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CD reviews
The Mannheim School
[I] "Army of Generals - The world of the court orchestra in Mannheim, 1742-1778" [Volume 1]
Tinka Pypker, soprano
Das Neue Mannheimer Orchester
Dir: Anders Muskens
rec: August 25 - 29, Delft (NL), Oud-Katholieke Kerk
Et'cetera - KTC 1703 (© 2020) (71'46")
Liner-notes: E/D/F; lyrics - no translations
Cover & track-list
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Johann Christian BACH (1735-1782):
Amor vincitore (Warb G 18) (Anime, che provate - Queste selve gia d'amore, rec & aria);
Concerto for keyboard, strings and bass (with winds ad lib) in E flat, op. 13,6 (Warb C 67);
Franz Ignaz BECK (1734-1809):
Symphonie périodique No. 17 in E flat (C. 27);
Niccolò JOMMELLI (1714-1774):
Didone abbandonata (version 1763) (Va crescendo il mio tormento);
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791):
Alcandro, lo confesso - Non sò d'onde viene, rec & aria (KV 294);
Carl STAMITZ (1745-1801):
Symphonie de chasse in D
Florencia Gómez, Tiziano Teodori, transverse flute;
Federico Forla, Christine Blasl, oboe;
Elia Celegato, Angélica Meza, clarinet;
Nicolas Roudier, Federico Cuevas Ruiz, horn;
Bernat Gili, Jeong-Guk Lee, bassoon;
Clara Sawada, Ewa Żołyniak-Adamska, Saaya Ikenoya, Pietro Battistoni, Andrew Wong, Yumina Ishii, violin;
Corinne Raymond-Jarczyk, viola;
Amandine Menuge, cello;
Jesse Solway, double bass;
Anders Muskens, harpsichord, square fortepiano
[II] "Army of Generals - Carl Theodor's court orchestra in Mannheim, 1742-1778" [Volume 2]
Elisabeth Hetherington, soprano
Das Neue Mannheimer Orchester
Dir: Anders Muskens
rec: [n.d.], The Hague, Duits Evangelische Kerk
Leaf Music - DNMO003 (© 2023) (57'42")
Liner-notes: E; lyrics - translations: E
Cover, track-list & booklet
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Christian CANNABICH (1731-1798):
Symphony no. 51 in D;
Anton FILS (FILTZ) (1733-1760):
Symphonie périodique No. 8 in G;
Niccolò JOMMELLI (1714-1774):
Arcadia conservata (D'un van timore il freno);
Gian Francesco DE MAJO (1732-1770):
Alesandro (Mio ben, ricordati);
Anton SCHWEITZER (1735-1787):
Alceste (Zwischen Angst und Hoffen);
Johann STAMITZ (1717-1757):
Symphony in A (WolS I.A-4)
Florencia Gómez, Tiziano Teodori, transverse flute;
Federico Forla, Karolina Szymanik, oboe;
Nicolas Roudier, Christopher Price, horn;
Bernat Gili, Jeong-Guk Lee, bassoon;
Mojca Gal, Yumina Ishii, Clara Sawada, Ana Ares Giusti, Alexandra Lopez, Pietro Battistoni, Paula Perez, Camilo Arias Cuellar, Belén Sancho, violin;
Jasper Snow, Isabel Franenberg, viola;
Evan Buttar, Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde, cello;
Jesse Solway, double bass;
Anders Muskens, harpsichord
[III] "Mozart's Mannheim"
Nicole Chevalier, soprano;
Gottfried von der Goltz, violin
Freiburger Barockorchester
Dir: Gottfried von der Goltz
rec: March 2022, Freiburg, Ensemblehaus
Deutsche Grammophon - 486 3502 (© 2023) (67'17")
Liner-notes: E/D; no lyrics
Cover, track-list & booklet
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Christian CANNABICH (1731-1798):
Symphony No. 55 in C;
Christian DANNER (1757-1813):
Concerto for violin and orchestra in F;
Ignaz HOLZBAUER (1711-1783):
Overture Günther von Schwarzburg;
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791):
Alcandro, lo confesso - Non sò d'onde viene, rec & aria (KV 294);
Symphony in C (KV 208/102 / 213c);
Carl Joseph TOESCHI (1731-1788):
Sextet for transverse flute, oboe, violin, viola, bassoon and cello in B flat;
Georg Joseph VOGLER (1749-1814):
Overture Der Kaufmann von Smyrna
Daniela Lieb, Susanne Kaiser, transverse flute;
Ann-Kathrin Brüggemann, Maike Buhrow, oboe;
Nicola Boud, Roberta Cristini, clarinet;
Eyal Streett, Angel Alvarez, bassoon;
Bart Aerbeydt, Gijs Laceulle, horn;
Jaroslav Rouček, Pavel Janeček, trumpet;
Gottfried von der Goltz, Péter Barczi, Judith von der Goltz, Beatrix Hülsemann, Christa Kittel, Sophia Stiehler, Lotta Suvanto, Éva Borhi, Daniela Helm, Kathrin Tröger, Hannah Visser, Jörn-Sebastian Kuhlmann, violin;
Ulrike Kaufmann, Sara Gomez, Lothar Haass, Raquel Massadas, viola;
Guido Larisch, Stefan Mühleisen, Annekatrin Beller, cello;
Georg Schuppe, Soshi Nishimura, double bass;
Torsten Johann, harpsichord;
Charlie Fischer, timpani
The three discs under review here are all devoted to what has become known as the Mannheim School. It consisted of a large number of composers of two generations who played a key role in the transition from the baroque to the classical style.
