musica Dei donum
CD reviews
Concertos by Dutch baroque composers
[I] Willem DE FESCH (1687 - 1761): "Concerti Grossi and Violin Concerto"
La Sfera Armoniosa
Dir: Mike Fentross
rec: Nov 17, 2019 (live), Alkmaar, Theater De Vest
Challenge Classics - CC72829 (© 2020) (60'09")
Liner-notes: E
Cover, track-list & booklet
Scores
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Concerto in a minor;
Concerto in C, op. 3,1;
Concerto in e minor, op. 3,5;
Concerto in c minor, op. 5,5a;
Concerto in C, op. 10,3;
Concerto in D, op. 10,4;
Concerto in F, op. 10,5
Lidewij van der Voort (soloa), Femke Huizinga, Joseph Tan, Elise van der Wel, Judith Verona Martín, Ewa Zolyniak-Adamska, violin;
Esther van der Eijk, Zdenka Prochaskova, viola;
Edouard Catalan, Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde, cello;
Severiano Paoli, double bass;
Mike Fentross, lute;
Siebe Henstra, harpsichord
[II] Unico Wilhelm VAN WASSENAER (1792-1766): "VI Concerti Armonici"
La Sfera Armoniosa
Dir: Mike Fentross
rec: Oct 30, 2022 (live), Alkmaar, Theater De Vest
Challenge Classics - CC72955 (© 2023) (57'20")
Liner-notes: E
Cover, track-list & booklet
Scores
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Concerto I in G;
Concerto II in B flat;
Concerto III in A;
Concerto IV in G;
Concerto V in f;
Concerto VI in E flat
Lidewij van der Voort, Kano Imada, Tomoe Badiarova, Anna Lester, violin;
Esther van der Eijk, viola;
Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde, Jacopo Ristori, cello;
Severiano Paoli, double bass;
Mike Fentross, lute;
Teun Braken, harpsichord
[III] Pieter HELLENDAAL (1721 - 1799): Six Grand Concertos Op. 3
La Sfera Armoniosa
Dir: Mike Fentross
rec: Oct 7, 2021 (live), Rotterdam, St Laurenskerk
Challenge Classics - CC72911 (© 2022) (79'38")
Liner-notes: E
Cover, track-list & booklet
Scores
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Concerto I in g minor, op. 3,1;
Concerto II in d minor, op. 3,2;
Concerto III in F, op. 3,3;
Concerto IV in E flat, op. 3,4;
Concerto V in D, op. 3,5;
Concerto VI in F, op. 3,6
Lidewij van der Voort, Elise van der Wel, Joseph Tan, Annabelle Ferdinand, Luca Alfonso Rizzello, Sakura Goto, violin;
Esther van der Eijk, Zdenka Prochaskova, viola;
Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde, Evan Buttar, cello;
Severiano Paoli, double bass;
Mike Fentross, lute;
Teun Braken, harpsichord
Saying that the Dutch have not treated their musical heritage very well is an understatement. It is only a little over ten years ago that the complete oeuvre of their arguably greatest composer, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, was available on disc. From what has been written during the 17th and and 18th centuries only small parts have been recorded, and hardly any of that is regularly performed in concerts. I am not going to dwell on the causes for this relative neglect, but rather focus on what has recently been released: three discs devoted to instrumental works by three major masters of the 18th century.
Willem de Fesch was born in Alkmaar, a small town north of Amsterdam, from parents who were from Ličge in the Spanish Netherlands. Not long after his birth his parents returned to where they came from, and it is possible that Willem sang as a choirboy there. Around 1710 he was in Amsterdam, where he married the daughter of the composer Carl Rosier. As he was educated as a violinist, he acted as such in Amsterdam, but also elsewhere; at least three times he performed in Antwerp.
Being a Catholic, he was appointed kapelmeester (chapelmaster) at Antwerp Cathedral in 1725. In 1731 he resigned, due to his quarrels with the chapter and the chapel. By all accounts he was quite temperamental. A few years later he settled in England, where he stayed for the rest of his life. In London he again acted as a violin virtuoso. It was one of the musical metropoles of Europe, and there were plenty opportunities to perform. He played first violin in Handel's orchestra and directed the orchestra at Marylebone Gardens. In London he also composed two oratorios, Judith (1733) and Joseph (1745). The former is lost, the latter was rediscovered in the 1980s (recorded under the direction of Jed Wentz).
