*Polish early music magazine
From across the world, a flow of musicians converges upon Amsterdam and the ‘Court’ of harpsichordist Gustav Leonhardt. Few accomplished harpsichordists there are today, who have not made this pilgrimage to ask his advice or seek his blessing upon their careers. Fewer still are the younger players who have not felt Leonhardt’s touch- directly, or indirectly through their teachers.
Most agree that this arch-master has affected everyone’s musical development, their ideas about playing old music (and music in general), and their choice of instruments. After all, among Leonhardt's vast roster of students one may find the most famous and outstanding musical personalities, who while bearing the mark of the same master, differ radically from one another: Bob van Asperen and Ton Koopman, Pierre Hantai and Christophe Rousset, Ketil Haugsand and Christopher Hogwood, Colin Tilney and Skip Sempe, Alan Curtis and Glen Wilson--- not to mention John Gibbons, Lisa Crawford, Anneke Uittenbosch, and many others. Among these belongs Edward Parmentier, an American whom I would include with Leonhardt students of the highest rank.
The fidelity of Leonhardt’s students to their teacher is not manifested in slavish copying or imitation (truthfully I wouldn't know how to define Leonhardt's style), but in the individual's observation and implementation of rules established for the first time in the 20th century by Leonhardt, which remain to this day the fundamental principals of interpretation. [There is no longer need to mention the selection of suitable instruments upon which to play this music; nowadays there is general agreement on this issue.]
Leonhardt’s biggest breakthrough was to affect a change from the harpsichord technique of the first half of this century, characterized by undifferentiated, monotonous dynamics, to the most colorful, delicate, rich and beautiful harpsichord sounds in our times. The understanding of how to elicit tone, use ornaments, define chords, shape metrical and rhythmic relationships, and employ registration was not unknown in the past--- but it was Leonhardt who presented these techniques in logical and beautiful order. His compendium of keyboard practice comprises a world of radically varied and intriguing musical styles that continually amaze me; the "Leonhardt style" does not go out of fashion. We should perhaps be grateful for Leonhardt’s analytical way of playing--- sensitive to detail, always mindful of the musical and formal perspective of the music’s historical origins. Moreover, he has brought about the revival of the great tradition of continuo realization, which is now a major focus of attention in its own right.
All of the above may be said as well of Edward Parmentier, a unique top-rank American harpsichordist, whom one may with conviction classify as a major exponent of the elevated modern school of harpsichord performance. All Leonhardt’s pedagogy has not been wasted on Parmentier, whose music is of the highest order. Precise, transparent, legible articulation is his starting point, from which he plays more expressively, more lyrically, more subjectively, more thoughtfully, perhaps less vocally, and not always so precisely as Leonhardt's persistantly analytical manner; yet differently, with more feeling throughout.
French music-- more precisely music as developed at the court of Louis XIV (including a group of composers educated in Austria)-- enables us to confirm the high esteem conferred upon it by the Sun King. Here we find formal discipline in such pieces as Froberger's Toccata and Canzona, compelling and extravagant Suites of Louis Couperin and Froberger, the idiomatic pieces of Chambonnieres and D'Anglebert, and intimate works like the Tombeaux of Froberger and D'Anglebert. This repertoire is truly excellent and most impressive, for it clearly reveals the transformation in Froberger's style, the high Italian toccatas and canzonas giving way with the passage of time to such distinctively French masterworks as his Tombeau de Monsieur de Blanrocher.
Translated by Karen Hite Jacob and Alijcia
"Wildboar so signifies thoughtful program, careful manufacture, and inspired musicianship that considerations of era and instrumentation are simply overshadowed.
[His] Scarlatti disc finds Parmentier again with full grasp of his subject. He imbues these works with an industry not always heard in authentic-instrument performances of Baroque works. Parmentier's concentrations is apparent in the Fugue, where the counterpoint and harmonic tension never let up, and modulations are deceptively adept, never predictable or abrupt. His playing of the sonatas is also singular. Parmentier may miss the last bit of galanterie, but then the recorded literature has plenty of breezy traversals of Baroque works. Instead he plays with color and emotion. One hears the onomatopoeia Scarlatti wrote in to reflect his adopted Spanish homeland: frequent, literal guitar strums' courtly processions, folk tunes. Parmentier demonstrates again that he is the equal of his teacher Gustav Leonhardt in the application of rubato to artistic effect, and that, like Leonhardt, he is best regarded as a musician who tempers his duty as archivist with the requirements of living performance.
The works chosen reinforce the sense of occasion and concentration. Producer Spencer tells me that he and Parmentier "wanted to show a different side of Scarlatti on this program. We went out of our way to pick pieces without a lot of flash and dazzle." As is typical with Scarlatti collections, most of the sonatas are arranged in same-key pairs, with little break between. Parmentier and Spencer have been adept at these pairings, so that the chosen sequences, even when not adjacent in Kirkpatrick numbering, sound almost as if composed together as concentrated works.
