Bach: Gamba Sonatas -
Markku Luolajan-Mikkola was a founder of the Phantasm viol quartet; Miklós Sp´nyi has
... more
given recitals throughout Europe and twice won international harpsichord competitions. Together they present a programme of four Bach sonatas for viola da gamba and keyboard, Sp´nyi choosing to use the tangent-piano. Derived from the keyboards Bach knew, the sound is somewhere between harpsichord and modern piano, and blends effectively with the viola da gamba. There is virtuoso playing here, not in any superficial, flamboyant sense of showmanship, but simply because it is required to realise this concentrated music. Luolajan-Mikkola offers very focused, almost mathematically precise playing with clear intonation and accurate vibrato. Sp´nyi's alternately soft or spiky tangent-piano extends from providing a textured, detailed background to becoming intimately interwoven with the viola da gamba. In the indefinable musical space between the players, Bach's benign detachment is captured, a musical world existing in its own timeless realm. The musicianship would seem almost inhumanly too perfect, were it not that it mysteriously communicates the indescribable. All this is complemented by a recording which is both very detailed and naturally balanced, the result being a very distinguished release indeed. --Gary S Dalkin
Bach: Gamba Sonatas
Markku Luolajan-Mikkola was a founder of the Phantasm viol quartet; Miklós Sp´nyi has
... more
given recitals throughout Europe and twice won international harpsichord competitions. Together they present a programme of four Bach sonatas for viola da gamba and keyboard, Sp´nyi choosing to use the tangent-piano. Derived from the keyboards Bach knew, the sound is somewhere between harpsichord and modern piano, and blends effectively with the viola da gamba. There is virtuoso playing here, not in any superficial, flamboyant sense of showmanship, but simply because it is required to realise this concentrated music. Luolajan-Mikkola offers very focused, almost mathematically precise playing with clear intonation and accurate vibrato. Sp´nyi's alternately soft or spiky tangent-piano extends from providing a textured, detailed background to becoming intimately interwoven with the viola da gamba. In the indefinable musical space between the players, Bach's benign detachment is captured, a musical world existing in its own timeless realm. The musicianship would seem almost inhumanly too perfect, were it not that it mysteriously communicates the indescribable. All this is complemented by a recording which is both very detailed and naturally balanced, the result being a very distinguished release indeed. --Gary S Dalkin
imaginative presentation on an 18th-century violoncello piccolo that captures the extraordinary beauties of the music as few others have done (the most intriguing alternative version is by violist Kim Kashkashian and pianist Keith Jarrett on ECM). The resulting flow of music, as if the sonatas and their curious companions (arrangements of other Bach) were one continuous reflection, is hypnotic in its appeal. The lighter, more agile tones of the violoncello piccolo, meanwhile, make what often sounds dense on the modern cello fantastic and poetical by turns. All this musical glory is complemented by a superb recording that captures every interpretive nuance, and absorbing liner notes by the cellist that pose but do not answer the riddles of the extra music. For those who find Wispelwey's brilliant playing addictive, his 16 other CDs for Channel Classics include equally compelling recordings of music by Bach, Beethoven, Haydn, and Vivaldi. --Laurence Vittes
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750); Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714 - 1788)
Main Performer: Angela Hewitt (Piano); Daniel Müller-Schott (Cello)
Date of Release: 09/07/2007
Label / Distributor: Orfeo / Harmonia Mundi
Pieces in Set: 1
Running Time: 1 hour 55 minutes
Genre(s): Chamber
Stereo: Stereo
SPAR Code: DDD
EAN: 4011790693125
Work 1
Work Title: (3) Sonatas for Viola da gamba and Harpsichord, BWV1027-29
Excerpt(s): 1. No. 1 in G, BWV1027<br>2. Adagio; Allegro ma non tanto; Andante; Allegro moderato<br>3. No. 2 in D, BWV1028<br>4. No. 3 in G minor, BWV1029<br>5. ii - Adagio; Allegro
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750)
Genre: Chamber
Date Written: c1720
Opera Part(s): Angela Hewitt, Daniel Müller-Schott
Main Performer: Angela Hewitt (Piano), Daniel Müller-Schott (Cello)
Work 2
Work Title: Sonata for Viola da gamba and Continuo in D, H559 (Wq137)
Excerpt(s): 1. Sonata for Viola da gamba and Continuo in D, H559 (Wq137)
Composer: Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714 - 1788)
Genre: Chamber
Date Written: 1746
Main Performer: Angela Hewitt (Piano), Daniel Müller-Schott (Cello)
Opera Part(s): Angela Hewitt, Daniel Müller-Schott
Advantages: Wonderful transcriptions of JS Bach's majestic music; sensitive, tender, vivacious, effortless and fluid playing. Disadvantages: Nil.
