PETER VON WINTER: Septet for two violins, clarinet, two horns, and viola; Quartet for clarinet, violin, viola, and cello; Octet for violin, viola, cello, flute, clarinet, bassoon, two horns, and double bass – Consortium Classicum/Dieter Klocker – Orfeo

by | Oct 21, 2010 | Classical CD Reviews | 0 comments

PETER VON WINTER: Septet for two violins, clarinet, two horns, and viola, Op. 10; Quartet for clarinet, violin, viola, and cello, without op.; Octet for violin, viola, cello, flute, clarinet, bassoon, two horns, and double bass, without op. – Consortium Classicum / Dieter Klöcker – Orfeo C 751 101 A, 62:27 [Distr. by Qualiton] *****:

One of the best things about recordings is that they let you get to know good composers and music that you’d never ever run into otherwise. A case in point is Peter von Winter (1754-1825); I’ve been listening to classical music for over forty years, and I must confess that I have never encountered his name or his music before—at least as I recall. Now, here is an excellent introduction to von Winter from Orfeo, and since good things come in pairs, I’ve just read that the CPO label has released a recording of his orchestral music, including a symphony. I’ll certainly have to check that out as well. But in the meantime, back to this delightful sampling of his music for winds and strings.

Actually, von Winter’s forte was neither chamber music nor orchestral music. In his day, he was a highly successful opera composer with over thirty operas to his credit. Born two years before Mozart, von Winter enjoyed a career that spanned almost as many years as Mozart was alive, long enough for him to cash in on the Rossini craze of the eighteen-teens. Von Winter’s melodrama Maometto of 1817, written for La Scala, sounds more than a little like Rossini, though von Winter speaks Rossini with a Viennese accent, having studied in Vienna with Salieri and created some of his most successful operas for that city.

Von Winter was born in Mannheim around the time it was emerging as the center of symphonic writing, but when he took the position of director at the court theater in Munich in 1778, he was called on to write ballets and operas, so his forays into absolute music were somewhat limited. Of the three works on this Orfeo disc, the Clarinet Quintet is the earliest, written around 1780 for clarinetist F. W. Tausch, also a member of the Munich Court Theater Orchestra. It’s a tiny work in three movements that has Mozartian resonances but also some tantalizing foretastes of Biedermeier composers such as Weber and Hummel, especially in the Polonaise finale. The tender Adagio is the standout movement in the work.

I suppose that composers not of the absolute first rank often need to be musical chameleons, and von Winter is no exception. In the case of the Septet and Octet, the influence is not Mozart or Rossini but Beethoven, specifically his Septet Op. 20 of 1800. But then it seems every composer worthy of the name had to have a crack at an imitation of this wildly popular entertainment. Von Winter thus joins the ranks of Louis Spohr, Conradin Kreutzer, Franz Schubert, and Franz Berwald, all of whom tried their hand at it. With the exception of Schubert, whose Octet is really in a class by itself, von Winter does about as well as any of these better-known Beethoven impersonators. Von Winter’s compact Octet of 1813 is especially attractive. The first movement, a bubbling sonata-form movement, has real élan, but the peach is the Rondo Allegretto finale. It’s actually a set of variations on a lively and memorable Scottish tune; clarinet, bassoon, and violin all have their own variation one after the other. The movement is rounded off with a dashing coda.

The Septet Op. 10 of 1803 is a more expansive work in four movements, including a Menuetto third movement that feels like a scherzo—shades of Beethoven. Except unlike Beethoven, von Winter swaps the double bass for a second horn, and this lends his work a very different, more romantic coloration, especially since the horns are given numerous expressive solo passages. Again, the slow movement is both songful and soulful. A charming work.

And charming performances. The members of the Consortium Classicum and Clarinetist-Leader Dieter Klöcker are past masters at bringing the music of this rich period to life. Whether playing as an ensemble or in their frequent solo bits, they play with purity of tone and with great energy. And they always sound as if they’re enjoying themselves royally, which translates to an even happier listening experience.

They’re given a resonant, slightly recessed recording that’s just right for this plein air-sort of music. Many thanks to the Consortium Classicum for this chance to make the acquaintance of Herr von Winter.

– Lee Passarella

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