These six Sinfonie
Concertanti
from Josef Mysliveček, in arrangements
for string orchestra, are claimed by
Toccata Classics to be premiere recordings.
In a truly international mix the music
of the Czech-born Mysliveček, who
adopted Italy as his home, is played
by the Uralsk Philharmonic Orchestra
from West Kazakhstan conducted by the
New Zealand born Gary Brain.
Toccata Classics declare
on their website that they are a label
that, "has been created expressly
to explore unjustly neglected repertoire."
Certainly the music of the eighteenth
century Bohemian composer Mysliveček
tends to be heard only infrequently
outside the Czech Republic, although
a quick google reveals that there are
a surprisingly large number of recordings
available in the catalogue, mainly on
the Supraphon, Hungaroton, DG Archiv,
Chandos and MDG.
No recordings as yet, it seems, from
the mighty Naxos label. Clearly Mysliveček’s
reputation is spreading: I notice that
the renowned Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena
Kozena
has included four Mysliveček arias,
together with several from Mozart and
Gluck, on her 2001 Prague recital
‘Le belle immagini’ with
the Prague Philharmonia under Michel
Swierczewski on Deutsche Grammophon
471 334-2.
Mysliveček
was born in 1737 in Prague, the oldest
of identical twins, to a prosperous
mill owner. It is said that Mysliveček
may have been given tuition by the prominent
composer Felix Benda who was a close
neighbour.
In 1763 with the help
from local Benedictine and Cistercian
establishments and
assistance from influential Count Vincent
von Waldstein, Mysliveček left
to study composition in Venice.
An excellent violinist he became a student
of Giovanni Pescetti an association
that soon resulted in the composition
of an opera Semiramide first
performed at Bergamo in 1765. Success
came the next year in Naples with the
opera Il Bellerofonte
and several commissions from Italian
theatres were soon to follow. Mysliveček
settled in Italy where he became known
as ‘Il Divino Boemo’,
or the ‘Divine Bohemian’.
In
1770 Mysliveček met and became
friends with the teenage Mozart in Bologna,
where Mysliveček was an Accademia
Filarmonica member, meeting Mozart again
in Verona in 1771 where their relationship
ran into major problems. They were to
repair their friendship some years later
in 1777 in a Munich hospital where Mozart
visited Mysliveček who was recovering
from the removal of his diseased nose.
In fact, Mozart often referred to Mysliveček
in his correspondence, once writing,
in a letter home, of his exceptional
qualities of, "fire, spirit
and life". In view of their close
association it is not surprising that
certain similarities of musical style
have been noted between the two composers.
In 1778 the Neapolitan Gazzetta universale
gave a report of the premiere of Mysliveček’s
opera L'Olimpiade at the
Teatro San Carlo, "which the
audience accorded a remarkable ovation".
Although
residing in Italy, Mysliveček did
on several occasions visit cities such
as Prague, Munich and Venice as he attempted
to establish his reputation. His final
operas, proved unsuccessful, his name
became lesser regarded and his health
declined. Mysliveček died in Rome
in 1781 in wretched poverty with a funeral
that was said to have been paid for
by an English benefactor, an ex-pupil
called James Hugh Smith Barry.
Not surprisingly owing
to the length of time he spent in Italy,
Mysliveček
wrote in a style that could be described
as Italianate. In the booklet notes
biographer Daniel E. Freeman writes,
“Refinement, not innovation, was
generally Mysliveček’s strong suit,
but he was a true pioneer in the composition
of two major species of
chamber music: wind octets and
string quintets scored for two violins,
two violas and cello." His
large output consists of twenty-eight
operas, ten oratorios and cantatas;
some forty five symphonies, numerous
concert overtures, eight violin concertos,
a large body of chamber music and instrumental
scores.
The six Sinfonie
Concertanti, Op.2 were thought
to have been composed in Italy around
1767 and were published by Jean-Baptiste
Venier of Paris as ‘VI Sinfonie Concertanti,
o sia Quintetti per due Violini, due
Viole, e Basso.’ It is not certain
if this opus 2 set are the first string
quintets to have been written but they
are claimed to be the earliest collection
of quintets for two violins, two violas,
and cello ever published. The Uralsk
Philharmonic
Orchestra under Gary Brain perform these
scores as string symphonies, with multiple
players per part, an instrumentation
that Mysliveček specified as an
alternative in the original manuscript.
These opus 2 scores evoke the
same qualities of refinement, passion
and sensitivity that Mozart was said
to appreciate in Mysliveček’s
operas and concertante music.
The six Sinfonie
Concertanti are unusual in that
they call for two violas rather than
two cellos and they contain, "grand
musical gestures" characteristic
of a quasi-symphonic style rather than
that more usually encountered in chamber
music. All cast in three movements,
four of the six string quintets follow
the conventional fast-slow-fast
design. No.1 in B flat major is
in the fast-slow-minuet form
and No. 6 in C major is arranged
slow-fast-fast.
With these scores I
found the tempos adopted by Gary Brain
and the Uralsk Philharmonic problematic.
Generally the movements marked presto
are played only moderately quickly and
come across more like an allegro.
In fact it was difficult on occasions
to tell the allegro and the presto
movements apart. Furthermore the
andante movements are performed
exceptionally slowly and feel more akin
to an adagio. I experienced the
unity of ensemble from the Uralsk Philharmonic
to be less than perfect with the timbre
of the strings disappointingly unpleasant.
The
outstanding booklet notes are a credit
to their author Mysliveček authority
Daniel E. Freeman. I was not impressed
with the recorded sound from 2004 in
the Kazakh Theatre in Uralsk, Kazakhstan.
The balance of the recording is tolerable
but the sound is revealed as
bone dry and strangely boxy with a slight
echo - sonics not of a standard acceptable
in today’s highly competitive market.
Rare
and interesting scores from Mysliveček
a composer who deserves to be better
known but I have strong reservations
about the standard of the performance
and quality of the sound. Sadly, I cannot
imagine returning to this release.
Michael Cookson
Toccata
Classics Home Page
Uralsk Philharmonic Orchestra/Gary Brain