Mannheim, a city at the confluence of the Rhine and Neckar rivers, in the south-west of Germany, did not play any role in music before the early 18th century. It was founded as a fortress in 1606, but during the 17th century it was destroyed several times. In 1716 Duke Carl Philipp, governor of the Tyrol, Upper Austria and the Austrian provinces in Swabia, became Elector Palatine in succession to his brother Johann Wilhelm, who had ruled from Düsseldorf. But it was only in 1720 that his court moved from Heidelberg to Mannheim. In 1742 Carl Philipp died and was succeeded by his nephew Carl Theodor (1724-1799). This was the start of a new phase in the history of the city which would guarantee it a place in each history of European music.
Anders Muskens, in the liner-notes to the second disc he recorded with Das Neue Mannheimer Orchester, writes: "Taking his cues from the Enlightenment philosophies of his time, Carl Theodor sought to create a harmonious society built on knowledge, reason, and artistic expression. He opened his library and theaters to his subjects, poured money into the construction of astronomical observatories, and attracted all sorts of painters, sculptors, classicists, garden planners, architects, writers, philosophers, scientists, and musicians from all around Europe to his court, where they all intermingled and created a new intellectual boon." This way he created the climate in which music could flourish and new musical concepts could be born and practised.
Music was important to Carl Theodor, and this resulted in the attraction of top-class players who also became active as composers, who were later commonly known as the Mannheim School. They could never have developed as they did if the orchestral forces had not been of the quality to perform their music and practise the style they developed. The orchestra has become famous through the characterisation of the English music historian Charles Burney, who called it an "army of generals". The German music critic Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart was very impressed by the discipline of the Mannheim orchestra: "No orchestra in the world has ever surpassed the performance of the Mannheim orchestra. Its forte was thunder; its crescendo a cataract; its diminuendo, like a crystal stream splashing in the distance; its piano, a spring breeze." This was the result of the work of Johann Stamitz, who is considered the father of the Mannheim school. Later the orchestral discipline was maintained by Christian Cannabich. In a letter to his father Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who visited Mannheim several times, praised Cannabich as the best orchestral leader he had ever seen.
This discipline was a prerequisite for several aspects of the Mannheim School, the most famous of which is the treatment of dynamics. Contrasts in dynamics were nothing new; they were known since ancient times, and in the baroque era the difference between good and bad notes was emphasized by dynamic contrasts. Also common was an increase in dynamics on single notes. What was new was the use of crescendi over a group of notes, even over several bars. This effect was enhanced by the constitution of the orchestra.
In the baroque era instrumental ensembles could differ in size and constitution. The 'orchestral' works of the likes of Bach and Telemann could be played with one instrument per part or by larger ensembles. These usually consisted of strings and basso continuo, to which winds could be added if they were needed. During the first half of the 18th century in some places winds started to play a more important role, such as at the court in Dresden. However, Mannheim was the first place where winds became a fixed part of the orchestra. First these were flutes and oboes, sometimes also horns. In a later stage they were joined by clarinets, which were greatly admired by Mozart. "Oh, if only we, too, had clarinets!", he wrote to
his father. "You won't believe the magnificent effect that's made by a symphony with flutes, oboes and clarinets."
It is also in Mannheim that the symphony had one of its origins. It was derived from the Italian opera sinfonia, but it received here a shape that was to last well into the 19th century. It was Johann Stamitz who inserted a minuet, creating the four-movement structure that became the standard in the classical era.
