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International Record Review - (02/2012)
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This has all the ingredients of a genuinely outstanding recording.
First it has a star singer. The Catalan soprano Nuria Rial has firmly established a reputation as an instinctive performer of Baroque music. She is at her most vocally sumptuous and graceful in the opening aria, ‘Komm o Schlaf, und lass mein Leid’, but while she does not shy away from dramatic outburst — albeit somewhat restrained in the stirring recitative to the exquisitely delicate aria ‘Erscheine bald du Irrlicht meiner Sinne’ — the disc predominantly displays the crystalline purity of her voice and her rich seam of eloquent lyricism. Her precise and fluting upper register is the most impressive vocal attribute in evidence here. Sometimes it is exhibited with delectable delicacy in rapid runs and decorative flourishes, as in ‘Steckt Mars den Degen ein’, but more often it reveals itself in pure, impeccably sustained notes, which take on a truly delectable quality when set alongside a pair of exquisite flutes in ‘Mir schmeichelt die Hoffnung’. Perhaps we miss the sense of involvement and characterization to be expected in operatic arias, but this is possibly not repertoire where such things are practicable.
Secondly, it features a genuinely virtuoso instrumental soloist. Julia Schröder bursts on to the scene with a robustness and fiery energy the complete antithesis of Rial. There are two fully fledged violin concertos here. First comes the A minor which serves as the Overture to the opera Emma und Eginhard, while with the C major Concerto (the Overture to Der geduldige Sokrates) Schröder exudes a magnificent rusticity in the closing Vivace. There is actually another brilliant virtuoso instrumentalist here. Maurice Steger displays breathtaking recorder virtuosity in his spectacular obbligato to the aria ‘Mich tröstet die Hoffnung’, which is my personal favourite track here and one with which I will bombard all visitors to the house in the next few weeks.
Thirdly, it has absolutely first-rate orchestral support from the matchless virtuosi who comprise Kammerorchester Basel. They play with a freshness and vitality which adds a wonderfully colourful dimension to everything on the disc.
Another important ingredient is the unusual repertoire. Of course, for a disc to he genuinely outstanding the repertoire does not need to be unusual - indeed, most outstanding recordings cover very familiar ground but those of us who are passionate record collectors always relish the chance to experience something new and worthwhile. Telemann’s operatic output is hardly well represented on disc , and what we have here provides a tantalizing taster of an area of repertoire which remains hidden from the view of most record collectors.
While the past few years have witnessed a spectacular reassessment of Telemann’s qualities as a major composer, thus far his operatic output bas been largely overlooked. Yet he wrote at least 50, many of which exist today in rather fragmentary form. First published only a few years ago were no fewer than 45 arias from a single opera – Germanicus - which makes us wonder what else Telemann added to the score to fill in the time. What we learn from these outstanding performances is that, when it came to opera, Telemann was very much his own man, producing works of real individuality and distinction, if perhaps lacking the dramatic power or vivid characterizations of Handel. Interesting that two of the operas featured here - Emma und Eginhard and Der geduldige Sokrates - open with fully fledged violin concertos, the former including in its third movement an astonishing set of variations on Polish folk music.
Lastly there is the vivid and very detailed recording. It was partially made in the studio and partially at live performances in Basel’s Martinskirche, which should entice those audiophiles who can remain immune from the joys of a great soprano, a couple of great instrumental soloists, a fantastic orchestra and exciting new repertoire.
All the ingredients of a truly outstanding
recording, certainly, but do they result in a truly outstanding recording?
Without a shadow of a doubt, yes.
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