Search - Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer, Kevin Mallon, Aradia Ensemble :: Wassenaer: Concerti Armonici 1-6

Delightful baroque music-making

David A. Kemp | Plano, TX USA | 03/11/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This recent (2002) Naxos CD is about 90% winner. Its pleasing music, delightful to those with a taste for the baroque concerto, has a strange provenance. It was composed by a Dutch titled aristocrat who went to considerable lengths to conceal his authorship. These concertos were first published anonymously in 1740. For a time they were thought to be by one Ricciotti, and for more than a century have been attributed to Pergolesi. It's only been in the last twenty-odd years that, with the discovery and identification of the autograph scores, the true identity of the composer became known. The Concerti Armonici are six baroque concertos (playing time 58:54) for four violins and, as performed here, very small chamber ensemble. First, let me say that the sound in this modern (Toronto, Oct. 2000) digital recording is outstanding; it is full of light and air; there is splendid clarity, delicacy, and refinement, wonderful detail, but in a pleasantly warm ambience, without analytical coldness, and with a complete absence of harshness, hardness, or over-brightness. These are "original instruments" (pitch A415; temperament Barca) performances, but if you are inclined to flinch at that announcement in expectation of the dreaded thin, pinched, nasal, steely tone of many "original instruments" recordings, be assured you won't find that here. The sound has the commendable leanness, focus, and clarity of the best original instruments recordings, but not the too-often-attendant astringency. Played on a top-quality playback system, this CD rewards with demonstration-quality sound of marvelous transparency. I first came to know this music, back in the days when it was attributed to Pergolesi, in an old Decca/London LP with Karl Munchinger conducting the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. The differences between that recording and this one could almost stand as a textbook demonstration of how performance practices for baroque instrumental music have changed over the past forty years. The performances here are wonderfully polished, accomplished, and assured, yet delicate, refined, airy and light of touch. The Aradia Ensemble is a Toronto-based group, and leader Kevin Mallon is an Irishman with considerable experience as concertmaster with Le Concert Spirituel and Les Arts Florissants. My only complaint about these ingratiating performances is that they are not sufficiently differentiated in tempo: Mallon takes a very conservative view of tempi. The result is an unfortunate homogenization of tempi, and the fast movements suffer most: Vivace's aren't vivace enough; Presto's aren't presto enough; indeed none of the fast movements have quite that brisk, spanking pace, that invigorating, bouncy vivacity and swagger we relish in the best baroque music-making. The predominant impression is more of sweet, elegant languor than of sprightly energy. But this is one debit to set alongside the preponderance of excellence in these beguiling performances and this technically superb recording. If you like baroque music, I think you'll like this one. And at the Naxos price, it's a no-brainer."

Nice variety of influences

John Willoughby | Amherst, MA | 06/29/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I came to this disc by way of a review (not the one below) and wanting to try some new music.

(To my mind budget Naxos discs are the way to go when experimenting like this.)



Never heard of this Wassenaer bloke before, but some of the music seemed somewhat familiar.



OK, it's your baroque concerto, so you know roughly what you're likely to get for your money. This one however has a taste of several different European styles within the program, it's a little more varied than some programs of concertis that you might meet along the way, easy on the ear but not bland.



I thought the playing was excellent, and I didn't feel in any way critical of the dynamics, probably partly because I was so taken with the changing feel of the melodies.

If you fancy trying a slightly different flavour of concerto, give it a whirl."

Charming Baroque alternative to Corelli and Handel

klavierspiel | TX, USA | 08/03/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These six concerti grossi for strings are very much after the Italian model, as are more well-known examples by such composers as Corelli and Handel. Their authorship was obscured for many years, not due to the usual reasons of carelessness, lost manuscripts or a publisher's chicanery, but to Wassenaer's genuine modesty. The Dutch nobleman and diplomat composed and performed music as a hobby. According to a manuscript preface discovered in 1980, he thought little of the quality of his work and had to be talked into letting his friend Ricciotti publish these pieces anonymously in 1740. "Some of them," he wrote, "are tolerable, some middling, and others wretched." Hearing these charming and melodious pieces performed as well as they are here, most listeners would beg to disagree. The concerti each are scored for four independent violin parts, and the cellos and basses frequently separate as well, giving the overall texture an appealing richness. Kevin Mallon and the Aradia Ensemble play with care, grace, and accuracy, though, as another reviewer notes, occasionally more dash and excitement would have been welcome in the fast movements. Nevertheless, this is a highly enjoyable recording. NOTE: Sharp-eared listeners will note that the finale of one of these concerti was appropriated by Stravinsky for use in his "Pulcinella" Suite, supposedly based on themes of Pergolesi. At the time Wassenaer's music was ascribed to the short-lived Italian composer."