Classical Music
The composer of Les huguenots and L’Africaine was already an accomplished master at age 26, as this first-rate recording reveals.
Any number of threads that tie these three pieces (and composers) together. But in this instance, such busywork is superfluous: the musical results – blazingly played and flawlessly recorded – speak for themselves.
Vivaldi put this opera together using, in part, arias associated with two famous singers: the “Moorish” (i.e., half-African) Vittorio Tesi and the castrato Farinelli.
This disc stands comfortably in the company of Beethoven and Bartók performances by the Emerson, Tákacs, Alban Berg, and Juilliard Quartets.
Bottom line: these are excellent performances and a valuable documentation of Elliott Carter’s early work.
Egon Wellesz’s Weimar era critique of the cruelty of nations that are victorious in war still rings hauntingly true.
A welcome addition to Scottish percussionist Colin Currie’s endlessly fascinating discography – as well as to Austrian maverick HK Gruber’s.
If this is your first Bluebeard’s Castle, Susanna Mälkki’s recording makes for a fine, occasionally inspired, introduction.
There’s much to enjoy here and admire, both in the performances and the selections on hand, which hardly dwell on the usual suspects or limit themselves too narrowly.
At this point in his career, Mayr is contributing to the development of the musicodramatic conventions that would set the stage for the masterpieces of Donizetti, Bellini, and Verdi.
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