Just Biber
I have no doubt that the title of this album is a cheeky nod to the Canadian singer Justin Bieber. After choosing the handle ‘biberfan’ in the late 1990s in college, I was often bemused by the attraction I’d received by a number of young teenage females thinking I was a fan of their singer. Most recently, I shared with a group I was presenting to at a conference, and shared that I was a “Biber fan.” Several brows went up. If indeed Podger and her producer have a sense of humor, good for them.
This album is a one-CD recital of several of Biber’s 1681 sonatas which I recently reviewed by the estimable Bojan Cicic. It also includes the programmatic Sonata representativa wherein Biber gives us the animalistic tone painting that makes him all the more fun as a Baroque composer.
I sadly have not heard Podger play live. I have a poster hanging in my office of Podger, or more specifically, her at the helm in first chair of Pinnock’s English Concert, a poster from their American tour in the 1990s. She’s probably best known historically for her release of Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas, and for a performance on period violin, she seemed to leave the somewhat rustic or stodgy associations with the HIPP movement behind, proving she had some real talent.
In this release, Podger is joined by five colleagues, collectively known as Brecon Baroque, and out of the gate? This is a good release. I take issue with the liner notes and the font used to highlight the artist—how could one choose something so hard to read? My other bugaboo is around the overall volume of this release. I use a digital volume control on my DAC where the “sweet spot” is usually around 50 (I know you don’t care, but I need some objective way to state this.) At 65, the album sounds soft? At 75, I’m finally feeling like I’m rocking. But the 20-step gap seems extreme. In a secondary system, I have to crank it up to 85 (on a 100 pt scale). FWIW, I am auditioning this album from Qobuz streaming. That aside, let’s jump into the performances.
I recently watched one of Podger’s solo concerts, so I have a vision of her in my mind’s eye; the promotional video released for this album is another touchpoint. The acoustic I might suggest she prefers is a bit dry; it’s certainly dry in this recording and to our benefit, that nearly amplifies all the fine details not only from her playing, but it helps us even get closer to the textures and colors of her colleagues playing alongside. It’s also more dangerous, as one’s flaws are more easily heard. As you might expect, she hasn’t let us hear those.
Since her recording of the Bach solo works many years ago? She’s developed a more expressive repertoire of tricks and techniques that she lets loose in this earlier music. The opening track from my favorite E minor sonata, C. 142 is enough to give you a taste, and it’s a well-chosen piece, giving us a taste of more to come. Compare this perhaps to the wonderful performance by Monica Huggett. This one may surpass it.
Podger’s sensitivity to the musical text, and its rhetorical power, is on full display in the performance of the A major sonata C. 138, which is also featured in the aforementioned video.
Another A major-grounded piece is the Sonata solo representativa. In my senior lecture/workshop on early music, I remember doing a presentation on baroque program music, using Reinhard Goebel’s performance in my talk. While we’ve since been treated to other performances since Goebel’s, only one really impressed me, the one by Enrico Onofri. That recording with Il Giardino Armonico unfortunately included the player’s voices announcing the animals; I prefer it done the way Podger plays it here, having us guess, if we don’t remember. He performance with Brecon Baroque feels fuller and richer in scope and color than the examples I’ve cited. She takes the bait and plays a bit with some of the animalistic effects. Overall, I think you’ll enjoy this performance. Sonically, it shows off the higher range of her instrument remarkably well. Her control of dynamics is impressive, if you can get beyond the effects Biber left the performer. Again, this feels well-rehearsed, but without losing a sense of freshness. The changing moods highlighted by shifts in tempo and color from the continuo help with this reaction.
It seems worthy to compare Podger’s release with the complete 1681 release by Cicic and his Illyria Consort. I did so using the last piece on this recording, the F major sonata, C. 140. Listening to Cicic’s opening, it feels to me is relishing in the tuning of his instrument and his harmonization with the organ, stepping into the light, as if a character stepping on stage in an opera, demanding we pay attention to him, listen! Listen! Listen to me! I’m in glorious tune!
Podger, by comparison. The dramatic difference in speed will get you. I don’t have a problem with Cicic’s opening and how slow he takes it; but the faster runs that Podger gives us, in addition, for me, is more convincing. By the time she’s done with the opening? We’re smiling with her, she’s in tune too. She’s just more excited to get on with what’s still waiting.
The style she brings to her playing in the following variations for me is a level more interesting, including the selective use of vibrato. There’s the common thread of what I am calling her comfort with this music, presenting each phrase confidently, ensuring that we hear what she’s changing each time with the repetitions. She’s open to pulling more affective tricks out, and yeah, I am a sucker for them. They remind me of the glimmer we get when light hits real gold, or when a diamond refracts light and presents us with prismatic colors. It’s the extra polish in her playing that elevates the experience for us, but also, in my view, elevates the effort Biber made in recording his melody and bass line for us so many years ago.
Podger delivers to us in terms of her artistic vision and execution. It feels as if she’s lived with these pieces for awhile. She’s in her prime here, executing Biber’s music with profound attention to detail and nuance, specifically realizing the emotional and affectual punch that these pieces promise. Her colleagues deserve equal praise for bringing daring energy and at times, just enough restraint.
Against the backdrop of a rich continuo, Podger renders’s Biber’s voice across multiple voices, with good intonation. There’s a confidence that’s palpable and does not disappoint in this album; for me, this is even stronger than her earlier recording of Biber’s Rosary Sonatas. It was a pleasure to audition such a strong recording, even if it was in the end, Just Biber.
