Abendmusiken Basel Bötticher - Sacred Concertos from Danzig - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Mark Viner's survey of the complete solo piano music of Alkan continues to turn up discoveries and reveal previously little-known or misunderstood sides of a protean figure in late French romanticism. Viner himself regards Alkan as 'the most enigmatic figure in the history of music as a whole'. The sixth volume of his survey focuses not on the grand cycles which have won this series such uniformly glowing reviews, but on sketches and miniatures which demonstrate Alkan's capacity to charm as well as astound and dazzle his listeners. All these pieces are further illuminated, as before, by his own comprehensive booklet notes. Several of them will be unfamiliar to all except the most dedicated of Alkan connoisseurs. Jean qui pleure et Jean qui rit is a pair of two 'chamber fugues' inspired by Voltaire's account of a man who goes, with great ease, from a state of depression in the morning to making merry in the evening. The Capriccio alla-soldatesca also has a poetic origin, as a paraphrase of an evocation of a night-watch - the subject of Rembrandt's most famous canvas - by Joseph Christian von Zedlitz. Le Tambour bat aux champs is it's companion piece, underpinned from the outset by a relentless ostinato of drum beats as a noble theme emerges, dignified and laconic. Better known, the Toccatina Op.75 can be counted among Alkan's finest shorter pieces for the piano, demanding phenomenal dexterity and lightness of touch. At the other end of the expressive scale, Désir is a little fantasy, one of Alkan's most homely-sounding miniatures, yet still coloured by his characteristic use of the ninth. Previous volumes in the series have demonstrated to listeners and critics that Mark Viner is the pre-eminent Alkan interpreter of our day. Jeremy Nicholas remarked in Gramophone 'It takes a certain kind of temperament and a superior finger technique to take him on. Those who cut the

Johann Rosenmüller shaped music in Germany in the second half of the 17th century like hardly anyone else, and in particular influenced the development of sacred vocal music. This apparently happened in his Venetian exile as well, for the majority of the sacred concertos for bass and instruments recorded here demand a rather unusual accompaniment of five string voices (compared to the Venetian music-making practice of that time). This indicates that they were written from the outset for German clients. The Ensemble Abendmusiken Basel presents here some of these coveted 'export articles'.

Chicago Chamber Musicians - Chamber Music [COMPACT DISCS] date 10/07/1996