Peter Watchorn - Wohltemperierte Clavier 1 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Knowing where to drop the needle on the string quartets of Donizetti presents more of a challenge than exploring the lasting treasures of his vast catalogue of operas, where posterity has already established a pecking order with Lucia di Lammermoor at it's head. But Donizetti was more than a pioneer of bel canto, and the Quartetto Delfico present new recordings of three of the later and most richly developed examples of his mastery as a chamber-music composer, which sound no less assured and distinctive than his works for the stage. The opening movement of No. 15 in F major plays teasingly with the famous opening melody of Mozart's Symphony No. 40 (much as Shostakovich did in the finale of his Second Violin Concerto, a century and a half later), draining it of anxiety and infusing a bright-eyed joie de vivre instead. This sunny mood spills over into the lyrical Andante. Haydn would no doubt have smiled at Donizetti's ingenuity in developing the material for the Minuet from little more than the open strings of the ensemble, and the finale's introduction springs a surprise worthy of the older master of the string quartet, turning unexpectedly to the minor and then racing off with the visceral drama of an act-finale from one of his operatic tragedies. Nos. 17 and 18 are both even more substantial and compelling works in their ways, composed in 1825 and 1836 respectively; the first movement of No.18 in E minor was later reused in the opening sinfonia of Linda de Chamounix in 1842. They continue to refine Donizetti's Haydnesque inclination towards economy of means and singularity of gesture. The first movement of No.17 creates a terse drama from thematic questions and answers, and it's ostensible D major key is continually belied by harmonic stress and strain. Finally, in No.18, Donizetti fully embraces the potential for the quartet as a medium of musical tragedy as potent

Bach's Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 form the final part of his monumental ClavierÜbung (Keyboard Practices) series and appeared in print in 1741. The work exploits the full technical and musical resources of the two-manual harpsichord and it's player. Within the framework of it's thirty elaborate variations on a 32-bar ground bass, the work presents a dazzling compendium of keyboard styles, from learned counterpoint through to the most audacious and modern abstract writing for an instrument with two independent keyboards. The present recording is one the final volumes of Peter Watchorn's complete survey of Bach's entire harpsichord output.

Lansky / Starobin / Yoshinaga - Notes to Self [COMPACT DISCS] date 12/10/2013