Search - Jan Dismas Zelenka, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Concentus Musicus Wien :: Jan Dismas Zelenka: Hipocondrie/Sonata 2/Overture à 7

Extraordinarily Original

Leslie Richford | Selsingen, Lower Saxony | 04/05/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679 - 1745): Hipocondrie à 7 Concertanti in A major, ZWV 187; Trio Sonata No. 2 in G minor, ZWV 181; Oúvertüre à 7 Concertanti in F major, ZWV 188. Performed by: Concentus musicus Vienna [Jürg Schaeftlein, Paul Hailperin, oboes; Milan Turkovic, bassoon; Alice Harnoncourt, Walter Pfeiffer, Peter Schoberwalter, Anita Mitterer, Wilhelm Mergl, violins; Kurth Theiner, Josef de Sordi, violas; Nikolaus Harnoncourt, violoncello; Eduard Hruza, violone; Herbert Tachezi, harpsichord], dir. Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Analogue recording made in March 1977, March 1978 and May 1979 in the Zögernitz Casino, Vienna, Austria. First published as an LP in 1980. This CD edition to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the series "Das Alte Werk" published in 2008 as Warner Classics and Jazz 2564 69764-8. Total playing time: 47'10".



Jan Dismas Zelenka came from Bohemia and was, for most of his life, court musician in Dresden (Kingdom of Saxony), where he was granted the title of "Kirchen-Compositeur" (composer of sacred music), but because of the royal household's preference for opera composer Johann Adolf Hasse was never promoted to "Kapellmeister". Perhaps because of this disadvantage, he was soon forgotten, and it was only the 70's of the last century which saw a re-discovery. Although Zelenka wrote a great number of sacred vocal works, it was his extraordinarily original orchestral works which first drew attention to themselves, Deutsche Grammophon publishing a 5 CD edition of his instrumental works. This proved to be the starting signal for a whole series of further recordings of Zelenka's works; three of the earliest of these are gathered on this CD in the "Das Alte Werk" series, all of them showing the ensemble Concentus Musicus Vienna in a very pleasant light: The playing is consistently lively and witty, corresponding exactly with the quality of the music. The excellent sonics allow the listener not only to enjoy Milan Turkovic's glorious bassoon playing and that of the two oboe soloists, but also to follow the bass line, something which it is definitely worth doing. - In the meantime, there have been newer recordings of these works, some of which have been perhaps a tad better (e. g. the CDs with Zelenka's trio sonatas published by the Zefiro ensemble on the French label Astrée, unfortunately currently unavailable), but anyone looking for a reasonably-priced introduction to Zelenka's world of sound will certainly not be disappointed with this Warner recording, especially as the company has chosen a high-class exterior: There is an excellently printed booklet with all the information, including details of the instruments played (for which special praise is due!), and the CD comes in a Super-Audio jewel box. Thus it is only the ultra-short playing time of just over 47 minutes on this 30 year old recording which adds a drop of gall; in the meantime, one has got used to getting an "encore" when analogue recordings are released digitally."