In
the notes he provides for this disc, Glen Wilson – with
whom harpsichordist Naoko Akutagawa studied – reminds
us of how in 1772, when the town council of Leipzig were
seeking to appoint a new cantor for the church of St.
Thomas, their first choice was Telemann; when he, instead,
took a post in Hamburg, their choice fell on Johann Christoph
Graupner. Graupner was, at the time, Kapellmeister to
the Landgrave of Hessen-Darmstadt; negotiating a salary
increase, Graupner stayed where he was. The Leipzig Council
had to look elsewhere; one candidate was recommended
by Graupner and, as one councillor said at the time, “if
we cannot get the best, we must settle for a mediocrity”.
The ‘mediocrity’ they appointed was a certain Johann
Sebastian Bach. Presumably, if they could view the matter
with the advantage of hindsight, the Leipzig councillors
would feel that they actually made rather a good appointment.
Musical history has perhaps implicitly labelled Graupner
the ‘mediocrity’ – certainly it has granted him a less
elevated place in the pantheon than either Bach or Telemann,
or his other contemporary and rival, Handel.
Even
so, it is a bit misleading of Glen Wilson to say that
Graupner has largely been forgotten. After all, six discs
of his harpsichord music recorded by Geneviève Soly have
been issued on Analekta (see reviews of volumes
one and
five);
Analekta has also issued a disc of instrumental and vocal
Music, with performers who include L’Ensemble des Idées
Heureuses conducted by Geneviève Soly (Analekta 23162);
also – and these are not the only recordings to have
been issued – there are at least two discs of orchestral
works played by Nova Stravaganza directed by Siegbert
Rampe (see reviews of
first and
second discs).
There is also a
society devoted
to promoting knowledge of the man and his music (since
he wrote over 1,000 cantatas they have much material
to work on!). Still, none of this detracts from the attraction
of having a further recording of music by Graupner readily
available on Naxos.
On
the present disc the Japanese harpsichordist Naoko Akutagawa
plays three of Graupner’s partitas, plus a substantial
movement from a fourth. The ‘Winter’ partita was published
in 1733; the others come from a manuscript collection
generally known as the Darmstädter Clavierbuch, copied
by Samuel Endler, vice-Kapellmeister at the Darmstadt
Court (where Graupner held the position of Kapellmeister
from 1712 until his death), and containing work by Kuhnau
and Telemann as well as Graupner. The works in this manuscript
tend to be more technically demanding than the works
Graupner published, requiring a player of the virtuosity
for which Graupner himself was renowned.
Naoko
Akutagawa shows herself well able to meet the technical
demands of the music. In Graupner’s usage ‘Partita’ means
a suite of dance-based movements. Thus, for example,
the Partita in F minor (‘Winter’) has six movements:
Paeludium (Largo) – Allemande – Courante - Menuets, I,
II and III - Air en Sarabande - Bourée en Rondeau. Elsewhere
the movements include arias with variations. Akutagawa
plays the music with confidence and technical certainty,
and is at her most striking in the grander, more formal
movements. The Praeludium to the Partita in C minor,
for example, sounds particularly fine, played with a
nice sense of gravity and space, beautifully unhurried
and stately, but with some nice variations of tempo.
The allemands in each partita are also played very attractively
and persuasively. If I have a slight reservation it would
be that in some of the more ‘courtly’ movements – such
as the three sarabandes, it might have been nice to hear
just a bit more lyrical expressiveness.
I haven’t heard
all of Geneviève Soly’s recordings, but what I have heard
suggests that she is a player who responds a little more
sympathetically to this side of Graupner’s music. But
this may be no more than a matter of subjective taste,
and I have no wish to denigrate Akutagawa’s very proficient
work on this disc. Specialists will clearly want the
set by Soly; for most listeners this present disc will
serve as an attractive sampler of Graupner’s work. Naxos
don’t provide any details of the instrument played by
Akutagawa; it sounds well fitted to the music and it
is given a clear recorded sound in a comfortable acoustic.
Glyn Pursglove
Naoko
Akutagawa (harpsichord) 
