BASSOON COLLECTION (Frances Eustace, dulcian and bassoons)
J.C. BACH: CONCERTO IN Eb (Klaus Thunemann, bassoon)
FRANZ DANZI, CARL STAMITZ (Klaus Thunemann, bassoon)
MOZART: CONCERTO IN Bb (Danny Bond, bassoon)
POULENC: CHAMBER MUSIC (Maurice Bourgue, oboe; Amaury Wallez, bassoon
MOZART: SYMPHONIE CONCERTANTE, K. 297B (Pierre Pierlot, oboe; Maurice Allard, bassoon; et al.; Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra; Janos Rolla, cond.). CBS MK 44524.
Maurice Allard retired in 1988 from teaching at the Paris Conservatory, but not without giving us this most welcome retirement present. An autumnal, sublime SYMPHONIE CONCERTANTE, in Eb is paired with a very French-sounding CONCERTO for flute and harp, K. 299 (with Jean-Pierre Rampal and Marielle Nordmann) on this CBS Masterworks CD. Maitre Allard turns in one of his most lovely performances on disc, unfortunately credited to "Marcel" Allard. There's nobody like him for caressing a long melodic line, and the second movement will have you telephoning music stores for Buffet prices. Allard retired at the height of his powers, and this recording is a magnificent legacy.
Jean-Pierre Rampal, Pierre Pierlot and Ab Koster join M. Allard in the Robert Levin reconstruction of Mozart's opus. Musical conversation rather than mere music, these distinguished soloists reminisce like old friends. In a sense, the players are more important than the music, and some refinements of interpretation (matching vibrato, for example) are absent here. Still, this is definately a Desert Island Disc.
RATING: 3 CROWS
BASSOON COLLECTION (Frances Eustace, dulcian and bassoons). Amon Ra. CD-SAR 35 (Chipping Manor, The Chipping, Wottonunder-Edge, Glos. GL12 7AD, England).
Amon Ra is one of my favorite record labels. Everything about them, from their hieroglyphic logo to their Monty Python-esque address, conjures up a wonderful, madcap image. Amon Ra has also issued some three dozen recordings on authentic instruments, centered around Richard Burnett's historic keyboards at Finchcocks in Kent.
After releasing anthologies of performances on original clarinets, flutes and oboes, could the bassoon be far behind? Frances Eustace, one of London's busiest early bassoon players, shows her stuff on no less than SEVEN instruments in this collection. Eustace starts off with the Bertoli SONATA I,
using Eric Moulder's copy of a Gedakt ChoristFagott. She is then joined by Andrew Watts (with an identical Moulder) for two sonatas by Daniel Speer. She shares with us the Fasch C major SONATA (bassoon by Mathew Dart, after J.C. Denner). Andrew Watts rejoins her for the Boismortier SONATA V for two bassoons (copies by Olivier Cottet and Peter de Koningh, after Prudent). The program continues with the Devienne SONATA in G minor, OP. 24, NO. 5 (anonymous French bassoon, mid-18th c.) and the Mozart SONATA in Bb, K. 292 (on an original Grenser, performed with forte-piano on the bottom line). A Paul White copy of a Tauber contra heaves into view on a humorous short arrangement, The Trout with Apologies to Schubert. The recital ends with the Elgar ROMANCE, performed on a Buffet, ca. 1910. Paul Nicholson is the able keyboardist, playing organ, harpsichord, fortepiano and a Broadwood grand fortepiano.
Eustace is quite a performer, and every one of these pieces is memorable. She even lets us hear the Elgar the way it might have sounded when Edwin James, to whom it was dedicated, played it on his Savary. Eustace favors a light sound on all the instruments heard here, with the exception of the sepulchral contra. She handles the technical demands and inevitable intonation quirks of sev- en instruments pretty well, and the handsome program book is full of photos of the instruments.
RATING: 2 1/2 CROWS
J.C. BACH: CONCERTO IN Eb (Klaus Thunemann, bassoon; Cologne Chamber Orchestra; Helmut Muller-Bruhl, COND.). Koch-Schwann CD 316 019 F1 (Koch-Records International, Rupprechtstr. 4 1/2 D-8958 Fussen, W. Germany; or 95 Eads Street, W. Babylon, N.Y. 11704).
