MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


CD REVIEW
RECORDING OF THE MONTH


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

alternatively
CD: AmazonUK AmazonUS
Download: Classicsonline


Girolamo FRESCOBALDI (1583-1643) Keyboard Music from Manuscript Sources
Toccata in F [04:35]
Capriccio fatto sopra il Cucchù [05:35]
Toccata in a minor [03:41]
Ricercare cromatico [02:48]
Toccata in F [05:01]
Canzona in d minor [03:18]
Corrente in A [01:07]
Toccata in C [04:21]
Capriccio in g minor [03:38]
Toccata in e minor [03:53]
Canzona in d minor [03:51]
Corrente in g minor [01:22]
Partite sopra un aria Romana detta la Manista [04:54]
Capriccio in G [03:54]
Toccata in g minor [03:57]
Corrente in G [01:00]
Fantasia in E [03:07]
Toccata (and canzona) in G [04:32]
Corrente in F [01:26]
Toccata in F [05:52]
Martha Folts (harpsichord, Jerome de Zentis, 1658)
rec. August 2007, Ploger Hall, Manchester, MI, USA. DDD
NAXOS 8.570717 [73:03] 

 

Experience Classicsonline


There are many available recordings with keyboard music by Frescobaldi. That is understandable, as his music not only belongs to the very best of what was composed in 17th century Italy, but also had a lasting influence on the further development of keyboard music across Europe. Frescobaldi had many students from Italy and abroad, and they copied his music and spread it over the Continent. In addition their own works show the strong influence of Frescobaldi's style. Johann Jacob Froberger is the most famous example. A pretty large number of collections with Frescobaldi's music were published during his lifetime. Most recordings focus on one or more of these collections. The peculiarity of this recording is that it presents pieces which were never published and reside in museums and archives, for instance in Turin, Munich, Berlin and London.
 

The programme shows the different forms Frescobaldi made use of, in particular the toccata which was one of the main sources of his influence. In addition we find a dance form (corrente), canzonas and ricercares - both derived from vocal music -, 'partite' (variations on a subject) and free forms like the fantasia and the capriccio. These pieces are grouped in such a way that maximum variety is guaranteed. 

Not that there is any danger of being bored. The music in itself is good enough to prevent this, but there are two other factors which should hold the listener's attention. 

First of all, the harpsichord. This is a very special instrument, which dates from 1658 and has been in the property of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York which acquired it in the 1880s. Despite - or due to - attempts to restore it the harpsichord was in rather bad condition when the museum decided to sell it. When harpsichord-maker Keith Hill got the opportunity to study the instrument more carefully he was very impressed by its quality. He concluded that it was the work of a "genius musical instrument maker". On his website he describes the instrument and how he has restored it into playable condition. The result is nothing but spectacular. According to Keith Hill "every piece in the instrument is acoustically enhanced to optimize its sounding properties". And that makes this instrument unique, as this disc demonstrates. The sonority of this harpsichord is remarkable. In particular the low notes have a very strong sound. The range of colours this instrument is able to produce is something one doesn't hear very often in harpsichords. 

But an instrument alone does not make a good recording. This instrument has been used previously in a recording by Elizabeth Farr with music by Peter Philips. But it didn't make any lasting impression on me as it does here. The reason could be that this instrument isn't the most appropriate for Philips' music. But it is probably first and foremost due to the interpretation: in contrast to MusicWeb's reviewer of this recording I found it very unsatisfactory. Comparing the way the same harpsichord is used, its full qualities come much better to the fore under the hands of Martha Folds. 

She tries to realise the performing principles which Frescobaldi has laid down. These are strongly influenced by the vocal style of the time, which originated from Giulio Caccini. One of the main aspects of this performance practice is the freedom of rhythm and tempo. "Describing the 'new style', Frescobaldi states that the manner of playing must not remain subject to a beat (...), letting the tempo reflect the mood or 'Affect' of the music or text", Martha Folts writes in the booklet. Frescobaldi requires the beginnings of toccatas to be played slowly and arpeggiated, which can be compared to the crescendo a singer uses. Ornaments should also be added according to the 'Affect'. Frescobaldi's indications lead to a performance "with a kind of nonchalance which projects ease, relaxation, non-intensity, and yet a focused, intentional presence to the performance". 

This approach, "allowing the music to sound as vocally oriented as possible", shows to be very fruitful in this recording. Listening to Martha Folts' interpretation it is not difficult to understand why musicians all over Europe travelled to Rome to study with Frescobaldi and were deeply influenced by his style. Ms Folts' playing is brilliant and always captivating and expressive. Thanks to the mean-tone temperament the sometimes harsh dissonances have a maximum effect, for instance in the Toccatas in e minor (track 10) and in F (track 20) or in the Fantasia in E (track 17). 

Music, instrument and performer are a winning combination here. It has resulted in a quite spectacular recording, which should not be missed.

Johan van Veen


 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.