Tír Na HiFi

Listening these evening to two spellbinding recent releases.  First up is Aura Soave on the Flora label, a recording of great delicacy and serene beauty.  The repertoire  is taken from the early 17th century Italian baroque, interspersing vocal pieces  with instrumentals for viol consort and baroque harp.  The highlights of the set are exquisite versions of "L'amante segreto" by Barbara Strozzi and "Sopra la rosa" by Marco Marazolli, which are sung with delicacy and tenderness by Celine Scheen.  What I find interesting about her singing is just how natural it sounds.  There is a beautiful sense of conversational intimacy here, as opposed to exaggerated displays of virtuosity.  The sensitivity of the instrumental accompaniment is particularly noteworthy in its sense of unhurried delicacy, gently supportive to the singer whilst offering subtle embellishments to the sung texts.  It is a very intelligently sequenced recording in the ordering of the various instrumentals and vocal pieces and very sensitively recorded.  One of the very best CDs I've heard all year and very highly recommended.




And then I listened to In dolce amore on DHM,  a recording of arias and cantatas by Antonio Caldara (all of which are receiving their world premiere recordings here) beautifully sung by Robin Johannsen.  Personally speaking, Caldara's Maddelena ai piedi di Cristo is a desert island piece for me (especally in the landmark recording for Harmonia Mundi by Rene Jacobs, a career highlight for this great conductor).  This is a work of great beauty, displaying extraordinary levels of passionate intensity that linger long in the mind.  It is always a pleasure to hear new music from Caldara and, whilst the pieces on this new CD are not quite on the same level as the aforementioned masterpiece, they are nevertheless richly rewarding.  There are superficial similarities to Vivaldi's operatic work, but, rather like Alessandro Scarlatti, Caldara appears to be capable of greater emotional depth.  (Perhaps I'm over-generalising here but I do rate  Vivaldi's sacred vocal output rather higher than his secular work).  Robin Johannsen also appeared on the superb recording that conductor Alessandro de Marchi made of an imagined musical pasticcio comprising works by Handel and Caldara (Carmelite Vespers 1709) a few years back for DHM and it is a treat to hear them performing Caldara again.  A wonderful CD.

I think I own that disc, Dave. I really must listen to it sometime!

It's always wonderful to hear new music from unfamiliar composers.  This evening I've been listening to two CDs of music by the Bohemian composer, Adelbert Gyrowetz,  who wrote a great deal of music in his lifetime but is somewhat forgotten today. Like many other contemporary composers of the late 18th/early 19th century, Gyrowetz was greatly influenced by Haydn but there are countless original touches to his music that single him out as a composer of interest that deserves to be remembered as more than a derivative footnote in history.  The first CD I listened to this evening centred on the man's piano trios and are performed with relish by Trio Fortepiano (available on the New Classical Adventure label).  The other Gyrowetz CD was devoted to a selection of his inventive string quartets perfomed with great distinction by the Pleyel Quartett Koln (available on the CPO label).  Very highly recommended for lovers of classical era chamber music.



Next I listened to two CDs of music by the 18th century Swiss composer Gaspard Fritz.  Firstly a selection of the man's sinfonias as performed by La Stagione Frankfurt and conducted by CPO regular Michael Schneider.  Very interesting music that strangely reminded me of late Italian Baroque music as viewed through a Classical looking glass.  Next I listened to Fritz's fine violin sonatas as performed with elegance and sympathetic advocacy by Plamena 
Nikitassova on violin and accompanied by cellist May Amrein and harpsichordist Jorg -Andreas Botticher (who previously accompanied Chiara Bianchini in her excellent recording of Bach's sonatas for violin and harsichord for the ZigZag label).  I look forward to hearing more from this unjustly neglected composer.

An old favorite of mine....

DaveF wrote:An old favorite of mine....

....and should sound great through the new system!

mcq wrote:It's always wonderful to hear new music from unfamiliar composers.  This evening I've been listening to two CDs of music by the Bohemian composer, Adelbert Gyrowetz,  who wrote a great deal of music in his lifetime but is somewhat forgotten today. Like many other contemporary composers of the late 18th/early 19th century, Gyrowetz was greatly influenced by Haydn but there are countless original touches to his music that single him out as a composer of interest that deserves to be remembered as more than a derivative footnote in history.  The first CD I listened to this evening centred on the man's piano trios and are performed with relish by Trio Fortepiano (available on the New Classical Adventure label).  The other Gyrowetz CD was devoted to a selection of his inventive string quartets perfomed with great distinction by the Pleyel Quartett Koln (available on the CPO label).  Very highly recommended for lovers of classical era chamber music.



Next I listened to two CDs of music by the 18th century Swiss composer Gaspard Fritz.  Firstly a selection of the man's sinfonias as performed by La Stagione Frankfurt and conducted by CPO regular Michael Schneider.  Very interesting music that strangely reminded me of late Italian Baroque music as viewed through a Classical looking glass.  Next I listened to Fritz's fine violin sonatas as performed with elegance and sympathetic advocacy by Plamena 
Nikitassova on violin and accompanied by cellist May Amrein and harpsichordist Jorg -Andreas Botticher (who previously accompanied Chiara Bianchini in her excellent recording of Bach's sonatas for violin and harsichord for the ZigZag label).  I look forward to hearing more from this unjustly neglected composer.

I am intrigued by your post Paul....sounds like something that I would enjoy.

I think you would enjoy them, Fergus.  Very fine music from criminally underlooked composers.  The really great thing about the period instrument movement over the last 30 years or so is not just the revelatory new takes on established masterworks, but the discovery of hitherto unappreciated masters such as Biber, Buxtehude, Graupner, Vinci and Zelenka (to take five random examples that come to mind).  

DaveF wrote:An old favorite of mine....

Lovely music, Dave.  I think Vivaldi's music for cello is some of his most personal.  As well as the concertos, I'm also very fond of the cello sonatas.  Coin recorded a fine set with Christopher Hogwood for the l'Oiseau Lyre label.  And Anner Bylsma's recordings for Sony Vivarte are extraordinary.  I don't know if you've heard them, but CPE Bach's cello concertos are also very rewarding.  I highly recommend Bylsma on Virgin Classics and Hidemi Suzuki on BIS.

More glorious music for viol consort tonight.  First up is a richly rewarding 2-CD set of music for treble viol from two almost forgotten 18th century French  composers, Louis Heudelinne and Charles Henri Blainville (available on Pan Classics).  Absolutely intoxicating in its shifting sands of variegated tonal colours and subtly contoured rhythmic textures, this is a continuous pleasure to listen to.



And then I listened to a recent re-release on Glossa, Seconde Stravaganze, which centred on music for viol consort from the Venetian and Neapolitan composers of the 16th and 17th centuries.  The gambist Guido Balestracci augments his ensemble, L'Amoroso, with additional percussion and harp, and produces a deeply sensuous recording, that alternates between breathless excitement and serenely meditative calm.  A very special CD.