In New Grove, Michael Talbot describes Andrea Zani
as "an accomplished and fairly inventive composer", which seems about
right, if based on limited evidence. Certainly Talbot did not have access
to these cello concertos, which were assembled by Jill Ward, a postgraduate
at Canterbury University (New Zealand), working on her Ph.D. The collection
then found its way in 2012 to Austrian cellist Martin Rummel at Auckland
University, who immediately applied for, and happily received, funding
to learn, practise and record the scores, all within the space of a
few months.
Five of Zani's Violin Concertos op.2 appeared a couple of years ago
on the Swiss Pan Classics label, performed by Alessandro Ciccolini and
the Compagnia de' Musici (PC10254). A decade before that, Giovanni Columbro
and the Capella Palatina recorded Zani's op.4 Concerti Grossi for Agora
(220), now an expensive rarity. These appear to be the only other monographs
of his music. Elsewhere the odd concerto has appeared in anthologies,
but very rarely. By coincidence, however, the brand-new third volume
in Sol Gabetta's splendid 'Progetto Vivaldi' for Sony Classics (88697953502)
includes Zani's A minor cello concerto (WD.789).
All twelve works have the same fast-slow-fast (usually allegro/andante/allegro)
structure that typifies the late-Baroque concerto, a short middle movement
sandwiched between outer ones of roughly the same length. Zani was a
younger contemporary of Vivaldi and these concertos show good evidence
of the latter's benign influence, though whether Zani met him or not
remains unknown, as indeed do many facts surrounding Zani's career.
Amazingly for a not-quite-forty-year-old, this is Martin Rummel's 32nd
commercial album. He has elected to play Zani in what appears to (and
may well) be a random order, although there is symmetry between the
opening and closing pairs. It does not make all that much difference
- there is sustaining interest and variety in Zani's concertos whichever
way round they come. Their colours are enhanced by the different continuo
instruments employed by the excellent Kölner Akademie, their six
violins, viola and cello augmented by a double bass, harpsichord alternating
with organ and theorbo with guitar. Under Michael Willens, incidentally,
Die Kölner Akademie are now four volumes into their historically
authentic, in some eyes controversial, period instrument cycle for BIS
of the complete (forte)piano concertos of Mozart with Ronald Brautigam.
Sound quality is good, if just a mite reverberant, and accompanying
booklet notes are detailed and informative. There are surprisingly few
recordings of cello concertos from this period that are not by Vivaldi,
especially of whole cycles like this one. That is an extra credit for
this CD - the fine performances and Zani's own elegant, creative musicianship
are grounds enough for procurement.
Byzantion
Contact at artmusicreviews.co.uk
Track listing
Concertos for Cello and Strings no.10 in F WD.794 [12:17]
Concerto
no.2 in A minor WD.789 [9:13]
Concerto no.3 in D WD.792 [13:15]
Concerto
no.6 in G minor WD.797 [9:34]
Concerto no.8 in C minor WD.798 [11:43]
Concerto no.5 in G WD.790 [8:15]
Concerto no.9 in B flat WD.796 [12:59]
Concerto no.4 in D minor WD.795 [8:33]
Concerto no.7 in C WD.788 [11:50]
Concerto no.11 in E minor WD.791 [10:07]
Concerto no.1 in A WD.793
[10:37]
Concerto no.12 in F minor WD.799 [11:57]
