Saturday, 22 July 2017

Abel - The Drexel Manuscript - Wagner


Rating: 5/5

Review:
An excellent recording



I like this disc very much.  I already have excellent recordings of these pieces by both Paolo Pandolfo and Susanne Heinrich; this is just as good, I think.

The programme is a collection of solo pieces by Carl Friedrich Abel, a pupil of Bach and known as the last of the great gamba masters before the cello took its place. The pieces are inventive and involving, and are really enjoyable music from lively dance-like movements to lovely arpeggiated studies and thoughtful, intense adagios. I am glad that Abel is getting a bit more attention nowadays - he deserves it.

Petr Wagner is a fine gambist and he does these pieces proud.  He is, unsurprisingly, less flamboyant and extravert than Pandolfo but perhaps a little freer than Heinrich in his approach.  His technique is excellent, he manages to allow the full beauty and interest of the music to emerge and the sound of his instrument is simply beautiful –and excellently recorded by Accent.

If I had to choose a single recording of Abel's solo gamba music it would still probably be Suzanne Heinrich, but that's just personal preference.  This is an excellent disc of lovely music, beautifully played and if you're looking for a recording of Abel, this will do you very well indeed.  Warmly recommended.

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