Volume 24 Issue 5 - February 2019

those cities. This was the opportunity granted
to Johann Georg Pisendel, in his own journey
to Italy that same year. As if being allowed
to take home manuscripts of contemporary
Italian composers was not enough, Pisendel
joined with some of them in composing.
These joint efforts make up two tracks on this
highly imaginative CD – there are even two
CD world premieres.
Scaramuccia itself comprises just violinist,
cellist and harpsichordist. From the start,
a vigorous performance of the first Allegro
from Tomaso Albinoni’s Sonata for violin
and continuo proves this is no handicap.
Scaramuccia’s detailed notes are more than
helpful in finding out how Pisendel fared.
In the case of the Sonata for violin and
continuo in D Major by Giuseppe Maria
Fanfani, which here receives its world
premiere, one wonders why this is so. Javier
Lupiáñez’s enthusiastic violin playing in the
Largo, Allegro and Tempo Giusto is first class.
Giuseppe Valentini’s Sonata for violin and
continuo in A Major starts imposingly before
a really fervent Allegro, Minuet and Giga – at
last, someone has discovered that a giga does
not have to last less than two minutes! And
then two pieces by Antonio Maria Montanari,
the second in cooperation with Pisendel. Both
opening Largos give us the chance to appreciate
sensitive harpsichord playing and, once
again, the passionate playing of Lupiáñez
(Scaramuccia’s musicologist founder) in both
Allegro movements.
This imaginatively created CD ends with
its best-known composer working with
Pisendel: the result a Sonata for violin and
continuo which reminds us of everything that
Vivaldi could create.
Michael Schwartz
Forgotten chamber works with oboe from
the Court of Prussia
Christopher Palameta; Notturna
Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 19075821552
(naxosdirect.com)
!!
The Montrealborn,
Parisbased
musician
Christopher
Palameta is widely
fêted for oboe
performances that
are suffused with
equal amounts
of aesthetic beauty and historical rigour.
Working since 2007 to broaden world understanding
and appreciation for the music of
German Baroque composer Johann Gottlieb
Janitsch, Palameta has mined Janitsch’s
repertoire, finding rarely heard chamber
pieces that are now welcome additions to
the canon of Baroque works. Collaborating
on record here with the chamber music
collective Notturna – which Palameta directs
– Janitsch’s music, along with selections by
Johann Gottlieb Graun and the little-known
Christian Gottfried Krause, are captured
beautifully on this 2018 release. The recording
is certain to expand Palameta’s reputation
as a singular musician dedicated to 18thand
19th-century period piece work that
showcases the oboe, and should be greeted
enthusiastically by fans of early music.
Although music from this era could
certainly be opulent and regal – the decorative
ornamentations of the melodic line
mirroring the exaggerated royal lifestyle, dress
and mannerisms –Janitsch plumbs a galant
style that fetishizes authenticity and aims
for a return to more simple music-making
practices. In fact, blurring the lines between
the professional and amateur, Janitsch led
community-wide sessions for musicians at
a variety of levels to perform together called
“Freitagsakademien” (Friday academies).
Like many composers of the Baroque era,
Janitsch was indentured to royalty (in this
case Frederick the Great, King of Prussia)
and while his compositional style reflected
the changing aesthetics of this time period,
his considerable output was well supported
by Frederick’s strong patronage of the arts
and music. Thanks to Palameta, Jan Van den
Borre, Catherine Martin, Emily Robinson and
Brice Sailly, this important and underrepresented
music lives on for future audiences.
Andrew Scott
Kreüsser – 6 Quintettos Opus 10
Infusion Baroque
Leaf Music LM223 (leaf-music.ca)
!!
Thanks to the
Montreal-based
ensemble Infusion
Baroque, Georg
Anton Kreüsser
(1746-1810)
joins the list of
composers whose
works were lost to
us until diligent research brought them to
light. Kreüsser himself did not deserve to be
lost – his music flourished in Mainz while he
was konzertmeister of its Kapelle. His musical
education took in Bologna and Amsterdam
and it was there that he met Wolfgang,
Leopold and Marianne Mozart – and the
admiration was mutual as Leopold noted,
which makes Kreüsser’s disappearance even
more surprising.
The Quintettos feature flute and the four
instruments of a traditional string quartet,
a rare combination as most similar works
follow the flute, violin, viola, cello model
of Mozart’s flute quartets. It is Alexa Raine-
Wright’s flute-playing that dominates this CD:
listen in particular to the Tempo di menuetto
of the Quintetto in C Major and the lively
Allegro moderato of the G Major. Strings do,
for all that, enjoy considerable prominence.
For example, the violin and viola playing of
the Allegro moderato and Allegretto in D
What we're listening to this month:
thewholenote.com/listening
Celebrating Piazzolla
Neave Trio
The Neave Trio captures Piazzolla’s
rich legacy through arrangements
of The Four Seasons of Buenos
Aires and select songs, featuring
mezzo-soprano Carla Jablonski.
Cgambery
Fie Schouten
The quality of Klein’s compositions
suit Fie Schouten’s supple and
subtle virtuoso use of Jazz
traditions while trained as a
classical musician.
Electroclarinet
Jean-Francois Charles
This dreamlike blend of acoustic
performance and live electronics
showcases the complete clarinet
family, from Mozart's cherished
basset horn to the exuberant
contrabass clarinet.
The UncertaintyPrinciple - Live at
The Rex
Andrew Boniwell
Jazz compositions for uncertain
times. Embrace the Uncertainty.
thewholenote.com February 2019 | 73