Luigi BOCCHERINI (1743-1805)
Symphony No. 3 in D major, G 503 [25:54]
Symphony No. 8 in A major, G 508 [23:42]
Symphony No. 21 in C major, G 515 [16:59]
London Mozart Players/Matthias Bamert
rec. St Jude-on-the-Hill, London, January 2009. DDD
CHANDOS CHAN 10604 [65:55]
This is an appealing disc, which forms part of the Chandos Contemporaries
of Mozart series. As with other CDs in the series - which includes recordings
of music by Leopold Mozart and the Abbé Vogler - it helps to restore
a neglected reputation. But repeated listening also serves to reinforce the
gulf between Mozart’s genius and the lesser musical abilities of many
of his contemporaries.
A first rate cellist, Boccherini’s lengthy employment by the Infante
Luis Antonio of Spain placed him a little outside the European mainstream,
although later patronage by King Frederick William II of Prussia and French
consul Lucien Bonaparte brought him more widespread recognition.
The first two symphonies on the recording (No. 3 in D and No.8 in A) are taken
from Boccherini’s ‘6 concerti a grande orchestra’, composed
for the Spanish Infante in 1771. Number 3 is a bright, sunny work, which opens
with a pacey and inventive Allegro. The playful string writing is typical
Boccherini, as is the lilting melody and gentle pizzicati in the ensuing Andantino
(track 2). The remaining two movements - a minuet and trio and a presto -
disappoint by their plainness. The same can be said of the eighth symphony.
Again cast in four movements, it really is an off-the-peg, ready-to-play piece.
There is little development of the symphonic form and not much exploration
of the orchestral forces at Boccherini’s disposal - including oboes,
horns and a flute.
More interesting is the C major symphony, no. 21, which was composed as part
of Boccherini’s ‘4 sinfonie a grande orchestra’ for Frederick
William of Prussia in 1786. More concertante-like in its conception, it has
greater instrumental variety and there is more solo writing for the flute,
oboes, bassoons, horns and strings. The final Allegro (track 12) is a real
gem, with comic touches from a repeated figure that is imitated alternately
by the woodwind and horns. The main theme itself bears a slight resemblance
to the folk melody which Haydn used in the final movement of his ‘London’
symphony, No. 104. But that is about as close as Boccherini gets to the great
man, or to his brilliant contemporary Mozart.
John-Pierre Joyce
Lilting melody and gentle pizzicati.