Treasures of the German Baroque
Georg Philipp TELEMANN (1681-1767)
Trio sonata for violin, bassoon and bc in F (TWV 42,F1) [6:58]
Christoph SCHAFFRATH (1709-1763)
Trio sonata for violin, bassoon and bc in B flat (CSWV E,20) [8:29]
Antonin REICHENAUER (c1694-1730)
Concerto for violin, cello, bassoon and bc in g minoer (Rk 18) [10:54]
Johann Georg PISENDEL (1687-1755) or Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
Sonata for violin and bc in c minor (BWV 1024) [13:20]
Charles DIEUPART (1667-1740)
Suite for voice flute and bc No. 2 in D [10:17]
Giuseppe Antonio BRESCIANELLO (1690-1758)
Concerto a tre for violin, bassoon and bc in g minor [9:26]
Radio Antiqua (Isabel Favilla (recorder, bassoon), Lucia Giraudo (violin),
Petr Hamouz (cello), Giulio Quirici (theorbo), Claudio Barduco Ribeiro (harpsichord))
rec. 2-5 March 2015, Espace culturel C.J. Bonnet, Jujurieux, France. DDD
AMBRONAY AMY305 [59:28]
The French label Ambronay regularly releases discs with
recordings by young ensembles. This is the result of an European cooperation
project under the name eemerging which - according to the booklet
- "is the natural continuation of the Young Ensemble Residences developed
since 2009 at the Centre culturel de rencontre d'Ambronay". Each
year the most promising ensembles are selected and are offered professional
training and assistance in building an international career through concerts
and promotion. After three years of support the best ensembles have the opportunity
to make their first professional recording. The present disc is the result
of Radio Antiqua being selected.
The members are all former students of the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague,
and come from various countries across the world: Argentina, Brazil, Italy
and the Czech Republic. The ensemble was founded in 2012. For their debut
disc they have selected an interesting bouquet of chamber music which they
present under the title 'Treasures of the German Baroque'. Some
may raise their eyebrows reading this, considering the names of some composers.
Telemann, Pisendel and Schaffrath were German by birth, but Reichenauer was
from Bohemia, Brescianello from Italy and Dieupart from France. What is German
about them?
In the case of Brescianello that is pretty simple. He was born in Bologna
and worked in Venice when the Elector of Bavaria brought him to Munich where
he played as a violinist in the court chapel. In 1716 he succeeded Johann
Christoph Pez as musique directeur, maître des concerts de la chambre
at the Württemberg court in Stuttgart. Reichenauer is a different case. He
was from Bohemia and seems not to have left his country; for some time he
was in the service of Count Morzin to whom Vivaldi dedicated his Four
Seasons. The reason that his Concerto in g minor has been included
is that it is part of the collection put together by Johann Georg Pisendel,
first violinist of the Dresden court chapel. That collection is now preserved
in the famous Schrank II in the Sächsische Landesbibliothek - Staats-
und Universitätsbibliothek. It is a concerto da camera as we find
it in the oeuvre of Vivaldi. It is modelled after the Corellian sonata
da chiesa. The second movement is especially delightful, and the ensuing
adagio is quite dramatic. Brescianello's Concerto a 3 is also
such a concerto da camera, albeit in three movements. The opening
allegro includes theatrical elements.
Pisendel not only collected music, he also wrote music of his own, largely
for his own instrument. However, that oeuvre is rather small: composing seems
not to have been his priority. The Sonata in c minor (BWV 1024) has
been included in Schmieder's catalogue of the works of Johann Sebastian
Bach, but has come down to us in a copy by Pisendel. It was only in the 19th
century that this sonata in four movements was attributed to Bach. Nowadays
it is generally considered not authentic, and it has been suggested that it
may be a composition by Pisendel himself. It has not been possible to establish
the sonata's authorship as yet. Identification is quite complicated
as there are strong similarities between Pisendel's works and those
by Bach.
Telemann was the most famous composer in Germany in his time, and he was also
a personal friend of Pisendel. It is hardly surprising that he is well represented
in the latter's collection. The Sonata in F is typical for
its unlikely combination of instruments: violin and bassoon. It belongs to
the lesser-known part of Telemann's compositional output. It is from
a collection which he published in 1718, when he was Kapellmeister
at the Barfüsserkirche in Frankfurt. Christoph Schaffrath is of a later generation;
he was Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's colleague at Frederick the Great's
court in Berlin where he acted as court harpsichordist. In recent years especially
his compositions for obbligato harpsichord and one melody instrument have
received some attention. The Trio sonata in B flat is a more 'conventional'
piece as it has the traditional form of a baroque trio sonata, but it is written
in the galant idiom. It is notable that the bassoon opens the two
fast movements.
The only composer not mentioned yet is Charles Dieupart. He was from France,
but settled in England. His six suites for harpsichord, also published in
alternative scorings, are his best-known compositions. What is especially
notable is the texture of his suites. Dieupart was the first French composer
to publish his harpsichord pieces under the title of suites rather
than pièces de clavecin. Every suite opens with an ouverture
rather than a prélude. Whereas in French collections of harpsichord
pieces the performer could pick and choose the pieces as he liked or the pieces
were ordered according to key with a different number of movements, Dieupart's
suites follow a structured pattern. In every suite the overture is followed
by six dances: allemande, courante, sarabande, gavotte, menuet and gigue.
Only the Suite No. 2 in D derives from this as the menuet is replaced
by a passepied. This kind of suite was more common in Germany than in France,
and this has made Denis Mortier, in his liner-notes, suggest "a German
influence on this French emigré composer in London". It is the first
time I have read this and I wonder whether there is any historical evidence
suggesting German influence. Is it too far-fetched to suggest that he may
have been influenced by the harpsichord suites of Froberger? After all, he
had visited Paris and therefore his music was known in France.
Having listened to this disc I can understand that Radio Antiqua was selected
to make a recording. Its credentials are already respectable. At the International
Handel Festival in Göttingen it won the Jury Prize and the Audience Prize.
It has also appeared at other early music festivals across Europe. The ensemble
deserves praise for the way the programme has been put together. The pieces
are logically connected and the most common pieces from the baroque period
have been avoided. I have already mentioned that Telemann's sonata
is one of his lesser-known. Schaffrath, Reichenauer and Brescianello are certainly
not household names. Dieupart is better known, but his suites are not that
often played. The only piece which is fairly familiar is the Pisendel/Bach
sonata. That is also the only piece whose performance I find a little disappointing.
Lucia Giraudo is certainly a fine violinist, but her interpretation is a little
too straightforward. I would have liked a stronger differentiation between
good and bad notes and a more varied tonal palette.
However, on the whole I enjoyed this disc. I particularly liked the engaging
performances of the last movement from Schaffrath's sonata and the
first allegro from Reichenauer. These are good examples of this ensemble's
approach to their selected repertoire. This disc makes a promising debut and
I hope that we will hear more from Radio Antiqua.
Johan van Veen
www.musica-dei-donum.org
twitter.com/johanvanveen
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