The three discs reviewed here offer a survey of what was written and performed in Mannheim. Three genres are represented: the symphony, the solo concerto and opera. Sacred music seems to have played a rather minor role, and the Freiburger Barockorchester included a specimen of chamber music. It needs to be said that not every piece was written for or performed in Mannheim. Several composers left the court at some time, but they can still be counted as 'Mannheim composers'; they contributed to the dissemination of several of its characteristics.
Two of them figure in the first of the two discs of Das Neue Mannheimer Orchester. The programme opens with the Symphonie périodique No. 17 in E flat by Franz Beck. It dates from 1761, but Beck had already left Mannheim for Italy in the 1750s, and moved from Italy to the south of France, where he would become active in Marseille and later in Bordeaux. This work includes some of the hallmarks of the Mannheim style, such as sudden fortes and crescendi. And this symphony is also in four movements, with a minuet and trio in third place.
The disc ends with the Symphony de chasse in D by Carl Stamitz, the son of Johann. He was violinist in the court orchestra from 1762 to 1770. In the latter year he went to Paris, where his symphonies were regularly played at the Concert Spirituel. Among them may have been this symphony that dates from 1772. The title refers to the hunt, which is depicted in the last movement, in which obviously the horns play a major role.
The inclusion of music by Johann Christian Bach may surprise, as he worked in London. However, his music was known across Europe, and twice he was commissioned to compose an opera for Mannheim. He dedicated his quintets Op. 11 to Carl Theodor, and his serenata Amor Vincitore was written for performance in the Elector's summer residence in Schwetzingen. A recitative and aria from the latter work are included here, and the fact that it has obbligato roles for winds - transverse flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon - bears witness to the emancipation of these instruments in Mannheim. One of Bach's keyboard concertos is performed here on a square fortepiano from around 1787; such instruments were very popular in London in the second half of the 18th century.
Niccolò Jommelli was also never in person in Mannheim, but his operas were frequently performed there. There is another reason to include him here: the famous 'Mannheim crescendo' was in fact his invention. The aria performed here is taken from the third version of his opera La Didone abbandonata, which dates from 1763, when Jommelli was Oberkapellmeister at the court in Stuttgart.
The second disc of Das Neue Mannheimer Orchester opens with the Symphonie périodique No. 8 in G by Anton Fils (or Filtz). He was a cellist, like his father, who was in the service of the court in Eichstätt. In 1754 Anton became cellist in the orchestra of the electoral court in Mannheim. Despite his short life, he left a substantial number of works, among them symphonies and around 30 solo concertos for cello and for flute. This symphony is again in four movements, and includes a minuet with trio. With the Symphony in A by Johann Stamitz we return to the early days of the Mannheim School. This work is an early example of a symphony of the type just described.
The programme ends with a symphony of Cannabich, the orchestral leader already mentioned. Unfortunately the year of composition of his Symphony No. 51 in D is not given, but if one listens to this work, one has to conclude that it is a full-blooded classical symphony, in which the winds are treated on equal footing with the strings. It is hard to understand why his symphonies are not played regularly. They should be an important addition to the symphonic repertoire of (symphony) orchestras, alongside the symphonies of Haydn and Mozart.
The Freiburger Barockorchester included another symphony by Cannabich. Like No. 51 the Symphony No. 55 in C is in three movements. The liner-notes mention that this piece probably dates from the time Mozart was in Mannheim. That was in 1777/78, and that may also give us an indication of the time No. 51 may have been written. The No. 55 includes parts for clarinets, unlike No. 51. The other major work in the programme is the Concerto in F for violin and orchestra by Christian Danner, one of the lesser-known figures from Mannheim. However, the Mozart's had come into contact with the Danner family during their visit in 1763. When Mozart returned, Christian, who was Cannabich's godson, took lessons in composition from Wolfgang. He developed into a highly-gifted violinist. This concerto is his only known work and dates from 1785, seven years after the court moved from Mannheim to Munich. It is recorded here for the first time.
The Freiburger Barockorchester's disc is the only one which includes a piece of chamber music. The Sextet in B flat by Carl Joseph Toeschi, another first recording, is scored for transverse flute, oboe, violin, viola, bassoon and cello. It attests to the growing importance of the winds and their equal treatment with the strings. Toeschi was a violinist from a family of Italian descent. He was a pupil of Johann Stamitz and Anton Fils. He has left a large oeuvre, which includes 66 symphonies, 30 ballets and many chamber music works in various scorings. The Sextet comprises two movements: andante grazioso and allegro.
