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lending moment to arrive sooner than
it did.
Another highlight is the extensive
variety of mood and tempo. Extended
listening is easy and never dull, putting
into some doubt the scathing remark
made by Stravinsky, that Vivaldi did not
write hundreds of concertos, but that he
wrote one concerto hundreds of times.
I only wish that the extremely talented
Mr. Stravinsky had written a concerto
like Vivaldi’s D minor, RV 541, which
happily is included here. Its melody has
a rhythmic drive that brings some of
Beethoven’s creations to mind. Certainly
J. S. Bach would have disagreed with
Mr. Stravinsky, for he transcribed more
than half of the solo harpsichord pieces
found in BWV 972-987 directly from
Vivaldi’s concertos. In fact it has been
claimed that the profound Italian influence
provided by Vivaldi, Marcello, and
Telemann helped elevate Bach’s style to
the supreme status it enjoys today.
As for the sound quality, the interior
space of the church is clear and present,
coupled with a very fine balance of the
two instruments in the sound stage.
What also stands out, as if there
weren’t enough to recommend it already,
is the musicianship of the two artists.
Loiselle sweeps over his cello with confidence
and real delicacy. Mr. Boucher
plays the organ with riveting skill and
verve. Each blends so well with the other
that you might well wonder if they had
rehearsed for weeks and weeks.
We can only hope that they record
again in the same setting, the sooner
the better.
Rameau: Pièces de clavecin en
concerts
Ensemble Baroque Nouveau
Reference Recordings RR-118
Albert Simon: Not intending them for
concert performance, Rameau published
these pieces in 1741 for solo harpsichord
and other instruments, “playing along
concertedly,” hence the mention en
concerts. They were written “…for the
entertainment of a flexible group of
players and perhaps a few privileged
listeners…” Hmm.
Entertainment is the key word here.
I have always had a complex relationship
with Baroque music which, for me,
ranges from the mundane to the sublime.
I am moved by the latter, bored by the
former.
Let me try to put it another way. The
year 1741 was significant. Vivaldi died
that year at age 63. Bach, 56, published
his fascinating Goldberg Variations while
Handel, also 56, driven by an inspired
and unstoppable urge, wrote his Messiah
in that same year. And Rameau… Well,
Rameau, 58, best known for his operas,
published some decorative music for the
entertainment of fellow musicians.
And fellow musicians, to this day, are
ga-ga over it. Witness the delight oozing
out of the liner notes and the admiring
comments regarding the impossibly
virtuosic writing for the viola da gamba,
often considered the instrument of fame
in France at that time. “Play or omit,”
instructs Rameau to the gambist faced
with impossible notes in some chords.
Who am I, then, to say anything
about this CD? A listener, that’s who.
A lover of music and, need I add, an
audiophile. For an audiophile, this album
is a piece of heaven, another masterpiece
of richly recorded sound by legendary
engineer Keith O. Johnson. See the
harpsichord back there, mostly towards
the right of the stage? And it sounds just
right, don’t you think? A bouquet of glittering
notes played by candlelight, soon
surrounded by the mellow and warm
Baroque flute, the silky human-like voice
of the viola da gamba covering such a
wide range, and the unmistakable sound
of the period violin, at times swift as a
sword or soft as a breeze.
As a lover of music, however, my preferences
lie in other realms. To a dancing
city square fountain, accurately lit for a
summer evening, I prefer the sparkling
stream in the forest, cascading in the
soft, mottled light of a misty morning.
La Traviata (Verdi)
Renée Fleming, Rolando Villazon
Decca 074 3327 (Blu-ray)
Gerard Rejskind: W hen a work
becomes popular enough, it risks being
viewed as a cliché. Telling people that
your favorite opera is La Bohème or La
Traviata won’t earn you a reputation as
highbrow. Better to praise Monteverdi,
or, better yet, Francesco Cavalli, his
obscure successor in Venice. La Traviata
is often included in an opera company’s
repertoire to please less experienced
patrons who know only three operas.
But that is hardly fair, because La
Traviata is, for a number of reasons, a
masterpiece, bringing together a story
that is itself considered a masterpiece
(Alexandre Dumas fils’ La dame aux
camélias) with breathtaking arias and a
score that compares with the best Verdi
left us. The three main characters are
dream roles for soprano, tenor and
baritone respectively. The artists on this
new Blu-ray release are wonderfully up
to the challenge.
The story seems quaint, because it is
socially dated, yet curiously modern at
the same time, because it is emotionally
so powerful. Violetta (the “traviata,”
which means the lost one) is a kept
woman in Paris, what Parisians then
called a cocotte). In the lower classes that
would have made her a subject of scorn,
but in the privileged 18 th Century leisure
class, being in the keep of a baron (as is
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