This SACD includes the following works: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s (1756-1791): Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra in B-flat major, KV 191/186e, and Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1 in B-flat major, KV 207. Also Franz Joseph Haydn’s (1732-1809): Symphony A, Hob. I: 107, and Symphony B, Hob. I: 108.
An authentic “period” bassoon was used for Mozart’s bassoon concerto performance, one built by Kaspar Tauber (1758-1831) around 1800. We find at rather high volume levels the rich and acoustically spacious sounds of this marvelous instrument which given the mastery of the recording engineers is never obscured even in tuttis by the whole orchestra. The sound range of this bassoon extends one whole tone deeper than that of the cello to the point that at times it begins to sound more like a contrabassoon. The current bassoonist Sergio Azzolini offers in this recording a new, novel and full bodied interpretation of this much traveled concerto. When compared to recordings with modern bassoons the dark and mellow sound of this period bassoon lacks the brilliancy and neurotic energy of modern instruments, a welcomed event in my humble opinion. This performance is different and adds a new dimension to this marvelous concerto; it’s how Mozart and his audience might have heard the music originally.
Mozart’s choice of thematic material for this concerto clearly contrasts the solo playing of the bassoon’s staccato and legato. For example, in Track 1 (the Allegro first movement) at 1:30 and also at 4:00 the thematic material is developed and shared between the bassoon’s very fast quasi-martial changes between staccatos and legatos, and the juxtaposed orchestral cadenzas clearly showing the instrument’s capacity for wide leaps between bottom and upper registers adding in that fashion much beauty and gravitas to the sound.
In Track 2 (the Largo second movement) the music shows Mozart’s gift for very slow melodic scoring concentrated in the immense beauty of the plaintive bassoon with long flowing cantabiles (legatos) almost devoid of any staccato, all of that juxtaposed in a concertante fashion to the elegant playing of the massed string choir and the woodwinds. The absorbent melodic line reminds me of the more mature music he was going to write for his operas Idomeneo (1781) and The Clemenza di Titto (1791), which happens to be also the year of his untimely demise.
We find another notable passage in this bassoon concerto in the third movement’s Rondo – Tempo di Menuetto (Track 3) with the development of a musical format clearly different than the more common English and/or French minuets. Mozart’s is a purely Austrian minuet which if seen in its own terms seems to be an intermediate form in the development of the Ländler dance – or was it inspired by it? This movement is correctly played by Il Capriccio flaunting current stereotyped late Romantic interpretations. This is in my view commendable and a laudable effort to set Mozart’s record straight. This marvelous executed bassoon concerto alone is worth the price of this SACD.
The dynamics and musical phrasing of Mozart’s first violin concerto (Tracks 7-9) are true to Mozart’s original form and performance style, that is, even tones and open strings. The violin soloist (Friedemann Wezel) and the ensemble’s performance is clean, swift and relatively vibrato-free as was Mozart’s style, effectively showing how lovely his music was and still could be if performed observing original orchestration, instrumentation and markings. Here the expressiveness and peculiar beauty of the music are not removed by any late Romantic instrumental and ensemble practice resulting in a mellow and candid performance – do not expect the usual fireworks here.
In reference to the two early Haydn symphonies included in this SACD (Tracks 4-6 and 10-13) we should be aware that he was a music inventor and a creator of such instrumental and orchestral precision that only a precision-oriented conductor and a refined orchestra could possibly and faithfully convey all the nuances normally imbedded in his music. In my view until this SACD appeared only Adam Fischer with the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra conducting in the so-called Austro-Hungarian style had been able to deliver true stylized performances of Haydn’s music. More specifically, the orchestra coming late after the conductor’s downbeat and here the orchestra is doing just that with the conductor (Wezel) adding a certain dance-like cadence to the melody also characteristic of that conducting style. We should consider these two symphonies an introduction to Haydn’s monumental symphonic work. Shall I say they are beautifully performed by Il Capriccio?
As far as the sound is concerned this SACD has a “palpable” well- conceived balance between front and rear speakers with clean and clear sounds for the solos (bassoon and/or violin) in the center channel well juxtaposed against the sound of the massed orchestra coming out of the left and right channels. When the French horn has a prominent part – which is very often in the Mozart works – the sound is in the center channel but not up front – it is somewhat farther back in a virtual space as it should be. The instrumental balance of the orchestra was finely captured by the recording engineers and producers; on my first listening I had to put my ears to the rear speakers to make sure they were working and yes, they were working and providing such beautiful tonal acoustics that only when seating in my chair they became truly palpable, heard and felt with true 3/2 surround sound. In the final analysis, the sound is palpably present, which speaks a lot about Musicaphon’s care in the production of this truly remarkable recording.
— John Nemaric
