Volume 26 Issue 3 - November 2020

Enter Filippo Dalla Casa to dispel this illusion,
for he compiled a two-volume collection
of music for these two instruments dated 1759
and 1760 – several years after their supposed
demise. (Even then it was not until 1811
that Dalla Casa donated his manuscript to a
musical conservatory in Bologna.)
Full credit to Pablo and Daniel Zapico for
playing 17 pieces from Dalla Casa’s manuscript
plus an anonymous sinfonia. Their
enthusiasm and skill show themselves in the
very first Sonata, which has come down to
us anonymously. This is a lively composition
of the quality associated with the archlute’s
earlier (and supposedly greater) days; it is
followed by similarly demanding movements
scored Allegro.
The anonymous composer of track 13
who composed the Largo, with its dignified
cascading entrance, certainly deserves
to be known to us. Contrast it with the
spritely quality of Giuseppe Vaccari’s
two Allegro movements. Dalla Casa only
lists an author for seven of the tracks on this
CD; even then they are almost unknown
writers – but surely one more reason why this
recording is important.
This CD breaks down misconceptions. First,
that the theorbo and archlute died out earlier
than they did with the rise of the harpsichord.
Secondly, that they were doomed to
monotonous continuo parts. This CD proves
otherwise.
Michael Schwartz
Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe et ses filles
Lucile Boulanger; Rolf Lislevand; Myriam
Rignol; Philippe Pierlot
Mirare MIR336 (mirare.fr/album)
! Other than being
slightly aware that
there had been
a brief renaissance
of the music
of Monsieur de
Sainte-Colombe
(Jean de Sainte-
Colombe 1640-
1700) during the 1990s, I knew little about
the French composer and celebrated violist,
prior to picking up this fine recording. I am
glad that I did, however. Recorded beautifully
in the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception
in Nantes, the church’s gorgeous acoustics
become a welcome fifth member of the
consort of Philippe Pierlot, Lucile Boulanger
and Myriam Rignol, all on viola de gamba,
along with theorbist Rolf Lislevand, to faithfully
recreate and capture the nuance and
intimacy of this still-popular musical form.
Listening to the 17th-century music
of Sainte-Colombe, along with complementary
pieces by Louis Couperin, Jacques
Champion de Chambonnières and Robert
de Visée during Lockdown 2020 can, I
suppose, feel somewhat anachronistic, if not
downright discordant from the realities that
we are all dealing with on a daily basis. But if
it is possible for you to do so, the opportunity
to disconnect and to immerse yourself in the
listening pleasure of this straight-forward,
well-played and conversational music is there
for you here. Perhaps most meaningfully, the
realities of COVID-19 have forced many of us
to potentially re-evaluate friendships, reconnect
(or make amends), realizing that life is
valuable and, sadly, short. Always, perhaps,
but seeming to be particularly so during
this time of widespread illness and loss.
Accordingly, Sainte-Colombe’s Tombeau Les
Regrets, performed beautifully here, offers an
opportunity for listeners to contemplate and
“meditate upon death,” allowing the Stoic
edict Memento Mori (“remember that you
will die”), to be not a morbid reality check,
but rather to remind us all to love, live and
listen, fully and completely. A valuable
lesson to be sure, and one, perhaps, that the
beauty of early music can teach us today.
Andrew Scott
Beethoven – Variations
Angela Hewitt
Hyperion CDA68346
(hyperion-records.co.uk)
! 2020 has
certainly been a
year like no other.
And while social
media informs
me that many of
us, while hibernating
in lockdown,
have turned
to amateur immunology, sourdough baking
and mask creation as a way of passing
the time, the Canadian-born, beloved
and highly fêted pianist, Angela Hewitt,
turned her keen musical gaze during
lockdown towards Beethoven’s colossal
“Hammerklavier” Sonata, Op. 106, which
she learned, thus completing her cycle of the
composer’s 32 sonatas. Hewitt, renowned
for her interpretations of the major keyboard
music of Johann Sebastian Bach, for which
she was, earlier this year, awarded the City
of Leipzig Bach Medal – the first time in
its history the award was bestowed upon a
woman – continues her focus on LvB here, on
this great new Hyperion recording, Beethoven
Variations.
Approaching the repertoire with the
creative insight, scholarly rigour and wholly
unique interpretative lens for which she
is known, Hewitt once again reveals her
singular ability to not only bridge, but
illuminate Beethoven’s challenging musical
passages (which she seems to traverse with
effortless virtuosic ease) with the baked-in
humour and sense of fun that perhaps few
see, but which Hewitt neatly brings to the
fore. As she writes about the album’s penultimate
track, “God save the King” in her
own terrifically penned liner notes that offer
invaluable informative pedagogical insight
into her artistic and pianistic process, “if ever
you needed proof of humour in his music,
here it is,” before launching into its deft
contrapuntal workout.
Andrew Scott
Schubert – Octet
Quatuor Modigliani; Bruno Schneider;
Sabine Meyer; Dag Jensen; Knut Erik
Sundquist
Mirare MIR4438 (mirare.fr)
! When Schubert
took on a commission
request in
1824 to compose
a piece similar to
Beethoven’s Septet,
he was in a vulnerable
place in his
life – his physical
health was poor, he was experiencing bouts
of depression and his music was not getting
the recognition he was hoping for. Yet he
wrote the largest-scale chamber music work
of his opus and it did not reflect the intensity
of his life at the time. The Octet is pure
Schubert magic – full of abundant solo lines
for each of the eight instruments, beautiful,
elegant and uplifting. Although this piece has
a similar instrumentation and basic structure
to Beethoven’s Septet, perhaps Schubert’s
biggest nod to Beethoven comes through the
achievement of great creativity and layers of
expression in the midst of suffering.
The Modigliani Quartet and their respective
colleagues, Sabine Meyer (clarinet), Bruno
Schneider (horn), Dag Jensen (bassoon) and
Knut Erik Sundquist (double bass), take
on this magical piece with an understated
gusto. Almost an hour long and consisting
of six movements, Schubert’s Octet requires
unrelenting drive and imagination, both of
which came through in the fabulous artistry
of the ensemble. Their performance has a
wonderful combination of intensity and lightness
that kept me both relaxed and at the
edge of my seat. This ensemble has enjoyable
synergy that is most obvious in a unity
and refinement of their interpretative ideas
and sound.
Ivana Popovic
Carnaval – A recital around Schumann’s
Carnaval Op.9
Matan Porat
Mirare MIR502D (matanporat.com)
! These are challenging
times
and what better
way to help lift
the pervading
dark mood
than a musical
carnival – specifically
Schumann’s
Carnaval Op.9? The piece, completed in 1835,
remains among the most beloved from the
Romantic repertoire and, seemingly, would
thewholenote.com November 2020 | 37