Fesch's oeuvre includes a mass as well as canzonettas and arias, but the main part of his output consists of instrumental music. The work-list in New Grove comprises fourteen collections of pieces for different scorings, from duets to concertos in seven parts. La Sfera Armoniosa made a selection from three of them. The opus 3 was printed in Amsterdam in 1719, and includes four concertos four four violins, viola and basso continuo, as well as two for two oboes, two violins, cello and basso continuo. The two items performed here are from the first group. The opus 5, which was published around 1730, is organised in a comparable way: four of the six concertos include parts for two transverse flutes and two violins, two for four violins. The Concerto No. 5 performed here is of the latter group. It is listed here as a violin concerto, but the title of the collection does not indicate the inclusion of a solo part. However, the first violin part is labelled violino principale, and a look at this part shows that it includes several indications of solo.
The opus 10 was published in 1741 in London. It comprises eight concertos in seven parts; six are for strings alone, two have parts for one or two transverse flutes. The former pieces are of the concerto grosso model, as the scoring for two violins, viola and cello suggests. The programme also includes a Concerto in a minor that has not been published. Unfortunately the liner-notes lack specifc information about the individual pieces; it seems that this is the concerto for three violins and basso continuo that is mentioned in the work-list in New Grove. De Fesch's music is clearly influenced by Antonio Vivaldi, and that comes especially to the fore in the treatment of the violin in the Concerto in c minor, op. 5,5.
Whereas a large part of De Fesch's oeuvre is not available on disc, that is different with the output of Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer. However, the main reason is that it is very small. The six Concerti armonici are the main part of his oeuvre; otherwise only a sonata for recorder of his pen is known. There are also some other pieces whose authenticity is doubtful.
It is only due to coincidence that Van Wassenaer has been connected to the six concertos for strings and basso continuo that were known and published, and which have been attributed to several composers, in particular Giovanni Battista Pergolesi and Carlo Ricciotti. The latter seemed to be the most likely candidate; he was the leader of the collegium musicum which played these concertos. In the English edition of John Walsh (1755) he was mentioned as the composer. The first edition dates from 1740 and was published in The Hague. It does not include the name of the composer; he is merely called "an illustrious hand". Van Wassenaer insisted that he should not be named as the composer. The reason is that he was an aristocrat, and composing music was not according to his status. He was what in Italy was known as nobile dilettante. The very fact that Pergolesi was mentioned as one of the possible composers, alongside the likes of Vivaldi, Leclair, Handel and Geminiani attests to the quality of these concertos. They confirm that the label nobile dilettante does not tell us anything about the qualities of the composer. One can only regret that Van Wassenaer seems not to have written more.
The influence of Vivaldi is evident; it is notable that these concertos are scored for four violins, which have largely independent parts. This scoring was particularly popular in Rome, although Vivaldi's Op. 3 also includes four violin parts, as does the Op. 7 by Pietro Antonio Locatelli. It should also be mentioned that the cello now and then plays an obbligato part. These concertos are generally considered masterpieces, both because of the expression in especially the slow movements, and the treatment of counterpoint and harmony.
The third composer to whom Mike Fentross and his ensemble La Sfera Armoniosa devoted a recording is Pieter Hellendaal. He may be the best-known of the three, partly due to the fact that for most of his life he worked in England, where he played a major role in concert life, first in London and then in Cambridge.
He was born in Rotterdam in 1721, where his father Johan worked as a pastry baker and later as a candlemaker. In 1732 the family moved to Utrecht. Here Pieter was appointed organist of the Nicolaikerk, despite being just ten years of age. In 1737 Pieter resigned as organist, as the family moved to Amsterdam. Here he may have become acquainted with Pietro Antonio Locatelli, the famous Italian violin virtuoso. It is not known who taught him the violin, but he must have been accomplished at the instrument, as - thanks to the support of Mattheus Lestevenon, secretary of Amsterdam - he was allowed to go to Padua, to study with the famous Giuseppe Tartini, somewhere between 1737 and 1743. Tartini did not take that many students, as he wanted to be able to pay enough attention to anyone of them. The fact that he accepted Hellendaal as one of his students, is further evidence that Pieter's skills must have been far above average.