All three recordings pay attention to opera, a genre that took an important place at the court in Mannheim. The Freiburger Barockorchester included two overtures. Günther von Schwarzburg was the most famous opera by Ignaz Holzbauer, another composer admired by Mozart. He was from Vienna, and was Kapellmeister in Mannheim from 1753 to 1778. The opera was considered the first German national opera. Mozart heard a performance in Mannheim in 1777 and wrote to his father: "Holzbauer's music is very fine. (...) What surprises me most of all is that an old man like Holzbauer still has so much spirit in him: you wouldn't believe how much fire there is in this music." Mozart was less complimentary about Georg Joseph Vogler, known as Abbé Vogler. Der Kaufmann von Smyrna had its premiere in Mannheim in 1771.
All three discs include arias from various operas. The one by Jommelli on the first disc has already been mentioned. The second disc includes three arias. Again, one is by Jommelli, this time from the opera Arcadia conservata, that was performed in Schwetzingen in 1775. It was a pasticcio, apparently from various of Jommelli's operas, put together by the Mannheim court poet Mattia Verazi. Jommelli had died the year before. An earlier work is Alessandro by Gian Francesco de Majo, premiered in Mannheim in 1766. He was from Naples, and worked as an opera composer in several places, not only Mannheim, but also Vienna, Venice and Rome. He integrated elements of Gluck's reform operas into his own.
Especially interesting is the aria from an opera by Anton Schweitzer. He was from Coburg, spent some time in Italy and became music director of the itinerant theatrical company of Abel Seyler, which was just beginning to add German operas to its spoken offerings. Carl Theodor was also interested in operas in the vernacular, and Schweitzer's Alceste was performed in Schwetzingen in 1775. The aria 'Zwischen Angst und Hoffen' is in the modern style, without dacapo, and explores the upper end of the soprano's tessitura, which became fashionable in the second half of the 18th century. That manifests itself also in the operas and concert arias by Mozart.
And that brings us to his presence in these recordings. When he visited Mannheim in 1777 he composed the recitative Alcandro, lo confesso and aria Non sò d'onde viene (KV 294) for Aloysia Weber on a text from Pietro Metastasio's libretto L'Olimpiade. It is included twice here, on the first disc of Das Neue Mannheimer Orchester and that of the Freiburger Barockorchester. It was sung during an academy at the home of Cannabich. One wonders to what extent that should influence the way it is performed; it is probably impossible to imagine how large the venue was and how many performers may have been involved. In both recordings it is treated as a full-blooded opera aria. Would it need a more intimate and modest approach?
About a month before Mozart's Symphony in C (KV 208) was performed, also at the Cannabich home. It comprises three movements; the last was entirely new. The first is the overture to Il re pastore (KV 208), the slow movement is an adaptation of the first aria from that opera; the vocal part is played by the oboe.
Considering the quality and nature of the repertoire performed at these three discs, it is quite surprising that so little of the output of composers of the Mannheim School has been and is performed and recorded. It is also hard to understand from a historical perspective, given the key role of this school in the stylistic development during the 18th century. It is the 'missing link', so to speak, between Bach and Mozart. Since a few decades the music by the sons of Bach and some of their contemporaries, such as those in the service of Frederick the Great, has found some interest. It is to be hoped that the time has come that the music written and/or performed in Mannheim is taken seriously and more frequently performed.
With Das Neue Mannheimer Orchester Anders Muskens has made a meaningful statement, and it cannot be overestimated that an orchestra of the reputation of the Freiburger Barockorchester has turned to this repertoire as well. Let's hope it is not the last time they play music by Mannheim composers.
The latter is the more expansive of the two, due to its larger line-up of strings (12/4/3/2), wheras Das Neue Mannheimer Orchester is more modest (6/1/1/1 and 8/2/2/1 respectively). The level of playing of both ensembles is excellent. It is a matter of good fortune that there are no duplications: one does not have to choose. I urge anyone who wants to know this music, to investigate all three discs.
The only duplication is in the field of opera. As I already mentioned, Mozart's aria KV 294) appears on two discs. I have no preference as far as the performances are concerned. Overall the dramatic nature of the arias comes off well in the performances by the three sopranos Tinka Pypker, Elisabeth Hetherington and Nicole Chevalier. From a stylistic point of view I am not impressed. We are still pretty far away from the style of singing that was common in the 18th century. All performances are marred by an incessant vibrato, which fortunately is not very wide, but a matter of concern nevertheless. There is still much work to do in that department. It remains a mystery to me why performers are so keen to practise historical information in the way instruments have to be played and care so little about vocal style.
All said and done, I strongly recommend these discs, which are real ear-openers. Let's hope for (much) more.
Johan van Veen (© 2025)
Relevant links:
Tinka Pypker
Elisabeth Hetherington
Das Neue Mannheimer Orchester
Freiburger Barockorchester