Boccherini was born at Lucca (the Italian town famous for being the
home of the Puccini family) in 1843, and before he reached the age of
twenty he had become a celebrated virtuoso of the cello. His career
thereafter was truly international: in 1769 at the age of twenty-six
he moved to Madrid, where he remained for eighteen years, until he took
up the position of 'Composer of the Chamber' at the Berlin court of
Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia. In 1797 he returned to Spain, but without
firm patronage, and the unfortunate result was that the last years of
his life were spent in poverty.
In common with other composers of the period, Boccherini was active
in many types of music. Operas, symphonies, concertos, church music,
and most especially chamber music all feature strongly in his creative
output.
Boccherini wrote in excess of two hundred quintets for various combinations,
including nearly one hundred for string ensembles. This enterprising
collection on MDG features three quintets for the distinctive combination
of two violins, viola, cello and double bass, plus a short single movement
fragment for conventional string quartet. This latter piece, which is
placed second in the programme, is typical of the composer, urbane and
supremely well balanced in its approach to the medium.
The three quintets are the issue, however. Both the performances and
the recorded sound do Boccherini proud, creating an ideal balance between
atmosphere and detail. Thus the talents of the musicians, who are all
members of the excellent Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, are heard
to advantage in ensemble music of sophisticated style and imagination.
The question has to be, therefore: if this music is so civilised, why
is it so little known? There can be only two answers. One is that in
music familiarity breeds familiarity, and it is hard for composers and
individual works to break through that barrier. The other is that there
is a lot of very well crafted music, which sounds well but ultimately
lacks the personality and penetration to establish a position in the
repertory.
Where does Boccherini stand? There is only one way to find out, and
that is to listen for yourself. Certainly the music is appealing and
full of beautifully crafted touches. But it is tempting to suggest that
in the end it adds up to rather less than the sum of the parts. All
praise then to Ensemble Concertant Frankfurt, whose avowed policy is
to resurrect little known music from the past. They do so with skill,
imagination and true stylistic understanding.
Terry Barfoot