These are not self-consciously historical performances, but rather vital readings by a consummate artist who chooses to express himself through old techniques and technology. This is why Parmentier is almost alone among harpsichordists (Leonhardt and Kipnis come to mind as other exceptions) in instilling some of the excitement brought to this music by pianists such as Horowitz and Michelangeli.
These Wildboar issues recommend themselves to listeners interested in
the keyboard literature, and mightily so to those usually put off by authentic-instrument
performance. The playing has an expressive power surpassing most old-instrument
efforts. Indeed small, dedicated labels such as Wildboar affirm that there
is a lot of performing enerby out there unconnected to the major recording
combines, lacking only sufficient outlet to communicate to a large audience."
Review of Scarlatti: Fugue & Ten Sonatas;
Edward Parmentier, harpsichord
Wildboar 8501 (distr. Albany)
This reissue (from 1985) is especially welcome because Parmentier is a harpsichordist who has something important and personal to say about Scarlatti's music. In fact, I wish Parmentier would take the plunge and record all the Essercizi or --dare I dream? -- all the Scarlatti sonatas. The first piece I listened to was the great K 87 in B minor. It's been recorded often -- three of the best performances are by Andreas Staier on German Harmonia Mundi, Pierre Hantai on Astree, and Anthony Newman on Sony-- but Parmentier gives it the powerful sense of longing that it cries out for. At every moment, really, Parmentier is ready with an inventive and completely persuasive interpretation of both familiar and lesser-known works.
He plays the A-major sonata (K 24) as a fantasia with a variable temp and bizarre humor. His striking alternations between hesitation and hypnotic steadiness in the E-minor sonata (K 263) is enchanting. The disc's opener, a fugue in D-minor, is a virtuosic tour de force that slowly builds to cascades of 16th notes in both hands; Parmentier plays it with a fluent virtuosity without sacrificing the smallest bit of exitement. In this respect he is more engaging than Colin Tilney on Dorian or Glenn Wilson on Teldec.
The Italian instrument (by David Sutherland, tuned in Valotti by producer Joseph Spencer) makes the musical textures crystal-clear even in passages with large chords. Sound is crisp and wonderfully present.
... David Cates— in his debut recording— makes convincing musical sense, and better yet, is very moving. The Blancrocher Tombeau is full of sudden tempo alterations that sound very much like a mourner who is not quite able to maintain his composure. Elsewhere— as in the disc's opening Plainte pour passer de Melancholie— Cates indulges in some delicious legato playing that brings out the best from John Philips' old-style Italian harpsichord (strung in brass, incidentally, as is the other instrument on the disc, built to perfection by Curtis Berak)... I can't fail to be moved by Cates's unfailing emotional connection with the music. Wildboar's sonics are superior, as usual.
Robert Haskins
...La Luna makes its recording debut on this Wildboar disc. Once again we have a North American ensemble that can equal the performance quality of any group in Europe. Perfect intonation and mnarvelous ensemble playing are evident throughout, and the group brings a daring intensity to all selections. Take note of the stellar keyboard playing by harpsichordist Byron Schenkman, playing a 17th-century Italian-style instrument by David Calhoun of Seattle. Schenkman's performance of Bernardo Storace's Ciacona is eloquent, one of the high points of the recording. La Luna receives gorgeous natural sound from Wildboar, giving us another gem from this excellent little label. This is a strongly recommended recording.
Craig Zeichner
George Frideric Handel Tra le Fiamme-- Dramatic Solo Cantatas
Seattle Baroque Orchestra
(Ingrid Matthews, violin and music director; Byron Schenkman, harpsichord
and artistic director; with Ellen Hargis, soprano; Margriet Tindemans,
gamba)
Wildboar WLBR 9604 73:15 min.
Here is a diverting alternative to today's tendency to program CDs as generic composites. Instead, this is an eminently listenable and intelligently conceived concert-style program, containing three relatively well-known secular cantatas interspersed with somewhat less familiar instrumental pieces. Even key relationships from one piece to the next appear to have been considered. At the end, there is the well-known "Ombra mai fu" from Xerxes as an encore.
The cantatas and the violin concerto were written during Handel's earlier Roman years (1707-1709). But much of this music was later recycled by the composer, such as the curtain-raiser for this program, an Overture in D (from a British manuscript) that has connections to one of the Opus 3 Concerti Grossi. The Chaconne for harpsichord and strings, excerpted from the Organ Concerto in G Minor, is an effective adaptation by Byron Schenkman, and his rendition of the D minor Prelude from the third of the "Great Suites" is suitably fiery.
