Since I am not producer of these extraordinary recordings, I feel a certain license to comment, unencumbered with the creative pride of ownership that make objectivity so elusive to artists and creative people.
These recordings are extraordinary. I thought so the first time I heard the master tapes, and now, CDs in hand, I believe it all the more vehemently. After listening several times I got out every available recording of the Op. 99 Trio, and listened for comparison, as a good critic would. I found my first impressions confirmed: this is a superlative performance, perfectly recorded, a glory of instrumental color and nuance, of Romantic passion and pathos, of antiquity preserved and rejuvenated. Clearly a dramatic synergy of creative energy has been manifested.
Jaap Schroeder is of the founding generation of Dutch musicians who formed ranks with Gustav Leonhardt, Anner Bylsma and Frans Bruggen to create a revolution in how certain old musics are played. Penelope Crawford is well known to people involved with early music, both in Ann Arbor where she is in the Music Department, and in Oberlin where she has been a leader in the summer Baroque Performance Institutes for some years. Enid Sutherland is a well known teacher and composer in Ann Arbor, where she lives with her husband, harpsichord and fortepiano builder David Sutherland.
The Graf Piano is something of a miracle in itself. Purchased at auction in Sweden (the other bidder wanted to make it into a desk), the instrument was carefully restored by Trumansburg, New York technician Ed Swenson, who managed to save and preserve the piano's original leather hammers, dampers and moderator strip. To these ears, this Graf strikes a perfect balance, having ideal scale to support the other instruments, that wonderful woody quality that distinguishes good fortepianos from their modern counterparts, and the pearly high treble that one usually hears only on fine modern grands, and is essential to what Schubert has written in these trios.
Finally, let me rave just a bit about the performances themselves. Suffice to say that even untutored ears will pick up the passion and the pathos in these essays. I believe this CD is one of the best recordings of chamber music I've heard-- any chamber music. Review copies are in the mail, and I expect raves... anything less is unthinkable. When they arrive, this personal rave will be replaced. But you needn't wait 'til then. This remarkable CD is available now through The Musical Offering. Don't hesitate!
Joseph Spencer
PS: This recording was selected by the participating stores in the C.R.E.A.M. coalition as one of seven titles to represent the group's choice for the best independent titles to go into the coalition's displays across the country.
On his first CD recording, David Cates displays remarkable mastery of Froberger's elusive, enigmatic style. Cates's rhythm and emotional energy flow together in great surges of color, thought and feeling. Froberger's genius lay in fusing the impulsiveness and brilliance of the Italian creative spirit with the dark melancholia of the Germans, and Cates is more than capable of conveying this paradox. This is a moving and mature performance that leaves the listener wondering how it is that Mr Cates has not been heard on disc before.
Two harpsichords are used; both Italians. One, after a seventeenth century original by Giusti, has the classic Italian sound: clear yet dark and deep, low tension at its best, with lots of color and sonic interest. The other by Curtis Berak, follows principles and measurements gleaned from a variety of the earliest examples of the harpsichord. Characteristically of Berak's work, the sound is darker still and more complex, filled with rumors and innuendo- conversations from the next room, not quite discernable, lurk just beneath the surface of the sound.
This is an extraordinary first project. We're certain that sequels will follow.
American Record Guide Review
New York Times Review, October
4, 1998
Goldberg Review
Fanfare Review
San Diego Early Music Society Newsletter
Edward Parmentier plays these rarely performed and recorded works with
style, panache and assurance that places them squarely in their rightful
historical context as the summation of the seventeenth century harpsichord
toccata of Buxtehude and Weckmann, rather than "pre-Partitas" Bach.
The Jacques Germain (Johannes Goermanns) harpsichord of 1785 is one
of the best-sounding, best restored antique harpsichords playing, yielding
brilliance, power and sweetness in a constantly shifting palette of timbral
colors. It is more even through its registers than most late French double
harpsichords, rendering it ideal for rendering the music of Bach. The tuning
propounded by Andreas Werckmeister in 1695 is used throughout, giving to
all the Toccatas a suitably variable range of sweetness to dissonance according
to the tonal area being transversed. This is especially revealing in the
F-sharp minor, which is often cited as evidence that Bach favored equal
temperament; here a solution is proferred that renders the piece tonally
beautiful and harmonically fascinating, within the parameters of historical
tunings. A very exciting harpsichord recording.
see review in Continuo Magazine.
Read Igor Kipnis's review in Early
Music America.
Includes Tra le Fiamme, Armida Abbandonata, Ah! che pur troppo e
vero, and Ombra mai fu, plus instrumental works by the orchestra.
Seattle Baroque Orchestra's first recording!
DDD, 73'15" $15.98
In their debut recording, Seattle Baroque Orchestra deliver a program of Handel that paints a fascinating portrait of one of the most inventive and industrious composers of the baroque era. Included are four cantatas from Handel's early years in Rome, one of the most fascinating eras of his life, plus instrumental pieces from a wide range of sources: a beautiful Overture in D which may be a true version of one of his Opus 3 Concerti Grossi; a Violin Concerto arranged from a trio sonata; a Chaconne from an Organ Concerto performed on harpsichord and strings (an alternative approved by Handel); and a Prelude for harpsichord.
Soprano Ellen Hargis will be familiar to many from her recordings with The King's Noyse under David Douglas, as well as appearances and recordings with such diverse and renowned ensembles as The Harp Consort, Fretwork, Cambridge Bach Ensemble, Kronos Quartet, Theatre of Voices with Paul Hilliard, Newberry Consort, American Bach Soloists, Portland Baroque Orchestra and Freiburg Baroque orchestra. Continuo has called her a "living national musical treasure."
Seattle Baroque Orchestra was founded by its co-directors Ingrid Matthews (violin) and harpsichordist Byron Schenkman. The new orchestra is notable for its polish (many members are seasoned veterans) and its pronounced verve, which may in some measure be attributed to its youthful directors.
A delightful debut!
Dario Castello: Sonata prima
Fontana: Sonata seconda
Frescobaldi: Toccata (from Berlin ms.)
Isabella Leonarda: Sonata duodecima
Biagio Marini: Romanesca
Uccellini: Sonata "La Luciminia Contenta"
Caccini: Aria sopra La Romanesca
Giov. Picchi: Toccata (Fitzwilliam virginal book)
Castello: "Amarilli mia bella"
Recorded in the Shrine to Music Museum, Vermillion, South Dakota. Peter Nothnagle, engineer, Joseph Spencer, producer DDD $15.98
Ingrid Matthews and Byron Schenkman's appearances at festivals at Boston,
Bloomington and Berkeley caused sensations in each instance. Ms Matthews
was awarded the coveted first prize in the International Bodky Competition
in Boston in 1993, to be followed in 1999 by Byron Schenkman, receiving
the same honor.
It was following their concert at the 1994 Berkeley Festival that plans
were made for this recording, accomplished at the Shrine to Music Museum
in Vermillion, South Dakota, using the Ridolfi harpsichord (Rome, c. 1662-82,)
a rare instrument in excellent order and full tonal bloom. The performances
convey unusually passionate intensity, while Peter Nothnagle's recording
has captured the full-throated sensuousness of the instruments.
This CD was awarded THREE STARS in
a review from GOLDBERG, The Early Music Magazine.