...Variata in A Minor (Italian Variations) BWV 989
7 Gigue from Violin Partita no 3. BWV1006
Trio Sonata in C Major BWV 529
8 Allegro
9 Largo
10 Allegro
Concerto in C minor (after Marcello) BWV 974:
11 Allegro
12 Largo
13 Presto
14 Bist du bei mir (from Anna Magdalena Notebook BWV 508)
Concerto in A major (transposed to C Major) BWV 1055:
15 Allegro
16 Larghetto
17 Allegro ma non tanto
18 Badinerie from Orchestral Suite no.2 BWV 1067
19 Agnus Dei from Mass in B minor BWV 232
Performers:
Alison Balsom (trumpets), Colm Carey (organ), Alina Ibragimova (violin), Alistair Ross (harpsichord & chamber organ), Mark Caudle (viola da gamba)
Total running time: 71' 31"
List Price:
$16.98
GBP13.99
(Of course, it can easily be had for less on many online stores. Just Google the disc name and artist.)
~~~~~~~~~~~
The following information...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Thrilling, daredevil chamber music performances from the legendary Martha Argerich and partner-in-crime Gidon Kremer. Disadvantages: Violinist Kremer occasionally on the mannered, spastic side; only forty-three minutes of music.
...thorough introduction to Martha Argerich, you may want to read my other post (or you may not!):
http://www.ciao.co.uk/BachKeyboardWorksReview5359921
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CD Notes:
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770 - 1827)
Sonata for Piano and Violin no. 4 in A minor, op. 23
1. (1) Presto 6’56
2. (2) Andante scherzoso più Allegretto 7’20
3. (3) Allegro molto 5’15
Sonata for Piano and Violin no. 5 in F major, op. 24 "Frühlings-Sonate" ["Spring"]
4. (1) Allegro 9’41
5. (2) Adagio molto espressivo 6’02
6. (3) Scherzo. Allegro molto 1’19
7. (4) Rondo. Allegro ma non troppo 6’34
MARTHA ARGERICH, Piano
GIDON KREMER, Violin
Deutsche Grammophon
(P) 1987 43’23
417 787-2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Performances for comparison:)
From:
BEETHOVEN
The Violin Sonatas
ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER
LAMBERT ORKIS
Compact Disc 2
Sonatas op. 23 & op. 24
"Spring Sonata...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Brilliant, stirring, excitingly unpredictable, fresh performance; "genius" is not hyperbole in Argerich's case. Disadvantages: Reflecting its LP origins, the CD lasts only 50' 16"!
...- [Ital.,=touched], type of musical composition. Early examples were written for various instruments, but the best-known form of toccata originated about the beginning of the 17th cent. Free in form, it was one of the first attempts at idiomatic writing for keyboard instruments, in contrast to the strictly contrapuntal pieces of the Renaissance. The toccata was usually rhapsodic, often interspersing rapid passages of brilliant figuration with fugal sections. Andrea Gabrieli, Frescobaldi, Sweelinck, Froberger, Buxtehude, and Bach were outstanding masters of the toccata style. Schumann wrote a toccata for piano in sonata form. As a brilliant showpiece the toccata persists today in organ composition.
(from http://www.bartleby.com/65/to/toccata.html, Columbia Encyclopedia)
- musical form for keyboard instruments, written in a free style...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
very helpful 08.10.2003
Compare Bach: Gamba Sonatas to other similar Classical
13.04.2006
05.03.2004
08.10.2003
