Leonora Weil

A beguiling rarity. Johann Sebastian’s youngest and most cosmopolitan son composed this serenata in London in 1772. The plot revolves around the triangular relationship between Diana, her nymph Nice and Endymion, slyly manipulated by Cupid and culminating in the obligatory paean to love. In the booklet, Bruno Weil dubs Endimione ‘one of the first operettas’; but though there are touches of cruel humour, usually at Nice’s expense, the musical idiom and structure, based on a sequence of elaborate arias, are essentially those of opera seria. Bach’s suave, mellifluous style often sounds like Mozart minus the master’s dynamic impulse and control of long-range tensions.

The overtures to Offenbach's operettas are peculiar creations, for they were seldom written by the composer and in most cases were never intended for his theatrical productions. Offenbach found them tedious and superfluous, preferring instead to present his works without any introductory music beyond a few measures. Only two of the overtures in this collection were actually composed by Offenbach, those for La fille du tambour-major and Monsieur et Madame Denis. .

Les Cinquième et Sixième symphonies de Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) ont vu le jour pour ainsi dire en même temps. Dès 1803, au milieu des esquisses de la Troisième, l’Héroïque , on retrouve une ébauche du début de la Cinquième Symphonie et un motif intitulé « murmure de ruisseaux » qui sera utilisé dans le second mouvement de la Sixième. Mais ce n’est qu’en 1805 que la Cinquième fut vraiment entreprise et, l’année suivante, la Sixième Symphonie. Beethoven les acheva toutes deux en 1808, non sans avoir fait plusieurs pauses pendant lesquelles il composa, entre autres, la Quatrième Symphonie, le Quatrième Concerto pour piano, le Concerto pour violon, la Messe en do majeur et la Fantaisie pour piano, orchestre et chœurs.

For this release on Tafelmusik Media, Bruno Weil and the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir perform Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor, "Choral," in a streamlined presentation notable for its authentic instrumentation and historically informed performance practice. The hallmarks of Classical style are immediately apparent, from the brisk tempos and the reduced size of the orchestra, to the straight, vibrato-less string tone and the distinctive and occasionally raw timbres of early 19th century woodwinds and brass. (Note especially the contrabassoon, track four, at the 09:36 mark.) Yet all of this is secondary to the effectiveness of the music, which Weil and his musicians keep uppermost in their minds.