Luigi BOCCHERINI (1743-1805)
Six String Trios op.1 (1760) and Six Symphonies op.35
(1782)
CD 1
Trio in F, for violin, viola and cello, op.1 no.1, G.77 [14:14]
Trio in B flat, for violin, viola and cello, op.1 no.2, G.78 [11:40]
Trio in A, for violin, viola and cello, op.1 no.3, G.79 [10:27]
Trio in D, for violin, viola and cello, op.1 no.4, G.80 [12:27]
Trio in G, for violin, viola and cello, op.1 no.5, G.81 [10:14]
Trio in C, for violin, viola and cello, op.1 no.6, G.82 [11:32]
CD 2
Symphony in D, op.35 no.1, G.509 [15:50]
Symphony in E flat, op.35 no.2, G.510 [15:10]
Symphony in A, op.35 no.3, G.511 [15:47]
CD 3
Symphony in F, op.35 no.4, G.512 [13:02]
Symphony in E flat, op.35 no.5, G.513 [15:02]
Symphony in B flat, op.35 no.6, G.514 [14:40]
Trio Arcophon (Mario Ferraris (violin); Ermanno Molinaro (viola);
Antonio Pocaterra (cello))
I Filarmonici di Bologna/Angelo Ephrikian
rec. Villa Litta, Milan, Italy, 1971. ADD
NEWTON CLASSICS 8802102 [3 CDs: 70:34 + 46:47 + 42:44]
As is obvious from the recording date, this triple CD is a reissue,
the Trios originally released by the long-defunct Italian label Arcophon,
the Symphonies by the old German label Telefunken. The recordings were
subsequently acquired by another Italian label, Rivo Alto, who made their
own re-releases in the 1980s and 1990s, most of which seem to be available
still on the internet.
Newton give the recording date of both the Trios and the Symphonies
as 1971. Most internet retailers and reviewers like Records International
agree, but the odd retailer and the Luigi Boccherini Society, which
has a detailed if tardy discography, give the recording date of the Trios as
1969. Certainly, audition makes it clear that the Trios and Symphonies were
not recorded at the same time.
In fact sound quality ranges from pretty good in the Trios to merely
passable in the Symphonies. In the Trios there is a slightly raw edge to the
string sound, and some loss of definition in the Symphonies, sometimes
audible as outright distortion. There is also an occasional tendency in
higher ranges to echo - this may well have been added during transfer to CD,
though almost certainly not by Newton. Furthermore, time and space were
precious on LPs and sometimes corners were cut by fading down the final
reverberations at the ends of tracks and even by chopping intros almost too
fine: there is evidence of that here, though it is not ruinous, except at
the end of the G.511 Symphony, which loses at least its final second. There
are some fairly discreet editing points in the Symphonies, again especially
in G.511.
Fortunately, performances have withstood the passage of time better
than the recordings. The impressive Filarmonici di Bologna are skilfully
conducted by Angelo Ephrikian, who was, incidentally, the musical brains of
the Arcophon label to tyre tycoon Giovanni Pirelli's money. Alas, Ephrikian
will not be among those who enjoy these re-releases - he died thirty years
ago. By the way, a recording of Boccherini's subsequent Symphonies - his
last - appeared only a few months ago in another re-release, this time on
Phoenix - see review.
The Trio Arcophon, now as defunct as the label, are even better:
confident, agile and thoughtful, with a lovely line in phrasing. Rather
surprisingly, forty years on there is still no other commercial recording of
these Trios available.
As for Boccherini's music, that is as finely crafted, lively,
elegant, witty, and mellifluous as ever. He was only 17 when he wrote the
six Trios, yet they are works of considerable sophistication and variety,
occasionally sounding strikingly symphonic, enhanced both by sometimes
startling chromaticism and the prominence of Boccherini's own instrument,
the cello. Boccherini entered the Trios as his op.1 in his autograph
catalogue, but they were published seven years later in Paris as his "op.2",
with his own slightly later op.2 Quartets becoming "op.1". The Symphonies,
scored primarily for strings with the judicious employment of a pair of
horns and oboes and an ad lib bassoon - the winds always omitted from
the slow movements - are reminiscent of Haydn, but Boccherini always has
more than sufficient originality to go his own way.
The brand-new English-German-French booklet notes by Richard
Lawrence give a potted biography of Boccherini, followed by an easy-to-read
but intelligent account of the music. As is often the case in these Newton
re-releases, performer biographies are conspicuous by their total absence.
Byzantion
Collected reviews and contact at reviews.gramma.co.uk
Finely crafted, lively, elegant, witty, and mellifluous.