Baroque: Reissues ans New Issues

...One would not be tempted to play Vivaldi in a dry, academic style, but Corelli has too often been performed that way Only an understanding of musicology can provide this new approach for the conductor, only the highest sort of musicianship can fully realize it The orchestra here is the Vienna Sintonietta, presumably drawn from the Vienna State Opera Orchestra, which Goberman used for the Haydn recordings...

...Marriner has recorded a variety of other Baroque material as well, all of it played with great spirit and precision Critic-performer Igor Kip-ms has called the St Martin versions of Opus 3 "one of the greatest Baroque performances on record available today " If it were available, I would agree with him completely...

...This situation is ridiculous but fairly typical with respect to import labels Yet, if the new discs carry anything like the past performances of this group, they are very much worth hunting (and paying) for About two years ago Marriner recorded some of Handel's incidental music and the Opus 3 Concertos for Oboe and Stungs (ZRG 5442)—including the rousing overture to one of his last operas, Berenice, and the first three of the six concertos (really concern grossi with winds) of Opus 3 m their definitive performances While not quite up to the caliber of the Twelve Grand Concertos (Opus 6), the Oboe Concertos are brilliantly articulated, typically Handelian pieces--like all his concertos generally m the Corelh tradition rather than the Bach-Brandenburg vein...

...In regard to musicology, I think it is worth making what may be an obvious point about Goberman's approach to the Baroque His Corelli Concerti Giossi set (32 36 0002, three discs) is typical For musicologists, Corelh's work is especially important m precipitating the norm for the concerto grosso, the most popular orchestral form m the early 18th century Though he is widely acclaimed for this noble achievement, Corelli is still largely unheard, as a look at the relatively sparse listings in the Schwann Catalog will show People invariably praise his Opus 6, then call the music "rather conservative restrained safe '. After hearing Goberman's versions it would hardly occur to you to describe the concerti with these adjectives Instead you find yourself listening, not for virtuoso writing, as you might in Vivaldi's works, but for textural blend and structural logic for the balance and tension between tutti (the larger orchestral group) and concertino (the soloist's group) That is, the performance calls attention precisely to the elements of Corelh's music that make it distinctive and important both m itself and in its tradition...

...Goberman's reading of The Four Seasons (32 16 0132) easily tops the competition of the 17 available recordings, says everyone's authority, High Fidelity Magazine I suppose this is nice to know, especially if you have only one rather old and worn version to compare it to Mine is by Munchinger and the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra (London CS6044), a plodding and stiff performance next to that by Goberman and the New York Sinfonietta (the select group on all the Vivaldi recordings) In this and all the chamber works the Odyssey sound is excellent, for the stereo appropriately divides left and right the first and second violins, without any ping-pong effect In remastering the tapes from lrm, the Columbia engineers did very little remixing or doctoring of the originals...

...The most recent of Odyssey's Vivaldi releases is the Three Concertos for Viola d Amore, Two Concertos for Mandolin (32 16 0138) The viola d'amore is played like a viohin but has seven bowed strings with seven wire strings vibrating sympathetically beneath them (hence the instrument's name) Vivaldi the great experimenter is at work here, and the instrumental combinations are exotic The tone of the whole album is intimate and warm, and the soloists are outstanding, particularly in the G Major Concerto for Two Mandolins, Strings and Organ Two of Vivaldi's most remarkable productions appear in Conceitos for Woodwinds and String Orchestra (32 16 0012) the G Minor Concerto for Flute, Bassoon, Strings, and Harpsichord ("La Notte"), and the C Major Concerto for Two Oboes, Two Clarinets, Strings and Harpsichord The instrumental possibilities of the Baroque concerto have never found fuller expression...

