Anner Bylsma

Though born in Italy, Luigi Boccherini was based for most of his life in Madrid, where he played the cello and wrote more than a hundred string quintets. They’re perfectly formed from the simplest chords, and not without their touches of profundity. The cello sonatas sound at times too much like performers’ music. The explanation lies in changing styles of string technique and the rise of the piano, though Anner Bylsma’s playing gives them a new lease of life.

That said, Anner Bylsma's disc gets a great deal more playing time. The timbre of the piccolo cello is ideally matched with the organ. While purists may balk at such unusual instrumentation, I cannot help but think such an experiment is quite in keeping with the spirit of Baroque era practices. In general, I try not to judge the success of a recording by a preconceived idea of what a musical elite would or would not approve of.

In his day, Friedrich Dotzauer (1783-1860) was extremely influential as a performer, teacher and composer. In addition to having a highly successful career as an orchestral player. Dotzauer taught many of the best-known cellists of his age, and was prolific as a composer of sacred music, symphonies and chamber music. This issue makes available a sample of Dotzauer's chamber music which reveals the composer's craftsmanship and rich imagination. The four-movement Quintet. Op. 134 has an easy grace and carefree melodiousness that Bylsma and his colleagues express most engagingly.

That said, Anner Bylsma's disc gets a great deal more playing time. The timbre of the piccolo cello is ideally matched with the organ. While purists may balk at such unusual instrumentation, I cannot help but think such an experiment is quite in keeping with the spirit of Baroque era practices. In general, I try not to judge the success of a recording by a preconceived idea of what a musical elite would or would not approve of.

In the Telemann mountains, much of the topography remains terra incognita because most of Telemann's music remains an undiscovered country. But whatever future generations of hardy musicologists may uncover, it is unlikely that Telemann's Nouveaux Quatuors en Six Suites published in Paris in 1738 will be displaced as among his output's highest peaks.

An album overflowing with musical joy that transcends the composer. It is clear from the first sound of the CD and fills the space of the listening room brightly. A brilliance and lively fulfillment that rivals Mozart's finest moments. Anner Bylsma's cello tone and wonderful performance using period instruments, Melting with it, it progresses while adding luster, brilliance and dynamism.

This disc offers very enjoyable selection of Boccherini. The two symphonies are late works, the D major a single-movement piece of the Italian overture type, with a slow movement embedded, the C minor his most 'symphonic' work in the Viennese-classical sense of the term. Jeanne Lamon directs lively performances with this excellent Canadian group. The D major she takes rather quickly, producing that sense of tension that arises when music is pushed a little beyond its natural pace; but the effect is energetic and inspiriting (and it is marked con molto spirito). The Andantino is more relaxed, its colours happily realized.

This disc offers very enjoyable selection of Boccherini. The two symphonies are late works, the D major a single-movement piece of the Italian overture type, with a slow movement embedded, the C minor his most 'symphonic' work in the Viennese-classical sense of the term. Jeanne Lamon directs lively performances with this excellent Canadian group. The D major she takes rather quickly, producing that sense of tension that arises when music is pushed a little beyond its natural pace; but the effect is energetic and inspiriting (and it is marked con molto spirito). The Andantino is more relaxed, its colours happily realized. In the C minor work she presses the minuet too much, I think (true, it's marked Allegro), for it to make its points properly, but the fine first movement is direct and unaffected, and its close symphonic argument comes across well, while the finale is splendidly fiery.

Ravishing playing by a born Boccherinian…

Gustav Leonhardt's account of [the symphonies] is the one to have if you want them on period instruments. They are lively and alert, and distinguished by fine musical intelligence… It is difficult to imagine a better partnership to provide authentic versions of these three fine works.