Music for a Viennese Salon
Joseph Martin KRAUS (1756-1792)
Quintet in D for flute and strings, VB188 [28:01]
Carl Ditters von DITTERSDORF (1739-1799)
Duetto for viola and violone in E-flat, Kr.219 [16:07]
Joseph HAYDN (1732-1809)
Symphony No.94 in G, ‘Surprise’ (arr. Johann Peter Salomon
for flute and strings) [22:35]
Night Music (on period instruments)
rec. 2018, Immanuel Highlands Episcopal Church, Wilmington, USA
AVIE AV2423
[66:46]
The aim of this recording is to reproduce a concert in a Viennese salon in
1801 – held not in the evening, despite the name of the ensemble, but in
the afternoon. Cards, conversation and music all featured at such
gatherings, so the music had no need to be too intense. Not intense, but
it’s all attractive and very pleasantly performed, so the name of the group
is apt; it’s ideal to be played late in the evening, perhaps with a glass of
wine. Recently we have had a similar album from Brilliant Classics,
Viennese Divertimenti, music by Dittersdorf who features on the new Avie,
Michael Haydn and Vaňhal (96127 –
review). I listened to that recording as I was completing this review, and
especially enjoyed the six short pieces by Dittersdorf which make up the
first and longer of the two CDs. The ensemble’s name Musica Elegentia is
apt for their performances, but elegance is also the keynote of the new
Avie recording.
The Kraus Flute Quintet makes an excellent opening, likely to make you
wonder why we don’t hear more of this Swedish composer’s music. Cue Stuart
Sillitoe’s appreciative
review
of a 5-CD Capriccio set of his vocal, symphonic and chamber music (C7325).
Though Kraus moved to Sweden when he was 21, he was Bavarian by birth and
he composed this quintet in Vienna. Although the flute is first among
equals here, it’s by no means a showy piece for a soloist. Night Music
perfectly integrate flute and strings, and the recording is also very well
integrated.
If you don’t want to go as far as the Capriccio set, Kraus proves to be by
no means the orphan on an Alpha recording where his Symphony in c minor,
VB182, is coupled with Haydn’s Symphonies Nos. 19, 80 and 81 (Alpha 676 –
review
–
Autumn 2017/3). That, in turn, may well lead you to the Naxos set of his symphonies (930195),
a download-only bargain, 4+ hours, which can be found for around £5 in
lossless sound. Night Music’s performance of the Flute Quintet is certainly
enticing enough to make you investigate this under-rated composer further.
I’ve said that Kraus need not feel in the shade by comparison with Haydn,
but here his music is coupled with one of the latter’s best-known works,
the so-called ‘Surprise’ Symphony. It’s not the symphony as we know it, but
rather in a chamber arrangement by the impresario who invited Haydn to
London, Salomon. Such arrangements were not uncommon as a way of letting
people get to know the music in more intimate surroundings. The Beethoven
250 year has brought a number of such arrangements, by Beethoven himself
and his contemporaries, some more effective than others. Mozart arranged
some of his piano concertos for chamber scale performance, and others made
such arrangements of his concertos and even symphonies. Again, the results
are variable, but a recent Hyperion recording of the ‘Jupiter’ symphony and
other works at least demonstrates some advantages in the smaller-scale
format –
review.
Those Mozart arrangements were made by recognised and accomplished
composers – albeit not of the status of Mozart and Haydn – Cramer and
Clementi; the arrangement of Piano Concerto No.21, K467, is especially
interesting. Nearer to our own time, even some of the Mahler
symphonies were performed in chamber-size arrangements at Schoenberg’s
private musical gatherings and Reinbert de Leeuw has recently arranged and
recorded Das Lied von der Erde in a chamber-scale arrangement
(Alpha 633).
Is Salomon’s arrangement of the ‘Surprise’ Symphony equally worth
recording? The music makes a good effect, charming music at this scale, receiving a
charming performance; as in the Kraus, the flautist and the engineers don’t
allow the instrument to dominate. With such small forces, however, the
feature which earned the work its nickname, the sudden change from quiet to
loud in the andante second movement, designed ‘to make the ladies
jump’ – Beecham used to bring it off especially well – doesn’t quite come
off, despite a claim to the contrary in the booklet. That said, this is an
enjoyable work in its own inevitably diminished right.
Take the arrangement for what it is, and it rounds off the album very
effectively. As with the Hyperion Jupiter Project, there are even some
advantages in having the music played like this, with a spring in the step
that even the best recordings of the original don’t always achieve, even on
period instruments. That’s especially noticeable in the third movement
minuet, which set my feet tapping; I even caught myself humming along.
Which reminds me to point out that Night Music all play period instruments,
with the exception of flautist Steven Zohn, who plays a modern copy of an
eight-keyed flute from c.1790. I haven’t come across this
Philadelphia-based ensemble before – I believe this is their first outing
on record – but I certainly would like to hear more of them. Perhaps in the
Mozart Eine kleine Nachtmusik which, presumably, was the origin of
their name, overworked as that music is.
Between the Kraus and the Haydn comes the Dittersdorf Duo for the unusual
combination of viola and violone, the latter the largest and one of the
last surviving members of the viol family which were superseded by the
violin and its relatives, in this case by the double bass. Once again, it
reminds us of the quality of the music of a neglected composer, Carl
Ditters, whose music made such an impression that he was ennobled as von
Dittersdorf. Neglected, that is, until Naxos took up the cause some time
ago; I commend their series of recordings to your attention, not least the
two CDs devoted to his music based on tales from Ovid’s Metamorphoses (8.553368/9).
I can’t claim great music status for the Dittersdorf Duo, but it, too,
receives a performance which brings out its attractions, and the recording
captures the unusual sound of the combination very effectively.
One of those recordings, then, which, while hardly an essential purchase,
adds to the sum of our enjoyment of the music of this period in Vienna
around the turn of the eighteenth century. There’s even a little story in
the booklet which pieces it all together. Selling at full price, the Avie
is only slightly more expensive than the Brilliant and contains almost as
much playing time – the second CD of that set is very short. Ideally, you
should consider buying both; if it must be only one, then the Avie.
Just to complicate matters: for another recording of attractive, if inconsequential, flute music from
the eighteenth century, try the recent Somm Hoffmeister’s Magic Flute –
review.
Anyone with an interest
in the early history of the flute should also check out a new recording from
Channel Classics Florilegium: The Spohr Collection (CCS43020). The
instruments come from a splendid collection of wooden and ivory baroque
flutes, some with silver keys, illustrated with fine performances of
appropriate music –
review by Johan van Veen.
Brian Wilson