Wildboar's "Dramatic Solo Cantatas" subtitle really only applies to the 16-minute "Armida Abbandonata." The other Italian cantatas are more pastoral and intimate. Throughout, one is aware of the stylistic know-how of the performers, minus any spit-and-polish slickness, nor are speeds unsuitably agressive. Ellen Hargis shines in her solos, and her flexible, light voice is a pleasure to the ear. The entire program has been very naturally and transparently recorded, although the solo voice is just a bit behind the instruments. Texts and translations are commendably supplied.
--Igor Kipnis— Early Music America
Since the Bach revival began, the composer's seven keyboard toccatas have taken plenty of knocks. Critics grumble about sections that go on too long; they complain further that these early, multisectional works don't always hang together well.
But some of the toccatas coalesce nicely, and if the others are not perfect, they have plenty of character. The mature Bach does not seem to have had much use for the toccatas, but his contemporaries did, to judge by the number of manuscript copies that survive in their handwriting.
That they had their reasons is suggested by a superb new recording featuring the American harpsichordist Edward Parmentier. The most obvious token of Mr. Parmentier's success is in certain passages that repeat a single pattern again and again. One movement of the F sharp minor Toccata (BWV 910) consists of no fewer than 21 such sequences; Mr. Parmentier is among the rare performers who make something gripping of them. When the bass line begins to ascend halfway through the movement, he makes clear that it is an event.
He also knows better than most how to keep the fugues interesting. This ability reflects his feeling for character. Under his hands, the final fugue in the D major Toccata (BWV 912) truly dances, where in some performances it merely marches.
Inevitably, a few interpretive decisions might raise questions. In the
Adagio of the D major, for instance, Mr. Parmentier gives a singing quality
to the sudden descending scales, which others treat as a surprising interruption.
Just as inevitably, not every movement comes off: the fugue in the C minor
Toccata (BWV 911) seems as overlong as it does with most players. But in
general, Mr. Parmentier's imagination and intensity are hard to resist,
perhaps even by those used to knocking these pieces.
BERNARD D. SHERMAN
Bernard Sherman is author of "Inside Early Music", available in good bookstores everywhere.
"...This is an absolutely first-class recording that features lively, personable playing from both artists. Ms Matthews is a master violinist who is not afraid to experiment with her interpretive approach and ornamentation to suit the moment. The free-wheeling style of playing alone justifies the title of the CD, but the music is often off the wall, too— nowhere moreso than in the Caccini variations on the tune Amarilli mia bella. Ms Matthews' tone is absolutely gorgeous- full and warm, with nary a trace of edginess.
Byron Schenkman plays a wonderful Ridolfi harpsichord in the Shrine to Music Museum in Vermillion, South Dakota. He contributes four keyboard toccatas of Frescobaldi that alternate with the violin numbers, a nice touch that I haven't heard before on a program such as this. Perhaps the most compelling aspect of this CD is the stunning recorded sound. Chalk up another victory for the small labels; this is engineering that puts to shame most of what the major labels are capable of. There is a warmth and harmonic rightness here, combined with a holographically realistic sound-stage; my congratulations to engineer Peter Nothnagle! Highest recommendation.
Kevin Conklin wrote this review of Wildboar's last LP issue, English Virginal Music, from 1985. This recording is being reissued this year with added newly recorded material played by Ms Fitch on a "Mother and Child Muselaar"(a type of English Renaissance virginals) under the title "O Ye Tender Babes". The name is taken from a piece of Thomas Tallis included on the program. — Joseph Spencer
"This new issue features selections of English keyboard music, conposed between Renaissance and REstoration. That period in England was truly an Age of Giants, where not only did popular culture and artistic excellence work hand-in-hand, but indeed when few peo-le could have imagined a serious rift between the two. Sixteenth and 17th-century English musicians and writers were very fortunate. Not only were they challenged by new musical theory and prosody, despite England's religious strife, her artists also shared a nascent linguistic and political identity which was exciting, experimental, yet supremely pragmatic. In truth Engolish music has never regained the practical dominance it enjoyed during the time of Byrd and Dowland.
"A case in point is the Byrd Fantasia, a piece ruminative and fervent by turns, quite innovative in rhteoric, yet basically a religious work. John Bull's intense In nomine is still more startling, with harmonic and metric complexity (11/4 meter, variously divided 3-3-3-2 and 4-4-3, by my hearing) seldom to be heard again until 200 years of Classical-Romantic formalism had expired.
"Fitch has genuine feeling for this music, especially when playing on the virginals, on which she executes quite spontaneously. Her sense of rhythm and flow is good; there is no feeling of striain or lost line even in metrically challenging passages. The record is very good, too, especially of the virginals, which are earthy, immediate and forward, much as they would sound in the kind of drawing-room where a performance would most likely take place.
"Like all previous Wildboar issues- CD as well as LP- this one reproduces high frequencies and expecially overtones very faithfully, without making the overall recording shrill or trebly. This album contains some marvelous, underrecorded, and underrated music, reproduced in fine sound. Buy it; you'll like it."