Search - Siegbert Rampe, Froberger :: Fantasia Partitas for Harpsichord

Exemplary in Every Respect

Leslie Richford | Selsingen, Lower Saxony | 03/03/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Johann Jacob Froberger (1616 - 1667): Fantasia. Pieces for Harpsichord and Organ. Performed by Siegbert Rampe on six historical harpsichords from the collection of Andreas Beurmann and on the organ built by Hans Scherer, Junior, in 1624. The recordings were made in July 1996 at Schloss Hasselburg near Neustadt in Schleswig-Holstein (harpsichords) and at St. Stephan's Church in Tangermünde, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Issued in 1998 as Virgin Veritas 7243 5 45308 2. Total time: 78'02".



This CD was given, in 1998, top marks by a German classical music magazine, but it was only recently that I got around to buying it and listening closely. It was then that I realized how much I had been missing! The whole CD is absolutely exemplary, in every respect. This begins with the documentation: the 40-page booklet contains not only the usual tracklist but also all the details anyone could desire. There are black-and-white photographs of all six harpsichords used and also of the interior of the Stephanskirche in Tangermünde, where the magnificent organ to be heard here has done almost uninterrupted duty since 1623. All the registry options of the organ are listed, and the stops actually used are detailed. Then there is an excellent introductory essay by Prof. Siegbert Rampe himself (in English, German and French), detailing something of Froberger's biography, his musical significance and the original "Sitz im Leben" of some of the works here performed. As Siegbert Rampe is responsible for the current Bärenreiter Edition of Froberger's complete works, he is obviously both an ideal performer and commentator, and while listening to these pieces it is obvious how much loving care he has invested in this recording, with practically every note being pregnant with meaning. This is the second of four CDs of Froberger's music that Siegbert Rampe has produced, and it seems he is determined to restore the honour of one of Germany's lesser-known composers, whom he daringly compares to Chopin.



The harpsichords played here are as follows: 1. By Fray Pedro Luis de Berganos/Spain, 1629 (2 manuals); 2. By Andreas Ruckers, Antwerp/Belgium, 1628 (2 manuals); 3. An anonymous single-manual instrument made in the first half of the 16th century in Italy; 4. By Johann Anton Miklis, Prague, 1671 (single manual); 5. By Fray Bartolomeu Angel Risveno/Spain, 1664 (2 manuals); 6. By Giovanni Celestini, Venice, 1595 (single manual). Four of these instruments can also be heard on Rampe's first Froberger CD with the title "Meditation. Lamentation for Ferdinand III", also on Virgin Veritas.



It is highly unfortunate that both of these valuable Froberger CDs have been allowed to disappear from EMI's catalogue, and it is to be hoped that they will soon be made available again, preferably with the documentation intact."