Better with the Baroque

Press, 8 December 1988, Page 24

Better with the Baroque

BAROQUE TRUMPETS: Wynton Marsalis, trumpet and others play pieces by Vivaldi, Haydn, Telemann, Pachelbel, and Biber, with the ECO, conducted by Raymond Leppard. CBS MASTERWORKS M 42478.

By his own admission, Wynton Marsalis accords the greatest respect to his work in the classics, making certain to all that this venture away from his jazz idiom, is no passing novelty. Nor does he go to the other extreme by racing through the pieces with the reckless abandon that might be expected with Raymond Leppard at the helm. Indeed, his playing ranks with the great trumpet players of all time, as his earlier LP proves.

Personally, his classic records are preferable to his jazz ventures and while comparisons of this nature might be out of order, his purity of tone and immaculate technique leave no doubt as to his mastery of the art. Such an assertion might

be harder to credit with his jazz, although this is where he has made his reputation and doubtless many would dispute this view.

Marsalis starts with Vivaldi’s Concerto for two Trumpets, RV537, proceeds through Michael Haydn’s D major Trumpet Concerto, to works for three trumpets from Pachelbel and Telemann, rising to a fitting climax with Biber’s Sonata for eight trumpets in A major. By choosing works away from the everyday repertoire, the trumpeter adds much to his esteem, superior in every way to Maurice Andre’s similar programme in 1977 with the same orchestra.

THE LATE CONCERTOS AND EARLY BRENDEL: MOZART: Piano Concertos 20 and 24 — Arthur Rubinstein, piano. P/C No. 27 — Wilhelm Backhaus, piano. P/C 25 — Ivan Moravec, piano and Double Piano Concerto with Alfred Brendel and Walter Klein. AWARD Cassettes, AWCB42I, 8414, 8418 and 8413.

It is almost too easy to acquire a taste for the Mozart piano concertos — particularly the mature ones — and the results are so satisfying that they can be used for any occasion or mood.

& discs i

ALLAN FRANCIS

With a batch of the quality under review, an entire afternoon can be profitably spent and have the listener begging for more. These come from the time of Katchen, Barenboim and early Brendel, all of the highest and most eloquent order and would stand competition in any company.

“Authenticity” was a seldom-heard word at that time, so it comes as no surprise to have “bigband” versions with some of the works. The Rubinstein, for instance, has the excellent services of the RCA Symphony Orchestra, Backhaus the VPO, and Moravec, the Czech Philharmonic.

Walter Klein, apt to be a rather fussy player at times, blends perfectly with Alfred Brendel here with what might have been a clumsy arrangement. Full of drama, but with less resilience than his 1986 performance with Imogen Cooper, Brendel’s athletic style is naturally a youthful view •of the work. A quarter of

a century later, that view mellows.

The mature pianists, Backhaus, Moravec and the perennial Rubinstein, are heard in concertos 20, 24, 25 and 27 (also the K 331 Sonata). However, it is the littleheard 58-year-old master pianist, Ivan Moravec, who takes the honours for style and brightness. Detail and recorded sound are more vivid than most of the recordings of the time, and if the listener can concede some of the established glory of the other two pianists to include Moravec, it is a reasonable division of profits.

Only occasionally is there a narrowness of sound quality in these reissues; in 1976 it was a nuisance to have the 3rd movement of the K 503 work on side 2, but this is still the case, along with the same situation in the K 595.

What is more important is the high standards of all the soloists involved, and perhaps the low asking price. In the light of

these pluses as against the minus of small inconveniences, the verdict is easy to reach. VIVALDI: Oboe Concertos played by Han de Vries, oboe, with the I Solisti di Zagreb. EMI CD CDM 7 69108 2. ADD. Han de Vries had the misfortune to be recording at the same time as the superb oboist, Heinz Holliger, and as a result has suffered disproportionately since. These 1979 performances bear ample witness to the high standard of de Vries’ playing. , Both players used the sweet/sour European oboe to good effect, but it is perhaps to the supporting musicians we look for any major differences. Thn T Mncir»i arp

The I Musici are superior in almost every aspect to the Zagreb Soloists, although no-one would criticise the composer for the unlimited invention contained in these seven concertos.

This is “easy (classical) listening” of the highest order.

“Mental aberration is almost normal among oboists, for his lunacy took the form of trying to blow the oboe and English horn at once — a preposterous feat of no practical use or sense” — H. L. Mencken, “The Tone Art.”