Outil de traduction (Très approximatif)
Translator tool (Very approximate)
Reviewer:
David Vickers
As Roy Goodman’s
Brandenburg Consort and others have proved in the past, six Concerti armonici
published anonymously at The Hague in 1740 offer a bit of everything anyone
fond of late‑Baroque string concertos could possibly want: harmonic invention,
surprising twists, intricate sharing of details between concertante violins
and cello, dramatic quick movements, atmospheric slow movements, an
accomplished mastery of contrapuntal ideas and idiomatic writing for all
instruments from top to bottom. Their anonymity caused publishers and
musicologists problems over the centuries; the most popular misattribution to
Pergolesi lasted long into the 1970s (frankly, this is hard to believe on
stylistic grounds). The original manuscript, found in the library of Twickel
Castle near Enschede, reveals that the music was composed by Count Unico
Wilhelm van Wassenaer (1692‑1766), a high‑flying diplomat from an old and
powerful aristocratic Dutch family. He wrote the concertos separately between
1725 and 1740, and agreed only reluctantly to their publication provided that
he was not named. He later wrote on his manuscript that ‘Some of them are
tolerable, some middling, others wretched’.
The Innovation Chamber Ensemble,
consisting of 14 players from the CBSO, produce sensitively bowed phrasing and
finely nuanced textures, although more than a few moments are undermined by
variable intonation and tuning from the violins. There are lyrical solo cello
contributions in several movements (eg Un poco andante in No 1), and the use of
a lute stop from harpsichordist Martin Perkins is a nice touch in the sublime
Largo affettuoso of No 4. Muted strings conjure soft intimacy in the beautiful
slow movement of No 5 (A tempo comodo), and there are staccato surprises and
theatrically weighted textures in the ensuing climax.
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