musica Dei donum
CD reviews
"Pastorale"
Dorothee Mields, soprano;
Matthias Brandt, reciter [D]
Ensemble 1700; Le Piffari e Le Muse
Dir: Dorothee Oberlinger
rec: Dec 1 - 4, 2021, Cologne, Balloni Hallen
deutsche harmonia mundi - 19658745262 [INT]; 19658766682 (2 CDs) [D] (© 2022) (77'41" [INT]; 97'32" [D])
Liner-notes: E [INT]/D [INT/D]; lyrics - translations: E/D [INT], D [D]
Cover, track-list & booklet [INT];
Cover, track-list & booklet [D]
Spotify [D]
Arcangelo CORELLI (1653-1713):
Concerto grosso in g minor, op. 6,8 'fatto per la Notte di Natale';
Giovanni Antonio GUIDO (1675-1729):
Scherzi armonici sopra le quattro stagioni dell'anno (L'Hyver);
George Frideric HANDEL (1685-1759):
Concerto for organ [recorder], strings and bc in F, op. 4,5 (HWV 293);
Francisco Soto DE LANGA (1534-1619):
L'unico figlio [D];
Alfonso Maria DE LIGUORI (1696-1787):
Tu scendi dalle stelle;
Alessandro MARCELLO (1673-1747):
Concerto for oboe [recorder], strings and bc in d minor (S. Z799);
Johann Christoph PEZ (1664-1716):
Concerto pastorale in F (passacaglia);
Alessandro SCARLATTI (1660-1725):
O di Betlemme altera;
Antonio VIVALDI (1678-1741):
Concerto for flautino, strings and bc in C (RV 443)
[ens1700] Dorothee Oberlinger, Elisabeth Wirth, recorder;
Evgeny Sviridov, Bozena Angelova, Katja Grüttner, Anna Dmitrieva, Christian Voss, Monika Toth, violin;
Gabrielle Kancachian, Yoko Tanaka, viola;
Marco Testori, cello;
Kit Scotney, double bass;
Johanna Seitz, harp;
Axel Wolf, archlute, guitar;
Olga Watts, harpsichord, organ
[LPeLM] Fabio Rinaudo, bagpipe;
Stefano Buscaglia, piffaro;
Walter Rizzo, girondola;
Luca Rapazzini, fiddle
[INT]: international edition; [D]: German edition
In the course of history pastoral elements have been a fixed part of both traditional and 'art' music. As the shepherds play a major role in the story of Jesus's birth as told in the Gospels, pastoral music is often associated with Christmastide. However, the imaginary world of Arcadia - the ideal of the higher echelons of society in the baroque era - is also inhabited by shepherds, and as a a result pastoral elements are also part of secular music, for instance the many chamber cantatas that were performed during the gatherings of the academies in Italy. Quite a number of instrumental works have been written which include pastoral elements, but were not specifically intended for performance during the Christmas period.
Today, pastoral music - whether indicated expressis verbis or more hidden - is often used in programmes and recordings connected to Christmastide. Whether the selection and performance of such music is convincing, is maybe in the ear of the beholder. In my view, performers are not critical enough in their selection of music. The disc under review here is a good example. It opens with a Christmas evergreen, Corelli's 'Christmas concerto'. Another well-known item is Alessandro Scarlatti's cantata O di Betlemme altera, which is available in quite some recordings. On the other hand, it is hard to see what Alessandro Marcello's Concerto in d minor for oboe - here played on the recorder - has to do with Christmas. As in the northern hemisphere Christmas is celebrated in Winter, pieces connected to this season are also often included, as is the case here with L'Hyver from Giovanni Antonio Guido's cycle of concertos on the four seasons. Lastly, Vivaldi's Concerto in C for flautino is also a piece that has no specific Christmas connotations.
Dorothee Oberlinger also decided to add something to the music, to make it more 'Christmassy'. The world of traditional music is represented here by the ensemble Li Piffari e Le Muse. They make their first appearance in the last movement of Corelli's concerto grosso and also participate in several other pieces. In the last aria of Scarlatti's cantata the dacapo is omitted, and the performers go to the Neapolitan Christmas song Tu scendi dalle stelle instead, which follows the cantata attacca. As far as I am concerned, these decisions are unlucky and don't do the music as it was written any good.
Several pieces are performed in arrangements. That is the case, for instance, in Corelli's concerto grosso. The strings are joined by two recorders: the performers have inserted a version for two recorders by the London publisher John Walsh. Another arrangement is Handel's Concerto in F, op. 4,5 for organ, whose solo part is performed here on the recorder; this arrangement is inspired by the recorder sonata HWV 369. Marcello's Concerto in d minor is not a real arrangement, as it is played in the original key, one octave higher. In the slow movement, Dorothee Oberlinger includes the ornamentation from Johann Sebastian Bach's arrangement for harpsichord.
As the reader may have sensed, I have strong reservations towards this recording. Arrangements as such are not the problem; it was common practice in the baroque era. The recorder versions of Marcello and Handel are the most convincing and are done well. I am less happy with Corelli, as here we get something that almost certainly may not have been part of performance practice at the time.
The performers are all top-class, and technically their performances are excellent. However, there are several things I am not very happy about. I have already mentioned the participation of traditional instruments in 'art' music which I find rather artificial. Dorothee Mields is one of the finest singers of baroque music, but sometimes she uses a bit too much vibrato, as is the case here in Scarlatti's cantata. In the last aria the performers miss the point, I'm afraid. This has to be played in a swaying rhythm, and the marked dynamic accents and the fast tempo are at odds with this aria's character. The long cadenza in the last movement of Vivaldi's Concerto in C is way over the top.
Lastly, some technicalities. This disc comes in two different editions. The German edition comprises two discs, which can be explained by the fact that it includes four readings (in German) of texts of different authors, connected to Christmastide. Obviously, these are of no use for the international market. However, I wonder whether German listeners want to hear those readings - one of which takes more than nine minutes - every time they play this disc. As many may purchase this recording in the form of digital downloads, they may well consider buying only the musical items. The international edition comes with only one disc, and omits all the readings. However, one of the musical items has also been excluded: L'unico figlio, a lauda by Francisco Soto de Langa. I wonder why this decision was taken. If it had been included, the playing time would have been a little over 80 minutes, which should be no problem at all. The booklet includes the lyrics with English and German translations. The German edition has only the latter; here the lyrics of L'unico figlio don't match the text that is sung.
Johan van Veen (© 2022)