Donizetti was a profilic
composer, writing over 600 works, of
which at least 50 were operas. Today
his fame almost entirely rests on operatic
works first produced in the period 1832-1835
(i.e. L’Elisir d’amore, Lucrezia
Borgia, Maria Stuarda and
Lucia di Lammermoor). Earlier
in his career he wrote for the piano,
chamber music (including at least 17
string quartets) and sacred works. His
output seems to have contained little
orchestral music but various instrumental
concertinos written when he was about
20 have survived and are presented on
this disc. All except the concertino
for cor anglais required some recent
reconstruction, tasks that on this evidence
seem to have been worthwhile.
This music is essentially
a stream of melody, grateful on the
ear and probably to play, generally
lacking in profundity but sufficiently
varied to sustain interest. The last
work was written for the funeral of
Antonio Capuzzi, a violinist and leader
of the orchestra in Bergamo where Donizetti
spent his formative years. The only
purely orchestral work here (the other
sinfonia is for wind only), it contains
some dark and stormy moments but in
general, throughout this disc, Donizetti’s
music sounds as if it could have been
written for the voice. The most ambitious
work, and the longest at eleven and
a half minutes, is the three movement
double concerto for violin and cello
but don’t base your expectations of
this on Brahms’s magnificent creation
in this genre. The two solo parts complement
each other well but they don’t get the
show entirely to themselves since there
are also important wind parts, notably
for the flute. To my ears the most memorable
work is the concertino for cor anglais
which is an andante with a set of variations.
These performances
were recorded about ten years ago and
originally appeared on the Marco Polo
label. Naxos seems to be continuing
its sensible policy of re-issuing such
discs at bargain price. The six solo
artists all give good accounts of themselves
and the Camerata Budapest are a modest-sized
but excellent band. The recording is
natural and consistently well-balanced.
Documentation is adequate but a bit
skimpier than is usually the case on
this label; probably reflecting the
fairly obscure origins of the music.
The delightful picture on the front
cover is of interest since, although
anonymously painted, it shows Donizetti
with friends in Bergamo. I am guessing
but I think he might be second from
the right.
This is an enjoyable
disc - gracious, undemanding music which
is well-played and perfect for relaxation.
Patrick C Waller
Camarata Budapest/László
Kovács 
