At 33 minutes, one might think that this disc was somewhat miserly but if this is the complete solo violin work then one can only bemoan the fact that Thomas Baltzar didn't write more of it.
Born in Lubeck roughly contemporary with Buxtehude, his working life was spent mainly in England but he died young. During that time, though, the same suspicion fell upon him as later it did on Paganini or Tartini, that he was as talented as the devil himself.
This wonderful set of short pieces pre-dates the Bach solo violin music by several decades and some employ the scordatura tunings associated more with Biber 10 years ahead of them. And those are the stratospheric comparisons that he is worthy of in these beautifully done recordings by Patrick Wood.
No piece is longer than four minutes, Allemandes and Sarabandes for the most part, that are of course far more than dance music. They are for virtuoso and, as in the Bach Sonatas and Partitas, it is remarkable to think that one is listening to one instrument and easy to forget. Music has the advantage over words that it isn't tied to meaning and so can mean both nothing or everything.
I'm grateful to have stumbled across the Early Music Show when he was featured there recently otherwise I would never have known.
Harp Concertos, Dussek, Wagenseil, Krumpholtz, Roberta Alessandrini/Orcherta di Mantova (Naxos); Trombone Concerti, Albrechtsberger, Wagenseil, Leoplod Mozart, Michael Haydn, Alain Trudel, Northern Sinfonia (Naxos)
I was interested to see that the plural of Harp Concerto is Harp Concertos while the plural of Trombone Concerto is Trombone Concerti.
In seeking out further music by Wagenseil, these inexpensive used discs brought with them some further lesser known names from the C18th. The harp, as it is won't to do, tinkles and glitters across the whole disc, most memorably in the Krumpholtz, Concerto no. 6, op.9. The classical period was one we might now think happily less concerned with individual expression and personality. Certainly I imagine we recognize Mozart when we hear him but most provided exquisite, orderly composition without too much concern for putting themselves into the music. It is refreshing and makes the Romantic attitude appear wanton in comparison.One of the two Dussek pieces here is a sonata rather than a concerto which concentrates us even more on its sublime tone. The music is a joy, which is at odds with a story joining up the two composers. Krumphlotz's wife eloped with Dussek after which Krumpholtz drowned himself in the Seine, which might seem to add some forlorn Romantic glamour but I just think is a very sad footnote to the music.
The trombone disc contains all there is of the C18th trombone concerto repertoire, a point that the notes suggest is odd because it is an instrument that accomodates all chromatic ranges where the other brass cannot. It is a more delicate instrument in the hands of these composers, including Mozart's father and Haydn's brother, than those of us who grew up with it as a trad jazz instrument and George Chisholm. It is capable of the ornamentation and flexibility required of this sylized period and if something of a novelty, it is by no means a distraction. Unlke my other CD by Albrechtsberger which is the Concertos for Jew's Harp.
These were absolutes steals at the price of two used dics for less than one budget priced new one. If and when you see such such things, featuring these less famous composers, they really need to be bought and played.