MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger


 
REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

alternatively
CD: AmazonUK AmazonUS
Download: Classicsonline


Sinfonias from the Enlightenment
CD 1
Johann Adolf HASSE (1699 - 1783)
Sinfonia in D (Overture to Alcide al bivio) [07:56]
Johann Gottlieb GRAUN (1702 - 1771)
Sinfonia in E flat [07:05]
Carl Philipp Emanuel BACH (1714 - 1788)
Sinfonia in B flat (H deest / Wq deest) [11:19]
Wilhelm Friedemann BACH (1710 - 1784)
Sinfonia in D (from Cantata Dies ist der Tag) (F 64 / BR WFB C 8) [09:59]
Carl Philipp Emanuel BACH
Sinfonia in E flat (H deest / Wq deest) [09:14]
CD 2
Franz Joseph HAYDN (1732 - 1809)
Symphony in g minor (H I,39) [18:14]
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756 - 1791)
Symphony No 29 in a minor (KV 201) [29:21]
Moderntimes 1800/Ilia Korol, Julia Moretti
rec. 28 September - 2 October 2007, Congress & Messe, Innsbruck, Austria DDD
CHALLENGE RECORDS CC72193 [45:37 + 47:37]

Experience Classicsonline

The music on these two discs was written within the period roughly between 1740 and 1775. It is not easy to put a label on the music of this era. The title refers to the Enlightenment but that doesn't really help to define the style of composition.

Several terms are employed to describe the music between the baroque and the classical era. Sturm und Drang and Empfindsamkeit are often used, but there is also music written in the galant idiom. Part of the problem is that these styles appear at the same time, sometimes even within a single composition. The various styles partly reflect the preferences of the composers, but also the target group. Music for amateurs - mostly chamber music, especially for or with flute - was often of a galant nature.

The compositions recorded on these discs were written for professional ensembles, and show considerably more depth than the music for amateurs. But there was no watershed between the two, as is evident from the symphonies by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. Veronika Zimmermann, in her programme notes, states that their slow movements show traces of the galant idiom, whereas the fast movements reflect the Sturm und Drang. She also mentions that the music in this period often contains passages in the 'old-fashioned' style of the baroque era, with its use of counterpoint. The oeuvre of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach is an excellent example of music with a mixture of tradition and modern fashion.

There is one feature which the Empfindsamkeit and the Sturm und Drang have in common: the crucial role of emotion. Baroque music was not without emotion, but it was very much regulated. The baroque composer had a number of tools at his disposal - keys, instruments and rhetorical figures - to express emotion. These were not necessarily his personal emotions, and performers were not supposed to show their personal feelings while singing or playing. That changes in the post-baroque era. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach specifically expected performers to feel the emotions which the music was intended to express. We know from descriptions that he showed his own emotions in abundance when he played the keyboard.

The emotional style of the mid-18th century expresses itself in sudden changes of dynamic, a quick shift of thematic material and unexpected general pauses. It is telling that all the symphonies by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Graun and Hasse on the programme have a slow movement whose character indications contain the words 'con sordino'.

The scoring of the various orchestral works shows that the orchestra had considerably changed since the baroque era. The baroque 'orchestra' mostly consisted of strings and bc, with now and then one or a couple of wind instruments. In all symphonies on the first disc the orchestra includes woodwind and brass, mostly in pairs. The treatment of the wind is various. In Graun's Sinfonia in E flat the flutes only participate in the last movement in which they largely play colla parte with the violins. In the andante of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach's Sinfonia in D the flutes play a solo role. In Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's Sinfonia in E flat the bassoons have a marked role in the larghetto con sordino, whereas in the closing allegretto the horns come especially to the fore. In the Sinfonia in D by Johann Adolf Hasse the two fast movements are quite exuberant, mainly because of prominent parts for the brass.

The second disc contains two symphonies by composers who are considered representatives of the classical era. But the Symphony No. 39 by Haydn which dates from before 1770, contains some features of the Sturm und Drang. In particular in the first two movements we find the general pauses and sudden dynamic outbursts which are features of that style. Mozart's symphony has little of this. Through its inclusion this set shows how the generation of the sons of Bach paved the way for the classical style.

The performances are generally very good. The wind parts are clearly exposed, and that isn't just because they are played well but also because the balance between the various sections of the ensemble is good. The sound of the orchestra is crisp and clear, and the dynamic contrasts are well realised. Mozart's symphony No. 29 is by far the best-known work of the set, and there is much competition. Although the performance is good I wouldn't purchase this set because of this symphony. The crescendos in the first movement are beautifully played, the andante is alright, but the menuetto is a bit too slow, and so is the allegro con spirito. Here I also find the dynamic range too narrow.

This production delivers a good and interesting survey of the development of orchestral music during an important stage in music history. The first disc is especially important as it contains four first recordings.

Johan van Veen
 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools






Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.