Quintessential Solo Bassoonist
Erich Heckscher | 01/15/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Klaus Thunemann has been the world's premiere solo bassoonist for the past three decades. His technical mastery of the instrument--he has the facilty of a violinist--is impressive in and of itself, but he brings so much more to these hard-to-find recordings of Vivaldi's elegant concerti.
Presumably written in part for students at the Ospedale della Pieta, a girls' orphanage in Venice, these concertos continue to present challenges for modern day professional bassoonists. Thunemann, however, makes these works sound easy. None of the inherent difficulties of playing the bassoon is evident, and his mastery of the seemingly lost art of ornamentation makes each of these concertos unique among other recordings.
Thunemann's sound evolved over the ten years he took to record these concerti (originally released on three separate discs from 1985-1995), yet his facility never wavers throughout the cycle. It is intersting to follow the career of a musical icon as he revisits this repertoire, and there is not even a close second to Thunemann in this genre. Of note are the famous E minor concerto (RV 484), and the A minor cocnerto (RV 497.) Unfortunately, the set omits two concertos: The Eb major RV 483,and the F major RV 485.
I Musici provides a wonderfully subtle accompaniment to these works. Players in the Italian ensemble are equally comfortable in prominent solo roles and in secondary positions, demonstrating their innate passion for the music.
Thunemann's playing is really not to be missed in this set, and a further reommendation would be his two recordings on the Zelenka Trio Sonatas with Heinz Holliger on ECM and Archiv, as well as anything else you can find!"
Approaching perfection
M. Fulton | Bemidji, Minnesota United States | 11/30/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I know about half of this recording from an earlier LP; what follows is based on that.
The music: Not profound, but inventive and engaging. This is music written to please, and it still does so unfailingly centuries later. Vivaldi must have had the most remarkable bassoon soloist in the girls school he ran; he wrote more concertos for bassoon (39 by the usual count) than for any other instrument except violin, and the music is technically demanding.
The playing: "Perfection" is not usually a word associated with the bassoon, but the playing of Klaus Thunemann comes closer than any other soloist I have heard. My wife and I (both amateur bassoonists) agree that his tone approaches our "Platonic ideal" bassoon sound, simultaneously smooth and rich, and his musicianship is seamless. I Musici backs Thunemann's playing with verve and grace, without the slightly frantic edge that mars some recent Baroque interpretations (e.g. Europa Galante's take on the Four seasons, which is fun but perhaps a bit over-the-top unless you were weaned on Rock music).
A sterling recording of one of the great bassoonists at quite a reasonable price."
Track Listings (17) - Disc #1