Christoph Graupner: Passion Cantatas III maintain series quality

CPO's ambitious cycle of Christoph Graupner cantatas continues. Graupner wrote over 1,200 cantatas. This series is limited to the ten he wrote for Lent in 1741.

The first of the three cantatas included in this release is the first of the Lenten cycle. Kommt, Seelen, sied in Andacht stille (Come, ye souls, be silent in worship) sets the stage for the ensuing 40 days. It's a quiet work, carried mostly by four solo voices. The choir is used sparingly.

Sie rüsten sich wider die Seele (The unrighteous condemnation
of the righteous Saviour) reflects the agitation of the text. The recitatives have an unsettled nature to them, with many a chromatic turn. And the instrumental ensemble accompanies with outbursts of restless energy.

Jesus, auf dass er heiligte das Volk takes a different tack. It was composed for Maundy Thursday and details Jesus' suffering on the walk to Calgary. Here, though, we get a sense of serenity. The drama is moving towards its preordained conclusion, and Jesus seems removed from the action.

Graupner uses winds to great effect in this cantata. Their sound softens the ensemble, adding to the detached dreaminess of his setting. 

The overall performances are quite good. The Barockorchester Mannheimer Hofkapelle has a clean ensemble sound. The ensemble performs with original instruments of the time. And they do so in a way that shows the strengths of the instruments (and none of the weaknesses).

The 16-voice Ex Tempore vocal ensemble is well-suited to this material. Graupner's works were originally performed by the somewhat modest forces available at the Darmstadt court.

The more of Christoph Graupner's music I hear, the more I want to hear. In his day, he was considered equal to Telemann and perhaps superior to Bach. Those estimations weren't far off the mark -- as this series demonstrates.

Christoph Graupner: Passion Cantatas III
Solistenensemble Ex Tempore
Barockorchester Mannheimer Hofkapelle
Florian Heyerick, director
CPO

Josef Labor Piano Quintets late-Romantic gems

Josef Labor wasn't one to be hampered by disability -- although it could inspire him. Labor lost his sight in childhood but went on to become a respected organist, pianist, teacher, and composer.

He was also the first composer-pianist Paul Wittgenstein commissioned to write a left-hand concerto. (Wittgenstein lost his right arm in WWI.)

Labor was also colleagues with Johannes Brahms, Clara Schumann, and Gustav Mahler (whose wife, Alma, studied composition with him).

Labor's two piano quintets were written around the turn of the century. To my ears, they seem influenced by Brahms. The music has a clear structure, and the motifs are carefully developed.

Labor's harmonies seem to be more expansive than Brahms, though -- and that makes these works more than just imitations. Labor was a pianist, so it's not surprising that these quintets have especially meaty keyboard parts,

But the piano is still well-balanced against the strings, making these works sound like true quintets, where every instrument has a say.

To me, the performances were engaging. Labor didn't have a lot of big gestures in his music, but there's plenty of emotional content. And these performers delivered. Anyone who enjoys Fin de siècle late-Romanticism should find much to like here.

Josef Labor Piano Quintets
Nina Karmon, violin; Pauline Sachse, viola; Justus Grimm, cello; Niek de Groot, Contrabass; Oliver Triendl, piano
Capriccio C5390

British Cello Works - quality chamber music by women

When I present classical music on the radio, I never identify a composer by race or sex. I think it creates the impression that these are subsets of the main group of composers. There are composers, and there are women composers. Almost as good, but not quite.

I don't think that's true, and (apparently), neither does Lyrita. This release is simply titled "British Cello Works." And it just happens to contain music by four women composers (instead of four men composers).

It also happens to contain four works for cello and piano of exceptional quality. The program opens with the Sonata in C minor for cello and piano by Ethel Smyth. Smyth wrote in a German late-Romantic style. This 1880 work features some beautifully crafted melodies and clear harmonic structures.

Elizabeth Maconchy's Divertimento and Elisabeth Luytens' Nine Bagatelles, Op. 10 were both written around 1942. The Divertimento is a lighter work than Smyth's Sonata. The movements are predominated by strong rhythms and knitted together by shared themes.

Lutyens' Nine Bagatelles has a contemporary sound. Lutyens drew inspiration from Stravinsky and Schoenberg. But her melodies aren't as angular, and her serial composition isn't as dissonant. Lutyen has her own style, and it's quite effective in these miniatures.

