Bach - Goldberg Variations - Hewitt (2016)

Rating: 5/5

Review:
Another gem from Angela Hewitt

I have loved Angela Hewitt's original recording of the Goldberg Variations ever since it was issued in 2000, so I was both excited and a little anxious about a new recording.  No need for anxiety – this is another outstanding recording.

Hewitt has lived with this work for many, many years and has a deep understanding of it both scholastically and emotionally - that much was already evident in her original recording.   This version, recorded on her own Fazioli piano, is recognisably different,  but the differences are subtle and to me often almost intangible.  The pulse of the dance which Hewitt understands so well is still there, as is the deep scholarship which illuminates every bar and also the radiant beauty she brings out of so many of the Variations.  Although she obviously brings something new to the work here, I struggled to put my finger on exactly what it is because it's more a matter of mood and a slight mellowness, perhaps, than anything really obvious.  In her typically  readable and interesting notes, Hewitt says:

"The Steinway I recorded on back in 1999 was a most

beautiful instrument. My own Fazioli on this 2015 recording

is more flexible, more challenging to one’s creativity, more

open to variations in sound and touch. The emphasis on

dance is more marked (dance in Bach means joy—one

would think that with age the capacity for joy diminishes,

but in fact I find the opposite). On this new recording the

phrasing is, I think, more elastic; the touch, when required,

lighter; the contrasts more apparent."

I agree, and I can't do better than that.  What I can say is that this will take its place alongside her 2000 recording as a genuine favourite.  It is, of course, superbly recorded by Hyperion and is a wholly involving pleasure to listen to.

Hewitt ends her notes with this:  "But above all, the ‘Goldberg’ Variations has somehow become a mirror of my life, and gives me the opportunity to say with music that which I would never be able to express with words."  That maturity and emotional investment shines out of this disc as she expresses Bach faithfully and very beautifully.  I love it, and I can recommend it very warmly indeed.

Weiss - Moscow Manuscript - Suetin

Rating: 3/5

Review:
Not the best Weiss recording

I'm afraid I'm not all that taken with this disc.  I like Weiss's music very much so I was looking forward to it, but both the performance and recording are a bit problematic.

Weiss was a rough contemporary of Bach and wrote a large amount of very fine lute music, of which this is a pretty decent selection.  However, the music needs a variety of approaches, including a lightness of step and a sense of space sometimes, neither of which it gets here.  Alexander Suetin is plainly a very good lutenist, but he invests everything with great intensity which works well enough in some more dramatic or emotional movements.  However, these are suites of dances; some of them are light and full of joy, but the whole thing has a terribly serious feel to it which gets pretty wearing after a while.  This isn't helped by a recording which sounds as though it was made in a lavatory – echoey but bleak and cold.  The overall effect really isn't good.

There are plenty of very fine recordings of Weiss by Robert Barto, Jakob Lindberg and others.  Personally, I'd recommend trying them rather than this; it's worthy but not all that enjoyable.

Allegri - Miserere - A Sei Voci/Fabre-Garrus

Rating: 4/5

Review:
A welcome reissue

I'm glad to see this disc (originally from 1994) reissued.  It is an interesting take on one of the best-known pieces in the repertoire, and it's good to have some more of Allegri's work available – even if it isn't terrifically inspiring.

The principal interest here is in the two versions of Gregorio Allegri's famous setting of the 51^st Psalm, known as "Miserere".  The first is quite a revelation, with Baroque ornamentation rather than the more familiar version with the stratospheric treble/soprano notes which probably date from the Sistine Chapel's original ornamentation practice.  It's rather lovely, even if it is a bit of a shock to the system.  A Sei Voci also sing the more familiar version to close the disc.  They take both very slowly compared with other modern recordings like The Tallis Scholars and the Sixteen which can feel a little funereal at times, but they're well sung.

The rest of the music is a mass setting and three motets, also by Allegri, which – to me anyway – aren't all that interesting.  They're perfectly decent works, but compared to many of the wonderful music by famous composers like Josquin, Byrd or Palestrina, or the fabulous stuff by obscure composers unearthed more recently by ensembles like Cinquecento and The Brabant Ensemble, it seems pretty uninspiring.  It is redeemed a good deal by the performances, though.  I haven't always got on with A Sei Voci's performances in the past (their Josquin recordings in particular) but here they sing beautifully, with a lovely, richly textured sound and genuine engagement with the text. 

I certainly wouldn't recommend this as the best recording of Allegri's Miserere (for me, that's still The Tallis Scholars' 1980 recording) but it's a very interesting disc which I can recommend.

Vivaldi - Concerti per Due Violoni - Beyer, Carmignola, Gli Incogniti

Rating: 4/5

Review: Good but not quite great

I like this disc, but it's not quite as special as I was hoping it would be.  I love Amandine Beyer's work with Gli Incogniti and Giuliano Carmignola is a very fine Baroque player; in many ways they produce the goods here but I do have some reservations.

This is an interesting and quite varied programme of double violin concerti with – contrary to some beliefs about Vivaldi – a good variety of moods.  There are plenty of Vivaldi's familiar virtuosic pyrotechnics, but also genuine minor-key drama and some very lovely slower movements, too.  The players, soloists and ensemble alike, do seem to go at almost all of it with immense vigour, and while I'm all for Vivaldi being invested with plenty of fire and emotion, I think there does need to be a little more variation of tone.  It does happen sometimes – the Largo of RV527 is exquisite, for example – just not quite enough for me.

