Lest there should be
any concern, let it be noted that the
Shoemaker and Schumacher families diverged
before the 14th century. While I am
probably related to Belgian composer
Maurice Schoemaker, Richard Schumacher
is at most a very, very distant cousin
and I review his performance with uncompromised
objectivity.* It is necessary to make
that point because I want to say some
very nice things about this performance.
Recording is clear
and the perspective is realistic. The
orchestra plays very beautifully with
precision and luscious tone; their trills
are a marvel of articulation. Soloists
are superb. Where they have worthwhile
music the result is a first-rate musical
experience, but a few of these pieces
are beyond rescue.
Cimarosa is one of
these composers who wrote a zillion
operas, of which only The Secret
Marriage is occasionally performed
today, although several of the others
have been recorded. Time has offered
the insight that perhaps he only had
a dozen good tunes and just kept repackaging
them with different stories. Anyway,
here are the very enjoyable overtures
to three of his operas; they beautifully,
elegantly, promise a good time to come
and are quite different from each other.
Arthur Benjamin arranged
several movements selected from Cimarosa’s
keyboard sonatas (They must be quite
short since out of a total of 87 sonatas,
63 have been recorded onto two CD’s)
into an oboe concerto that is widely
performed, and justly so, but neither
these sinfonie nor this harpsichord
concerto bear any resemblance to that
work. The concerto shows the preference
of its composer in that the two inner
movements are a recitative and aria,
no doubt a particular favourite from
one of his operas and very adroitly
arranged for harpsichord and strings.
The last movement of the concerto may
well be arranged from an operatic first
act finale in the Rossini style, and
it makes a brilliant conclusion to this
first CD of our recorded concert. The
harpsichord is a modest sized instrument
and is heard in a realistic perspective
against the string orchestra, but every
note is clear.
Mercadante is an Italian
opera composer who was pivotal in the
change in style from the Rossinian bel
canto to the simpler and more realistic
styles used by Verdi and Puccini, was
called the "Italian Meyerbeer"
and also "Verdi’s step-up".
Here we have a sampling of his very
operatic concerti. Maxence Larrieu is
a superb flute soloist with a rich and
varied tone, a strong cantilena, astonishing
control and agility, and seemingly inexhaustible
breath; and this concerto is very much
worth the effort he puts into it. It
is probably no accident that the musical
style is reminiscent of Paganini.
Unfortunately the clarinet
concerto is the weakest piece of music
on the disk in spite of clarinettist
Leister’s beautiful tone, skilled control,
and astonishing agility, especially
in the last movement. I am certainly
aware of recordings where the skill
and enthusiasm of the performers can
promote a piece of uninteresting music
into a first rate musical experience,
but the flatness this music overcomes
the best efforts of all. However, a
student of the clarinet may find a great
deal here to interest.
Horn soloist Baumann
is the equal of his skilled and distinguished
colleagues. This concerto promises much
in its solemn dramatic opening. However,
the work is so brief no significant
musical interest develops.
* I am also distantly related both to
Richard Nixon and Hermann Goering. So
don’t make trouble.
Paul Shoemaker
Kurt Leister, clarinet; Maxence Larrieu, flute;
Hermann Baumann, horn 