I much prefer the sound of Lüthl’s violin, Beyer’s recording reveals a more spontaneous approach, I thought, and gets through the piece faster, which I prefer. Her recording of the Bach ciaccona was on the faster side too, clocking in at 13 minutes exactly.
But these two musicians and their backup bands can be compared to many others who have made superlative recordings of this collection. Beyond Goebel, which is my reference, I so enjoyed the recordings by Hélène. Schmitt, Lina Tur Bonet, Patrick Bismuth, and Monica Huggett. One could do no wrong in listening to, or purchasing any of these.
So I don’t want to make this review about a best or superlative recording. What I will say is that this recording’s sound engineering, while on the live side, comes across as extraordinarily rich. The continuo instruments are well spread across the stereo spectrum and it’s hard not to just luxuriate in the sound. I also feel that the ensemble works together to communicate the gravitas of the music; the best track for this might be the second, from the first sonata, The Annunciation. The violinist and ensemble seem to fit together so well. And that lirone comes in for the finale, as if on a cloud above the ensemble, carrying a message from an angel.
There are moments like these embedded throughout the album that force me to consider how well put together this production is. Their slow opening to the 9th sonata, The Carrying of the Cross is just simply delicious in conception, the tonal quality of the violin, the smoothness by which she nearly sings her line, and the deep and supportive continuo that keeps enveloping with new sounds and textures. The faster part comes in almost as a wind-up surprise, an approach, complete with a slide in the violin, that I just haven’t heard before. The clanging noise of the saltiero is refreshing. The details just some together with the highest levels of taste and even imagination. One can’t escape thinking these musicians have lived with these pieces for some time and have adopted some of the most satisfying musical solutions.
My consistent fault with this release is that when the exuberance builds in any number of the sonatas with continuo, the violin can get pushed to the middle or even back of the texture. I come to this conclusion listening on headphones. A great example is to be heard in the opening movement of the 11th sonata. The violin is always audible, but it’s the price we pay, I think, when we adopt such a big force. While other recordings that adopt a big continuo group don’t always suffer from this, I do think it should be mentioned.
However it doesn’t stop me from fully recommending this release. There are so many superlatives when it comes to how the group has conceived of these works, how they’ve bridged the changes in volume, tempo, and overall richness of sound that is truly remarkable. While the violin playing is outstanding, it’s the overall synergy with the continuo group that I think elevates this recording to the highest echelons should any of us be in the want to find a superlative recording. The reverb at too many of the endings of the movements rings gloriously with so many delicious, harmonious sounds.
For those happy to not call out winners, know that this recording should prove delightful played from beginning to end. The variety of dynamics, tempo, texture, timbres—all the tools at their disposal—are in continual rotation to tease and tickle us.
