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Handel : Dixit Dominus - Vivaldi : Dixit Dominus, In furore iustissimae irae
David Bates
Classical - Released April 22, 2013 | harmonia mundi
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Since 2012, David Bates has worked to cement himself as a regular artist in the Harmonia Mundi catalogue. He notably makes quality (now-essential) interpretations of Baroque era music such as François Couperin’s Leçons de ténèbres (2016), Pergolèse’s Stabat alongside two cantatas by J.S. Bach (BMV 54 and 170, 2017), and some lesser-known works such as Handel’s Il pastor fido. Here, the same text, “Dixit Dominus” (Psalm 110), is put into music by two composers that were almost contemporaries, Vivaldi (RV 803, in which there is another, more famous interpretation, already put in music by Prêtre Roux with RV 608 for a contralto voice) and Handel (HMV 232, made known by Gardiner in the 1970s). These two totally different versions make for an evocative listening experience however share a similar language and musicality. We are met with some typical moments from the two composers: for Vivaldi, his Dominus a dextris tuis, whose strings in the ritornello remind one clearly of the numerous introductions to concertos and opera arias; for Handel, his very Italian-flavoured Juravit Dominus evokes some of his later choirs (Hercules, Semele). In this most lively interpretation from the Nuova Musica, David Bates follows in Gardiner’s footsteps as he favours curves over stark rhythmic changes. © Théodore Grantet/Qobuz
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BWV… or not
Gli Incogniti
Classical - Released October 13, 2017 | harmonia mundi
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Diapason d'or -
Le Choix de France Musique -
5 Sterne Fono Forum Klassik
Bach (Johann Sebastian, that is) or not Bach? This is the question that the violinist Amandine Beyer and the ensemble Gli Incogniti asked themselves by seizing a handful of works long thought to be from the Kantor and that we now know to be from other composers—known, identified or not. Thus, the Sonata BWV 1024 may have “ended up” in Bach’s repertoire because a musicologist knew how to use the right scientific arguments (paper, copyists, geographical and historical contexts) to achieve his goal. The style of the composition, which admittedly is a bit reminiscent of Bach, cannot however quite fall in line with the musician’s writing style. Therefore, in order to avoid the sonata disappearing back into anonymity, it has now been attributed to Pisendel, rightly or wrongly. The Trio BWV 1036 is from Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach—we were always quite sure of that, even if some less scrupulous releases have omitted the first name… The Trio BWV 1037 seems to be from Goldberg (the one from the Variations). The Suite in A major BWV 1025 is of somewhat ambiguous paternity, but it’s actually an arrangement Bach created for violin and harpsichord using the Suite SC 47 for lute that his friend and colleague Silvius Leopold Weiss composed. These are a few works that, after long being in the paradise of being attributed to Bach, are now in the hell of the “fake”, even if it’s not the fault of the composers that wrote them! What a pity… © SM/Qobuz
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Mozart: Die Zauberflöte (Famous Scenes)
René Jacobs
Classical - Released December 29, 2014 | harmonia mundi
In almost 20 years, since the release of the much-acclaimed Cosi fan tutte in 1999 (with Gens, Fink, Güra), René Jacobs has recorded the entirety of Mozart’s great operas, a feat considered as one of the most important discographical achievements of the beginning of the 20th century for its theatrical force, volcanic intensity of direction and vocal quality.Among this renewed collection, the recording of Die Zauberflöte is most Mozartian in nature: after the discovery of a new interpretation of his Da Ponte trilogy and a profoundly reimagined approach to two other opera serias (Idomeneo and La Clémence de Titus), Jacobs works to sensitively combine an array of perspectives in The Magic Flute, going well beyond the Masonic elements and integrating a range of theatrical genres.This sometimes rather sombre work contains a rather welcome light to it! Anna-Kristiina Kaappola’s “Queen of the night” is beautiful although less virtuoso than the former Cristina Deutekom’s rendition or the radiant “double” Pamina/Papageno by Marlis Petersn and Daniel Schmutzhard. © Qobuz“[…] Jacobs wanted a stripped down Flute, one that is de-romanticised […] and here, he works in a disc-oriented, hyper-theatrical mindset. The work displays an energy capable of charming a traditional Viennese audience (the work was created in Vienna’s Theater auf der Wieden) without losing any of its philosophical and Masonic airs […]. The interpretation includes a subtle study of dialogues: how to move from song to spoken word (the scenes with the Ladies of the Night are particularly revelatory), how to weave them into the music with the help of a loquacious and blunt pianoforte […] A masterfully captivating work in which multiple listens are required to extract all its riches […] (Diapason, novembre 2010/Michel Parouty)
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Beethoven: "Für Elise" & Op. 110
Brigitte Engerer
Classical - Released July 31, 2007 | harmonia mundi
Originally published in 1991, this slightly different recital by pianist Brigitte Engerer provides a beautiful look into the Beethovenian piano catalogue with some large and small works. As Jean-Yves Bras explains in the original record sleeve, “it illustrates, in fact, the daily work and versatile temperament of a Beethoven who sometimes opened up to the seduction of the frivolous viennese public, and was sometimes conscious of his artistic direction, imposing expression, style and thought”. What’s more, Brigitte Engerer starts with the two Rondos Op. 51s published by Artaria in Vienna in 1802, but whose composition dates back to 1797, two brilliant works which exude an improvisational character. The pianist adds to the programme the formidable song (formidable because of its fame and repetitive melody) Für Elise (in English, For Elise). Written in one day on the 27th of April 1810, this score made up of 300 bars is, in reality, a work of maturity for the composer - one can sometimes forget - and contemporary of Sonata No. 26 “The Farewells”. The sonata acts as the perfect prelude to the magnificent Andante favori which Beethoven had initially intended to be the slow movement in the Waldsten Sonata (1803-1804), but was then already overly long. The most substantial work on the bill, the Sonata in A flat Major Op. 110, is perhaps the most spellbinding of the final three sonatas. Relatively brief, it basks in an unforgettable light and its final fugue includes reminders of the gloomy preceding Adagio with a dazzling sense of balance. Brigitte Engerer has had the good idea of including the Variations on an original theme in D Major Op. 76 in which the theme is The Ruins of Athens, composed in 1809 and rarely braved by pianists. © Théodore Grantet/Qobuz
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Choral : Masterpieces
Various Artists
Classical - Released October 4, 2011 | harmonia mundi
Here is the very best from the Harmonia Mundi catalogue, released for the first time between 1987 and 2005: this choral music compilation by Thomas Tallis, Arvo Pärt, Beethoven, Mahler and Fauré leads you through some of their most famous works - from the Renaissance up to the 20th Century - with the most significant interpreters of the Aries label. Paul van Nevel and his Huelgas ensemble kick off the show with their superlative Spem in alium, a four part motet by Thomas Tallis. Marcus Creed sings with sensitive phrasing in Komm, Jesu komm by Sebastian Bach. Dominique Visse and his ensemble’s interpretation of Clément Janequin’s Les Cris de Paris is unmissable as are the more contemporary works (Berberian, Pärt) by Paul Hillier. A perfect and spellbinding selection. © Qobuz
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