These entertaining pieces are not quite what they seem.
Rossini composed five Sonate a quattro in 1804 scoring
them for two violins, cello and bass. They appeared in various
arrangements by other hands during Rossini’s later life. He actively
disowned them as juvenilia (a note to this effect appears on the
autograph) but since they were not destroyed by him and were later
dedicated to a friend one must assume he saw a certain value in
the pieces. The present recording is of the arrangement by one
Friedrich Berr for flute, clarinet, horn and bassoon. Berr added
a sixth item from Rossini’s later youth to make up the set to
a proper half-dozen.
So, is it worth hearing these pieces by a precocious
twelve-year-old? Absolutely yes! They are a delight, and in the
case of a couple of movements from the Quartet No.1, a familiar
delight. Perhaps they have been utilised as signature tunes. Only
the last item is characteristic Rossini, but then he was a mature
20 when he composed the Andante e Tema con variazioni which
is here listed as Quartet No.6. I would particularly single out
the andante from the 2nd Quartet, the finale of the
3rd and the bizarrely irregular rhythms of the Rondo
of Quartet No.5 as further pleasures.
The Consortium Classicum are a fine ensemble,
particularly the flautist, and they evidently enjoyed these works
because a real sense of fun emerges from the speakers as well
as a good acoustic. As a brief experiment I applied surround processing
to MDG’s spacious recording and found it worked rather well. I
mention this because the liner notes include a puff for their
"sound ideal" which mentions the naturalness of the
venues they use; a pity this one fails to get a mention anywhere
in the notes because it is a particularly clean and realistic
sound when played in straight stereo. The musical commentary is
interesting and well written, the booklet has an attractive Watteau
on the front and a nice portrait of Rossini, though looking decidedly
older than 12, on the back.
Dave Billinge
Consortium Classicum