Gottfried
Heinrich Stőlzel was educated in
Italy, and spent most of his career
in the service of the court at Gotha.
In 1715, the position of music director
at the court of Schwarzberg-Sondershausen
became vacant and remained so for several
years. Stőlzel was a candidate,
who because of his relative obscurity
in the musical world at the time, was
not appointed. The composer’s loss was
perhaps posterity’s gain,
as the reigning prince later came to
regret his decision, and commissioned
Stőlzel to compose nearly four
hundred works for the court. For reasons
that border on the suspicious, most
of the composer’s immense output from
Gotha is lost, and thus, it is the
Sondershausen music that provides us
with the majority of Stőlzel’s
extant output.
Once again, in this
collection of cantatas for Pentecost,
Ludger Rémy proves just what
a master he is at discovering and bringing
dormant music to life. With the utmost
skill and polish, Rémy conducts
a first-rate ensemble in tight, clean
and elegant performances of some truly
gorgeous music.
The exceptional appeal
of these cantatas must lie in the Italian
training of the composer. The rich harmonic
structure belies the undeniable influence
of the sixteenth century Italian madrigal.
This makes for a much more heightened
emotional expression than the more staid
German harmonic language of say a Pachelbel
or Johann Bach (not Sebastian). The
end result is a style rich in melody,
and at times ravishing in harmony.
Rémy performs
this music one voice to a part, which
despite some rather thick orchestrations
in some works, balances very well. And
what singing! The maestro has assembled
four soloists of phenomenal ability.
Of especial merit is the effortless,
crystalline singing of tenor Jan Kobow,
who approaches these works with a grace
and ease that I have not witnessed in
some time. Martin
Wőlfel’s rich and resonant countertenor
is a delight to hear, and Dorothee Mields
and Christian Immler are also deserving
of singular mention for their solid
contributions. In short, this quartet
would be any conductor’s dream team.
The Telemannisches
Collegium Michaelstein is as taut and
well-tuned a baroque ensemble as is
available on the world market today.
They play with a tremendous vigor and
with an underlying rhythmic vitality
that propels the music forward at a
perfect pace.
There is no note of
music on this disc that is not pure
pleasure, however, there are two works
that are of particular merit for their
exquisite beauty. The opening cantata,
Werdet voll Geistes leaps out
with its joyous lilting melodies, and
the final work on the program, Er
heißet Friedefürst is
beautiful beyond words. This recording
does exactly what a program of this
sort should: make me instantly seek
out more by the same composer and performers.
Ludger Rémy continues to make
one fine contribution after another
to the corpus of fine recordings. Long
may he and CPO, who have the good sense
to promote and issue these discs, prosper.
Program notes are superb,
and as usual, CPO have given us sonics
that are above reproach. Recommended
without a moment’s hesitation.
Kevin Sutton
Dorothee Mields, soprano 