...Volume 3 (32 16 0052) of the early Haydn Symphonies so far available includes Symphony No 7 in C Major, "Le Midi," perhaps the most interesting and inventive of the Morning, Noon, and Night cycle If anyone still believes Haydn's early symphonies are insignificant and imitative, he ought to listen to this cycle The intention is partly programmatic (there are bird calls and a thunderstorm), but there is surprising sophistication and elegant control And Symphony No 13 in D Major (Volume 5, 32 16 0116) is another eye-opener In it Haydn seems to find for the first time the grand, expressive synthesis that he was to develop into the classical symphony This is a glorious symphony by anybody's standards Volume 6, containing Symphonies 15-17, is due to be released in late December...

...There is an iromc side to the career of this man who did so much to lead the Vivaldi revival in this country Max Goberman was a famous Broadway show conductor whom, I am told, Bernstem specifically requested for West Side Story During these same years he also produced the most authentic Haydn we have on records He was the first to use H C Robbms Lan-don's newly discovered additions to the scores of the early symphonies, and he used them m peerless performances, full of Rococo elan What conductor, Beecham and Bernstem not excepted, has so adroitly mastered both musicals and musicology...

...Goberman had the best of both worlds and knew it Apparently he himself financed the sessions for lrm His self-confidence could not have been more justified...

...While the Goberman recordings are part of a general profusion of Baroque releases for the fall, the budget-label philosophy is not the only one operating in the market Argo Records, an English firm, is blessed with a contract for the best chamber orchestra m England, the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields Under its usual conductor, Neville Marriner, this group has produced a new record of the Haydn Horn Concertos and German Dances (Argo ZRG 5498) and, under David Willcocks, the Vivaldi Gloria in D (ZRG 505) with Janet Baker, contralto Both discs have received high praise, though there is one difficulty They do not seem to be available After calling London Records, Argo's distributor, I did get an apology but was told they were out of stock and would be ordered immediately from England Ot course, the bins m the stores are empty too...

...ON MUSIC By John Goodman Baroque: Reissues and New Issues The people at Odyssey Records, one of Columbia's newer budget labels, have performed a great service for lovers of Baroque music Since January they have been quietly and methodically re-issuing the superb catalog of Corelli, Vivaldi and Haydn recordings made by the late conductor Max Goberman m 1961-63 I have heard most of the discs so far released, and all are performed with vigor, polish and complete authenticity The stereo sound is full and true At $2 49 each (list price) you are stealing these records, if you end up paying a discount price of $1 49, you may even feel a little guilty...

...As Leppard points out in his liner notes, the essentially theatrical and emotional nature of this music developed as it came to be performed outside of the Church To anyone unacquainted with the power of early Italian opera, the record should be a surprise and a delight...

...Venice Slightly more than half the record is devoted to his music, which is nearly as impressive as Monteverdi's The selections from Scipione Africano, two of them comic laments, are particularly well sung by Cuenod, the old master of this vocal style Yet his performance is matched by English, who accompanies him on two selections--from Monteverdi's Scherzo musicali and the Seventh Book of Madrigals--the highpoints of the album...

...A different kind of rare album of early Baroque vocal music, 17th Centurv Venetian Opera Music by Monteverdi and Cavallt, comes from Angel (S-36431) Heather Harper sings a full, rich soprano, Gerald English and Hugues Cuenod are the tenors, Raymond Leppard is harpsichordist and directs the Bath Festival Ensemble Cavalli is a little-known composer who was Monteverdi's pupil and successor as Choirmaster of St Mark's...

...Originally the albums cost $8-10 apiece, including scores and fancy packaging The series was called Library of Recorded Masterpieces (lrm) and was available only through mail subscription If sales were limited, the goals of the series were not, for Goberman aimed at quantity as well as quality He undertook to record all of Haydn's 107 symphonies in their definitive form and completed about two-thirds before his death in 1963 (Odyssey intends to record the remainder but has not yet fixed on a conductor or an orchestra ). Corelh's twelve Concerti Grossi (Opus 6), his Trio Sonatas (Opus 4), and a substantial number of Vivaldi's 450 (sic) concertos complete the series of material for lrm--over 60 albums in all Besides this, Odyssey is offering some previously unissued Goberman performances of the Brandenburg Concertos, with a little Prokofiev and Schubert thrown in for the common herd...