In January 1749 Hellendaal enrolled at Leiden University. There he once again performed as a violinist and from time to time replaced the organist of the Pieterskerk. However, as apparently he did not succeed in obtaining a fixed position, which would allow him to support his family, he decided to move to London, where he arrived in late 1751. Between 1752 and 1754 Hellendaal's name is regularly mentioned in concert announcements in the newspapers. Again, it seems that he failed to find a position as organist or as violinist in an orchestra.
For a short while he acted as organist at St Margaret's Church of King's Lynn in Norfolk, as successor to Charles Burney, who thought the salary was too low. Hellendaal may have had the same considerations when he left his post after only a short time. In November 1762 he was appointed organist of the Pembroke Hall Chapel in Cambridge. There he remained for the rest of his life, working as a violinist, teacher and music publisher, and selling musical instruments. In 1763 he played the violin in a performance of Handel's Messiah. In 1777 he was appointed organist of the Peterhouse Chapel. He published a set of violin sonatas (Op. 4) and a collection of eight cello sonatas (Op. 5). Further printed editions include sonatas for keyboard, violin and cello and a rondo for violin and basso continuo. Hellendaal also composed some vocal music, both sacred (Psalms and Hymns) and secular (canons and glees).
The Concerti grossi op. 3 are his first music published in London; they came from the press around 1758. At that time the genre of the concerto grosso was past its prime on the continent. In England it was still held in high esteem. Handel's concerti grossi played a role in its continuing popularity. Its main feature - the division between a concertino and the ripieno - made them especially attractive to the music societies active across the country. They usually consisted of amateurs, and were often directed by a professional. The concertino parts were the technically more challenging, whereas the ripieno was perfectly suited to be played by amateurs. Notable in Hellendaal's concertos is the prominent role of the first violin, which may well have been played by the leader of the above-mentioned societies.
Within the set there are some differences, as Rudolf Rasch explains in his liner-notes. The first two concertos open with an overture, which root in the French tradition. The concertos I to V are in five movements: after the usual sequence of four movements in the usual order slow - fast - slow - fast, the concerto closes with a dance (I: menuet; II: borea (bourree)) or a march (III, V). The Concerto IV closes with a Pastorale, which would not be out of place in a programme of Christmas concertos. The Concerto VI has six movements: the last two are a largo and a menuet. One of the most expressive movements is the opening largo from the Concerto V, which is followed by an allegro, which is an impressive testimony of Hellendaal's skills in the field of counterpoint.
There is every reason to be happy with these recordings. First, they shed light on the quality of composers who are not part of the mainstream, probably with the exception of Van Wassenaer. Their qualities are amply demonstrated. They suggest that a further exploration of the oeuvre of Fesch and Hellendaal is well worth the effort. At least in the case of Hellendaal fairly recently two splendid recordings of violin sonatas have been released (Antoinette Lohmann, Globe 2018; Johannes Pramsohler, Audax 2020). In the case of Fesch there is much catching up to do.
Second, the performances are excellent. In its early days La Sfera Armoniosa performed mainly small-scale repertoire from the 17th century, but with time it has increasinly acted as a full-blood baroque orchestra, and with good results, as these three discs show. The choices of tempo are convincing, and so is the treatment of dynamics, which are important to highlight the contrasts and dramatic features of these concertos. The solo and concertino parts are perfectly executed, and the ensemble shows a fine sense of rhythm. The fact that these performances were recorded live make them all the more impressive. There are no noises; only applause at the end. I would have preferred that to be omitted, but that is only of marginal importance.
Every lover of baroque orchestral music will enjoy these three recordings.
Johan van Veen (© 2024)
Relevant links:
La Sfera Armoniosa