l’Europe réunie • New Collegium
“Handcrafting baroque music since 2006” is this ensemble’s tagline, which can be found via their website, alongside information about its principal musicians. It also reveals that the album, under review, is nearly twenty years old, having been released after the ensemble’s founding. My database shows this cover was released two summers ago. Even so, the album sounds fresh to me, as any might sound with fresh ears. Beyond its novelty, the recording is loud and up-close, without a lot of atmosphere captured. For me, that transparency isn’t perfect, but it’s honest and done with good balance from the recording.
Most, if not all, of these pieces will be familiar: Telemann's Watermusik, TWV 55:C3; a Vivaldi concerto for multiple instruments, RV 566; Bach's harpsichord-and-recorder arrangement of the fourth Brandenburg, BWV 1057; a concerto by van Wassenaer; and Jean-Féry Rebel's five-movement Fantaisie.
The Bach is spicy in conception, with outstanding keyboard playing from Claudio Ribeiro — an interplay of tempo and rubato that, for me, makes the performance so powerful. The middle movement opens luxuriously, with ample support from what I take to be violone or double bass. The very close miking of the harpsichord surfaces detail we don't usually get to enjoy, and the two recorder players are technically sure, blending well in the unison passages.
A bit more "air" arrives with the Vivaldi concerto, which features two oboes, two recorders, bassoons, and two violins. The middle movement comes off a touch stiff, but the outer movements have plenty of energy and well-chosen tempi.
With the Italian style of Bach and the Red Priest out of the way, I appreciated how convincingly the flight to France came off in the Rebel. On my system that double bass again came in strong — almost too much, though I'm not complaining; the extra weight only widens the grin. The fourth movement, a Tambourin, is played deftly and, again, with great energy.
The Concerto Armonico by Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer was the piece new to me here. The Dutch nobleman (1692–1766) grew up on harpsichord and violin, and a life of travel and diplomacy took him across Europe. The collection this concerto comes from was composed between 1725 and 1740 and is bound up with his friend Count Willem Bentinck, who saw to its publication. It's Wassenaer's music, incidentally, that Stravinsky lifted for Pulcinella, then wrongly credited to Pergolesi. The work is well crafted, and a chance to hear the strings without winds; similar superlatives apply to this reduced ensemble.
Telemann's Wassermusik, I'm afraid, isn't as satisfying as Handel's Water Music — though it was written for a different function, and that alone might account for the difference. His scoring calls for recorders, flute, oboes, bassoon, and strings, and the piece marked the 100th anniversary of Hamburg's Admiralty, first heard on 6 April 1723. Each movement carries a programmatic title — Der stürmende Aeolus, say, or Der verliebte Neptunus. My preference for Handel's louder version aside, this one has genuinely challenging passages, especially in the fast writing of the opening overture, where strings and winds lock together.
The technical polish on display is worth celebrating. I first came to this suite through Reinhard Goebel's Musica Antiqua Köln recording from the late 1980s, which to my ears today suffers from too much room and reverb; this one reaches higher. I'd guess these musicians simply like the suite more. The closeness to the instruments, too, is a welcome effect next to the MAK. Telemann's inventiveness comes to the fore, and my appreciation for the work grew hearing it played with this much care.
New Collegium's discography isn't large. I'd started my day with their C.P.E. Bach on Ramée, which sat a while between sessions and release; the one I know best is their 2022 Bach Die Kunst der Fuga, titled Lemniscate. No spoilers — but I hear something of high value across all their records, this first one included.
