Leclair

In her debut recording for harmonia mundi, Lucile Boulanger explores the facets of Antoine Forqueray’s career as a virtuoso instrumentalist: adept in a wide range of Italian repertoire and skilled at transcribing works originally intended for the violin, he could try it on for size, as it were, before settling on a different medium.

Jean-Marie Leclair’s fourth and final book of sonatas for solo violin and continuo was published in Paris in 1743. It followed the composer’s return to the French capital from The Hague in the wake of the bankruptcy of his patron, the formerly wealthy merchant François Du Liz. Like the three earlier books, there are 12 sonatas in the publication, each of which has four movements.

These two discs contain Leclair's 12 sonatas for two unaccompanied violins en duo. He produced them in two sets of six, the earlier one, Op. 3, dating from 1730, the later one from 1747-9. Barely a handful have previously been recorded, so these new issues make an important addition to the baroque catalogue. Leclair more than any of his French contemporaries implemented the technical developments in violin playing which were taking place in Italy in the hands of the post-Corelli generation.

Leclair's single opera Scylla et Glaucus may lack the sheer audacity of his teacher Rameau, but it's enormously likeable…the performers respond…stylishly to Leclair's charming if slightly predictable sound-world…and the conducting preserves a neat balance between drama and ornament…It is clear that Gardiner favours intervention over chilly authenticity; whether or not you agree with all his decisions, the clarity of the image he presents is often provocative and always bracing.

Jean-Marie Leclair's violin sonatas were published in four volumes between 1723 and 1743. David Plantier here presents a selection of sonatas from the final three opus numbers of the collection. The consistent quality of Leclair’s forty-eight sonatas, collected in four volumes, is admirable, whilst the collection as a whole is a monumental contribution to the repertoire and to posterity; few of Leclair’s followers were able to combine innovation in violin technique and wealth of inspiration with so much talent. Leclair’s taste, refinement, skill and refusal of all artifice enabled him to make his mark not merely on his own time but on the history of music as a whole.

Famous Oboe Concertos" is a mistaken title to give a collection in which none of the works is really well-known and two of them not even specifically for oboe. Leelair's Concerto, for violin, flute or oboe, is a poised, elegant work, well worth including in the record; Vivaldi's D minor Concerto, for either violin or oboe, is a light, cheerful piece, very agreeable in manner without making any claims to greatness.

When Trios For 4 was first released the Palladian Ensemble was riding high following a sell-out ‘Rising Stars’ concert series in Europe with performances at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Konzerthaus Wien, Frankfurt Alte Oper, and London's South Bank Centre. Together Rachel Podger, Pamela Thorby, Susanne Heinrich and William Carter formed a quartet of the highest calibre; confirmed by the solo successes each went on to enjoy in their respective careers. In a cleverly chosen programme the Palladian Ensemble perform works by Handel, Telemann, Leclair and Quantz which perfectly demonstrate the diversity of styles typical of the eighteenth century.

Théotime Langlois de Swarte continues his exploration of the violin repertory of the early eighteenth century. On this program, he highlights the links between three leading composers for the instrument, whose popularity was burgeoning at the time: Vivaldi, father of the violin concerto, and two of his most brilliant younger contemporaries, Locatelli and Leclair. A recording which, beyond the interplay of echoes and personal connections, showcases the extraordinary versatility of an instrument as virtuosic as it is poetic.

Leclair, sans conteste le plus important compositeur français de sonates pour violon au XVIIIe siècle, nous livre dans ce recueil la quintessence de son art. Et du point de vue de la virtuosité, des difficultés techniques (pour le violon), il faudra attendre un Paganini, au XIXe, pour trouver de la surenchère. Fétis, l'auteur de la fameuse Biographie Universelle des Musiciens, nous dit que, dans le Dictionnaire Dramatique de l'abbé de La Porte (et Chamfort), on peut lire : « Il manqua toujours à Leclair cette portion de génie qui sert à cacher l'art lui-même, de manière qu'il devienne presque insensible dans la jouissance de l'effet. »