Klaus Thunemann displays his facility and singing tone to advantage on this 33-minute ADD offering, shared with flutist Karl-Bernhard Sebon's version of J.C. Bach's CONCERTO in D. The bassoon concerto is a sweet, almost naive piece, but Thunemann milks it for all it's worth; operatic passages sobbing with urgency one minute, virtuoso pyrotechnics the next. The soloist even shares a musical in-joke with us, borrowing from the Mozart concerto for the second movement cadenza. It's all in good fun, but also too bad this recording isn't longer. The J.C. Bach CONCERTO in Bb would have fit with room to spare. The cover art is mystifying and the program notes are skimpy, as befits a budget CD.
RATING: 2 1/2 CROWS
FRANZ DANZI, CARL STAMITZ (Klaus Thunemann, bassoon; Munchener Kammerorchester; Hans Stadlmair, cond.). Tudor 718 (Tudor Recording AG, CH-8048 Zurich, Switzerland).
Mannheim school composers Danzi and Stamitz have so many stylistic similarities that pairing their works on disc is almost inevitable. Both wrote bassoon concertos in F which enjoy some popularity, but their double concertos for clarinet and bassoon in Bb are more obscure, Fortunately, Klaus Thunemann and long-time colleague Eduard Brunner have recorded both of them on this Swiss CD, which also features Mr. Brunner on the Stamitz CONCERTO no. 3 in Bb and Danzi' FANTASY ON "LA CI DAREM LA MANO". (Didn't anyone arrange that tune for bassoon?)
Both concertos reveal the soloists' technical and musical gifts. Thunemann's rich sound and fleet fingers are a joy, but on this recording he often lays on the high side of the pitch, which marred my enjoyment of an otherwise fine effort. For those who like to compare performances, Danzi's bassoon and double concertos are featured on Acanta 40.23 144 (LP), with Dieter Klocker (clarinet) and Karl-Otto Hartmann (bassoon).
RATING: 2 1/2 CROWS
MOZART: CONCERTO IN Bb (Danny Bond, bassoon; ET AL.; The Academy of Ancient Music; Christopher Hogwood, cond.). L'OiseauLyre 417 622-2.
The Mozart CONCERTO has been recorded dozens of times now, but Danny Bond's is certainly one of the first on classical bassoon. Bond, an American active in Europe for many years, uses a ten-keyed instrument by Peter de Koningh (Arnhem, The Netherlands) after a Grenser original on this excellent CD. Flutist Lisa Beznosiuk plays three Mozart concertos to round out the disc, joined by Frances Kelly for the CONCERTO for flute and harp, K. 299. Beznosiuk captures the languid and ecstatic qualities of the classical flute (by Roderick Cameron, after Grenser) and everything in between.
Bond plays effortlessly, the elegance of his musical line enhanced by his sure technique, fluid tone and impeccable intonation. His cadenzas are a trifle perfunctory, but the main problem is one of balance. The bassoon is just a shade undermiked in the outer movements, so that the solo/tutti alterations aren't as seamless as they might be. The disc has a wealth of information and photos, graced by a lovely cover reproduction of Fragonard's A CONCERT.
RATING: 2 1/2 CROWS
POULENC: CHAMBER MUSIC (Maurice Bourgue, oboe; Amaury Wallez, bassoon; ET AL. London 421 582-2.
It's always a pleasure to hear French music performed by French musicians. What is more rare is to hear a French bassoonist playing a Heckel. Amaury Wallez (see interview in DR, spring 1987) has been playing German bassoon in the Orchestre de Paris for many years and he has joined with some of France's finest to bring us this collection of Poulenc's wind chamber music.
The disc opens with the SEXTUOR, and features Pascal Roge (piano), Patrick Gallois (flute), Maurice Bourgue (oboe), Michel Portal (clarinet) and Andre Cazalet (horn). The famous Gallic wit of Poulenc is in evidence here as the soloists trade melodies in a light, bubbly texture. A few intonation problems occur in the second movement before the brilliant finale.
Poulenc's sonatas for clarinet, flute and oboe flesh out the middle of the CD, followed by the TRIO. Wallez acquits himself well, playing with a nice tone and technical elan, and Maurice Bourgue does his usual fine job. This is not a recording to die for, but it does show off some of France's outstanding wind players. The program notes are minimal, but the disc contains a generous 72 minutes of music.,
RATING: 2 1/2 CROWS