German composer (Johann) Simon Mayr is best known today for his important
role
in the development of
opera seria, particularly in Italy, where he
spent
much of his life and indeed taught Donizetti. His instrumental music
remains
relatively unknown, which is quite a pity: this recording highlights his
ability
to write attractive music of superior craftsmanship and no little
inspiration.
Mayr was a prominent figure in Bergamo, which accounts for the title of
the
concerto that starts things off. As the accompanying notes make clear,
'Concerto
Bergamasco' is not Mayr's title, which was the more prosaic 'Concerto per
Flauto,
Clarinetto, Corno Bassetto ed Ottavino'. It comes instead from its first
appearance
in print as late as 1978, "with some retouching by Heinrich Bauer." Nor is
it
a quadruple concerto exactly: as an orchestrator Mayr was something of an
experimenter,
and here he takes the unusual step of assigning a movement to each
instrument
- in Mayr's day all intended to be played by its dedicatee, the
multi-soloist
Giovanni Sangiovanni. The final movement, where all four instruments
appear,
is especially memorable, but the whole concerto is packed with lyrical
delight.
The chipper, colourful Haydnesque Concerto in C for harpsichord - the
instrument
indicated by the autograph, despite the late date - and the Trio
Concertante
for three violins, itself reminiscent at times of Mozart's violin
concertos,
contribute their own idiomatic pleasures to a programme of wide and
enduring
appeal.
The Bavarian Classical Players are all members of the illustrious Bavarian
Radio
Symphony Orchestra. Franz Hauk is a veteran of many recordings for Naxos,
all
but one of Mayr's (choral) music. All the musicians featured here play
with
commendable verve and precision. Sound quality is good - not always a
given
in recordings originating in Germany. Appropriately it was made at
Ingolstadt
in Bavaria, near to where Mayr was born. Conductor/harpsichordist Franz
Hauk's
notes are informative, well written and well translated. The only blot as
far
as this disc is concerned is the short running time, but that should not
deter
anyone appreciative of late-Classical musical elegance and invention.
Byzantion
Collected reviews and contact at artmusicreviews.co.uk
see also reviews by
Dan Morgan (September 2012 Recording of the Month) and
John Sheppard