I also found the sound balance a little odd at times, with the soloists mixed rather a long way back so there were moments when I was struggling to make out the solo lines among the ensemble.

Neither of these is a massive criticism; they are both quite personal perceptions and others may not agree with them.  This is certainly a very good disc of Vivaldi from two terrific players and a very fine ensemble.  It's not quite the fabulous treat I was expecting, but I can still recommend it.

Mouton - Missa Dictes moy etc - The Tallis Scholars

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A fabulous recording

The Tallis Scholars are invariably excellent (I have loved their recordings for forty years now), but every so often they release a disc which is truly exceptional even by their own stellar standards. This is one of them. Mouton's music is rich, distinctive and astonishingly beautiful, featuring a serenity and sweetness of tone seldom matched in Renaissance polyphony but never becomes bland or monotonous because Mouton varies his mood and effects so cleverly that there is always variety and something new to keep the ear interested and - for me, anyway - often spellbound.

The mass setting here is really excellent, with Mouton's ingenious use of Compere's chanson Dittez moy as a basis binding it together beautifully and keeping even the long movements fresh and interesting throughout. The motets are also terrific, with the amazing setting of Ave maria...virgo serena showing hints that Mouton occasionally came close to Josquin's genius in composition.

The disc ends with Mouton's only well-known work, the fabulously beautiful Nesciens mater. I already have three dearly-loved versions but this may well be my favourite. Sung one to a part, it has a spare clarity which allows it to really shine. As Dorothy L. Sayers said of Dante's Divine Comedy, it has a lasting beauty being built on noble bones and here the Tallis Scholars allow that innate beauty to shine. This is true throughout the disc, which has a deeper, more resonant sound than some Tallis Scholars recordings. The top lines in the mass and two of the motets are taken by the altos, and Donald Greig, a stalwart bass of the ensemble, here sings the baritone part which gives an idea of the often lower pitch. This fits the music perfectly and with the Tallis Scholars' characteristic impeccable technique and deep engagement with the music the whole thing is quite exceptionally beautiful and involving.

The recorded sound (in the lovely acoustic of Merton College Chapel, Oxford) is outstanding and the notes full, readable and interesting. This is an absolutely terrific disc all round and on a par with their Browne, de Rore and Victoria recordings which are among my most treasured discs. Recommended in the warmest possible terms.

Graupner - Orchestral Suites - Finnish Baroque Orchestra

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A very enjoyable disc

I am rather surprised by how much I like this disc. Often, neglected baroque composers are neglected for a very good reason but while Graupner is certainly no Bach or Handel, he turns out to have written some very enjoyable music.

In his own time, Graupner was generally more highly regarded than Bach, of whom he was a slightly older contemporary. That's a judgement which most certainly wouldn't be shared today, but his music does deserve to be more widely known on this evidence. The music is perhaps more solid and workmanlike than inspired but it is nonetheless very enjoyable. He is slightly reminiscent of Handel in his use of orchestral colour and this gives the music real character, I think, and prevents it from just becoming baroque wallpaper. It's an interesting and rewarding listen – and a good deal of what makes it so is the playing of the musicians here.

The Finnish Baroque Orchestra are excellent, as are the soloists. They really understand what makes this music tick and bring out both the colours of the instruments and the dance rhythms of the different movements. The combination is a delight, and the variety of solo instruments – flute, viola d’amore, chalumeau, baroque horn, and bassoon in various combinations – lends real character to the whole thing.

Beautifully recorded and with full, interesting notes, this is a very good disc all round. If, like me, you were only dimly aware of Graupner, this will bring him much more to the fore, and deservedly so. Very warmly recommended.

Handel - My Favourite Instrument - Löffler/Batzdorfer Hofkapelle

Rating: 3/5

Review:
Rather disappointing

I love a lot of Handel's instrumental music and the Baroque oboe could be said to be one of my favourite instruments, too, but I'm afraid I found this disc rather disappointing.

The programme is a selection of Handel's works for oboe plus some soprano arias which also feature the oboe prominently.  I was expecting to enjoy it immensely, but it got rather wearing after a while.  Partly this is because it is pretty relentlessly in minor keys, which is absolutely fine in moderate doses and shows the oboe's uniquely plangent tone very well, but I could have done with a little more of Handel's more flowing, mellifluous melodies to leaven it a little.

More seriously, the entire disc seems to be played in a forceful, dramatic, in-your-face style which, while I'm all for vigour and individuality in Baroque playing, really begins to feel as though I'm being harangued after a while.  All the arias are delivered in a very declamatory style and even the gentler, major-key pieces seem very spiky and lacking an essential sense of smooth flow.  This is a shame, because Xenia Löffler is plainly a very good oboist, but I think she could use a few lessons in fluidity of line from someone like Heniz Holliger or Frank de Bruine, and her ensemble need to rein in the attack a little where appropriate. 

All this is a personal view, of course.  Others may disagree but for me this is not one to listen to repeatedly.