Rebecca Clarke's haunting Rhapsody for cello and piano closes the program. Her melodic lines are set against shifting and sometimes ambiguous harmonies. The Rhapsody has a mysterious quality to it I found captivating.

Cellist Lionel Handy and pianist Jennifer Hughes make quite a team. The sound of the instruments is nicely balanced. To me, many passages sounded more like intimate conversations between Handy and Hughes than soloist/accompanist.

Gender doesn't matter -- only the quality of the music and the performance. This is a quality release.

British Cello Works
Music by Ethel Smyth; Elizabeth Maconchy; Elisabeth Luytens; Rebekah Clarke
Lionel Handy, cello; Jennifer Hughes, piano
Lyrita SRCD 383

Leopold Kozeluch Masonic music well-crafted

Leopold Kozeluch's career somewhat paralleled Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's - as did his music. Both were pianists. Like Mozart, Kozeluch wrote many symphonies (30) and piano concertos (22). He succeeded Mozart as the Hofmusik Compositor of the Viennese court.

And Kozeluch, like Mozart, was a Freemason and wrote music for the Order. Kozeluch's contribution was a melodrama, Joseph der Menschheit Segen (Joseph, Mankind’s Blessing). Melodrama simply meant a blend of music and spoken word.

As in Mozart's "The Magic Flute," the work is laden with Masonic symbolism. It's in everything from the keys, to the meter, to the shape of the melodies.

And yet it works as music even for those not steeped in the Craft. Take away the melodrama (spoken text), and you have a very good secular cantata, with interesting choral set pieces and some lovely soprano arias.

Also included is a Missa in C major. It's a relatively simple yet beautifully written mass. The transparency of the score reminded me of Mozart.

Two solo arias for soprano round out the release. Simona Eisinger sang with a clear, pure soprano. Her voice had a natural warmth to it that remained even in the upper register. I enjoyed her performances very much.

I can't say the same for the Czech Boys Choir Boni Pueri. I auditioned this release through headphones, and the choir seemed a little too spread out in the mix -- but that could be a recording issue. In any event, the choir's individual voices didn't seem to blend very well.

And there were also some serious intonation issues. I also heard some imprecise entrances, which further detracted from my enjoyment of the music.

Because of that, I have to give a qualified recommendation. On the plus side are the music itself and Eisinger's singing. On the minus side, everyone else's singing.

Leopold Kozeluch: Joseph der Menschheit Segen (Masonic Cantata)
Simona Eisinger, soprano; Siegfried Gohritz, speaker
Filip Dvorak, harpsichord; Czech Boys Choir Boni Pueri
Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice; Marek Štilec, conductor
Naxos 8.673929

#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalEleven Week 1

Numbers have meaning. But meaning can depend on context. The Classics a Day team made "eleven" the theme for November, the eleventh month. The challenge is to post performances of classical music that involve the number.

I chose a mix. Some pieces involve eleven players. Some are the eleventh type of piece by a composer. Some are the eleventh published work. Some had the number eleven assigned to them in some way by a cataloger.

There are many ways to arrive at #ClassicalEleven - here are my choices for the first full week.

11/01/19 Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 11 "All Men are Brothers" Op. 186

Hovhaness' eleventh symphony (out of 67) was finished in 1960. It incorporates some of his early music from the 1920s-30s, most of which he destroyed.

11/04/19 Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 11 in B-flat major, Op. 22

This sonata was completed in 1800. Beethoven labeled it a "grand" sonata, indicating it had four movements instead of three.

11/05/19 Johann Sebastian Bach: Himmelfahrts-Oratorium, BWV 11

Bach wrote the "Ascension Oratorio" for the feast day service May 19, 1735. The large-scale work is a blend of new music and recycled material from earlier cantatas.

11/06/19 Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel - Piano Trio, Op. 11

Fanny wrote the trio as a birthday present for her sister in 1847. It was completed just before her death, and published posthumously.

11/07/19 Felix Mendelssohn - Symphony No. 1, Op. 11

Mendelssohn completed the symphony at age 15. It was privately premiered in 1827 to honor his sister Fanny.

11/08/19 Giovanni Punto - Horn Concerto No. 11 in E-major

Punto (1746-1803) was a Czech horn player. He developed the hand-stopping technique that allowed natural horns to play more pitches.