The Art of the High Baroque
The Art of the High Baroque is a newly released CD featuring Robert J.
"Bahb" Civiletti, baroque trumpet, the Belgian Baroque Soloists
with conductor Niranjan Wijewickrema.
Jeffrey Nussbaum said the following in a review in Historic
Brass Society, July 2008:
This latest CD by Robert J. "Bahb"
Civiletti is nothing short of remarkable. All six compositions on this
recording are listed as “world premiere recordings on Baroque trumpet”
and an examination of Lowry’s International Trumpet Discography bears
out this claim. The works in question are Trumpet Concerto in D by
Joseph Riepel (1709-1782), Trumpet Concerto in Eb by Franz Querfurth
(fl. Mid-18th century), Trumpet Concerto No. 1 in C, Trumpet Concerto
No. 2 in D by Georg von Reutter II (1708-1772), Trumpet Concerto in D
by Franz Xaver Richter (1709-1789), and the Trumpet Concerto No. 1 in D
by J. Michael Haydn (1737-1806). In some sense these works are like the
famous Haydn Trumpet Concerto but on steroids. All are unbelievably
virtuosic and demanding. Ed Tarr, in his thoughtful CD program notes
states that the Michael Haydn D-major trumpet concerto has the
distinction of presenting the "world record" height of sounding A above
high C, in bar 41 of the first movement. The Richter concerto ascends
to high concert G.
In the excellent program notes, Edward Tarr first discusses the "High
Baroque" epoch and the instrument of that time, the baroque trumpet.
In the second part of the program notes we learn that some of these
compositions were written for known baroque era virtuosos like
Johann Heinisch (1725-1751) - von Reutter wrote his two concertos
for him. Michael Haydn probably had the Salzburg virtuoso J. B.
Resenberger (ca 1700 - 1781) in mind.
The concertos by Richter and Haydn can be found on several recordings
(with modern trumpets). The other concertos by Riepel, von Reutter and
Querfurth are only recorded a few times before (both von Reutter were
recorded by Edward Tarr, Riepel by Wolfgang Bauer and Otto Sauter, -
Querfurth
by Ludwig Güttler and Daniel Ackermann).
In 1966, Maurice Andre recorded the Richter
and Haydn concertos with the Munich
Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Hans Stadlmair (on Arkiv
Produktion 198 415). That it was demanding for the young Andre, one
can celarly hear when he climbs to the the high A in the Haydn
concerto. When "Bahb" does the same on this recording, his bit of
struggle is in "good company". I don't mind this - it shows that some
works are not playable for everyone. I also suspect that the players
performing the concertos for the first time in the baroque era had a
great challenge with the highest notes.
Bravo to "Bahb" for doing this recording.
Recommended
!
Facts:
Producer
and program annotator: Edward
H. Tarr
Recording engineer/editor: Paul Pasquier.
Recording date: 10-13 April 2007.
Label: Buccina Cantorum Recordia BCR
3313114.
Order info at: www.tce-studio.com
o.j.
2008
