Andreas Scholl, Il Duello Amoroso & other Italian Cantatas
It's hard to beat a score of 10 out of 10
30 May 2007
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GEORGE FREDERIC HANDEL
Amarilli vezzosa (Il duello amoroso) HWV 82; Nel dolce tempo HWV 135b; Vedendo Amor HWV 175; Trio sonata in B minor Op. 2 No. 1; Mi palpita il cor HWV 132c
Andreas Scholl (countertenor); Hélène Guilmette (soprano)
Accademia Bizantina
Ottavio Dantone
Harmonia Mundi- HMC 901957(CD)
Rating Artistic Quality 9 / 10
Sound Quality 10 / 10
Certainly fans of countertenor Andreas Scholl and lovers of Handel's Italian cantatas will not be disappointed with this new release. Scholl's voice retains its clear, fluid, golden-toned beauty, and he absolutely owns these little dramas centered around the common themes of the quest for love (or attempts to avoid its "cruel trap"). On hearing the very early cantata Vedendo Amor, you can't help being overcome with the sheer loveliness of the melodic invention (and the correspondingly lovely singing!) in the aria Camminando lei pian piano..., and it's always a pleasure to be reminded that the Op. 2 No. 1 trio sonata, an effective complement to the vocal works, contains some of Handel's finest music in the chamber instrumental genre.
Mi palpita il cor is a favorite of singers – both in its soprano and alto versions – and it has several fine recordings, including those by mezzo/alto Stephanie Houtzeel and Marie-Nicole Lemieux and soprano Emma Kirkby. This one joins the list, although I'm not very fond of Scholl's habit of articulating fast runs with h's before each note.
I'm also not wild about soprano Hélène Guilmette, who joins Scholl for the big number, the cantata known both as Amarilli vezzosa (charming Amaryllis) or Il duello amoroso (the amorous duel). Her voice is just a bit too bright in places, and her frequently uneven tone quality and erratic dynamic control, especially in her opening recit and aria, give an unsettling nervous cast to her singing. Perhaps she's just caught up in the effort to depict the mocking nature of her character, but interestingly these qualities nearly disappear from her delivery at the end of the cantata when she sings with Scholl – and ultimately their final "duel" is very well done. The sound is ideal, with instruments and voices well-placed and faithfully captured in a complementary studio acoustic.
- David Vernier
BÉLA BARTÓK
Kossuth; The Wooden Prince (complete)
Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra
Zoltán Kocsis
Hungaroton- 32502(SACD)
Rating Artistic Quality 10 / 10
Sound Quality 10 / 10
Kossuth is so exciting that you really wonder why it isn't played more often. Not much longer than Strauss' Don Juan, and just as ebulliently scored, it would make a terrific concert opener. Following up on his recent stunning recording of Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra, Zoltán Kocsis' next disc in the series is just as fine. He whips the orchestra up into a fine lather, the brass section of the Hungarian National Philharmonic responding with gusto, the strings with tremendous passion and sweep. This is just the sort of performance to make many new friends for the piece, and the SACD surround sonics are just as splendid as they were formerly.
Like Kossuth, The Wooden Prince is something of a step-child among Bartók's works. Its symbolist plot, to say nothing of the music, lacks the visceral punch of The Miraculous Mandarin, but the piece is much easier on the ear in the traditional sense, with its melodic material audibly rooted in Hungarian folksong. Kocsis' performance catches the music's ebb and flow as do few others. He understands how to get past the more spasmodic bits of pantomime in order to showcase the more extended sections, and once again the playing of the orchestra has all the panache that this opulently scored music requires.
I look forward to future releases in this splendid series, and to anything else from Kocsis that Hungaroton feels inclined to release. Unlike so many pianists turned conductor, he is the real deal, a consummately well-rounded musician, and this music plays to all of his strengths.
- David Hurwitz
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Phantasy Quartet for Oboe & Strings; String Quartet No. 3
ARTHUR BLISS
Oboe Quintet
Alex Klein (oboe)
Vermeer Quartet
Cedille- 90000 093(CD)
Rating Artistic Quality 10 / 10
Sound Quality 9 / 10
I somehow missed this disc at the time of its initial release a few months ago, but I'm glad to have found it and you will be too. Chamber music with oboe usually suffers from one major problem: the oboe. Not here. Alex Klein's tone is so sweet and mellow that you could listen to him for hours without it ever becoming fatiguing. In the Britten Phantasy, about eight minutes in, there's a high, exposed entrance that's so pure that you'd swear you were listening to a flute. In short, the playing here is gorgeous, and the music no less rewarding. The Britten is his Op. 2, but is entirely typical of his early genius, while the Bliss is a major work full of that composer's bittersweet lyricism.
Britten's Third Quartet is a moving and at times creepy work, which isn't surprising as it quotes from the definitely creepy opera Death in Venice. It was dedicated to Hans Keller, an absolute loon of a string pedagogue who wrote a bizarrely entertaining book on Haydn's string quartets, among other things. The Vermeer Quartet, excellent in the other works on the disc, plays it with total confidence and impressively secure intonation, particularly in the high-lying third movement. The long final passacaglia, with its unresolved ending, is extremely moving too. Cedille's sonics are perfectly balanced and very natural, but also just a touch close, catching some breathing from the quartet and clicking valves from Klein. This is a very rewarding and enjoyable release.
- David Hurwitz
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