Vanhal

Composer – Born in the Bohemian village of Nechanicz, Vanhal (1739-1813) became a leading composer in Vienna and one of the most popular throughout Europe during his lifetime. As with most Classical era composers, his stock fell dramatically after his death. However, the Naxos series of Vanhal symphonies reveals an expert composer of elegance and hard-driving rhythms with a wealth of melodic invention.

Yes, this disc includes a rarity: a concerto for two bassoons! The bassoonists, Annika Wallin and Arne Nilsson, do a great job. So does the orchestra, the Umea Sinfonietta, from northern Sweden. Jan Vanhal's beautiful two-bassoon concerto is the key work on this disc. And for those who don't know who Vanhal was, well, he wrote plenty of music. In 1777, Mozart played the solo part in a concert performance of a Vanhal violin concerto. In 1784, Haydn, von Dittersdorf, Mozart, and Vanhal played some string quartets together at the home of composer Stephen Sorace (Haydn on first violin, Dittersdorf on second violin, and Vanhal on cello).

Like so many Bohemian composers, the eastern Bohemian Vanhal had moved to Vienna early in his career and can thus be viewed as a member of the select core of composers consisting of Haydn, Salieri, Mozart and Beethoven, to whom we owe Viennese classicism. The Missa Solemnis is noteworthy not just for its quality and opulence, but surprises the listener above all with three prolonged concert solo arias. By comparison, Vanhal’s Stabat Mater seems formally more conservative in its usual alternation between choir parts and solo numbers. It is above all the rich melodic imagination that is captivating.

The Vanhal symphonies are technically exceptional and capable of going toe-to-toe with the middle-period symphonies of Haydn and even several of Mozart's. Vanhal's thematic material is often memorable, and his development sections well worked through…

Johann Baptist Vanhal's clarinet sonatas are mostly notable for their historical value. Written between 1801 and 1810, they legitimized the clarinet as an equal partner in the sonata form. They did for that instrument what Beethoven did for the cello around the same time. Until the turn of the century, the clarinet had mainly appeared in ensembles with multiple other instruments, like the great quintets of Mozart and Weber.

The symphonies of Johann Baptist Vaňhal are among the most important works of the classical period. Bold and imaginative, powerful and lyrical, Vaňhal’s symphonies are only now beginning to win wider recognition as the masterpieces they are. This recording features his early and highly prophetic Symphony in E minor as well as one of his later works, the brilliantly-scored Symphony in C (Bryan C17) which Haydn is known to have admired.

Bedenkt man, wie viele bedeutende Musiker allein zur Zeit der Wiener Klassik aus Böhmen stammten, so kann diese Landschaft mit vollem Recht Anspruch darauf erheben, eine "Wiege der Musik" genannt zu werden. Die CD vereint Flötenkonzerte dreier wichtiger böhmischer Komponisten, die von der Nachwelt nur allzu gerne zu "Kleinmeistern" im Schatten der drei großen Wiener Klassiker degradiert wurden. Zu Unrecht, wie die eingespielten Kompositionen beweisen.

The second volume brings us more Vaňhal, his Symphony in G minor. This is a defter, more energetic and more engaging work than the one in the first volume. Solo winds have their say in the slow movement and the compositional level here is high. František Xaver Dušek was, like Vaňhal, another Bohemian who moved in Mozartian circles. Mozart played one of Vaňhal’s violin concertos and Dušek famously entertained Mozart when the younger man visited Prague for performances of Don Giovanni". Active both in Prague and Vienna Dušek turns in a Symphony of gallant confidence. The trio has a certain studied charm but a real sense of orchestral control and surety.

The range of the Bohemian – and to a lesser extent Moravian – musical diaspora can be very adequately gauged from the composers in this survey. Some underwent name-changing, Germanicising being the most opportune thing to do if seeking preferment in a ducal court, not least as regards pronunciation. In the first volume therefore we find Jiří Antonín Benda becoming Georg Anton and Jan Křitetel Vaňhal turning into Johann Baptist Vanhal, even Wanhal. And so on.

The classical symphony is so dominated by the twin figures of Haydn & Mozart that it is all too easy to overlook the considerable contributions which were made by many lesser figures. The Naxos label is doing a great service by bringing to light many of these works in its '18th Century Symphony' series. It now launches a survey of the symphonies of the Bohemian composer Johann Baptist Vanhal with four highly spirited, engaging pieces dating from 1760-1780 that are the equal of Haydn's contemporary efforts. These are witty, original pieces and it's easy to see why Imperial Vienna took them immediately to its heart. Uwe Grodd and the very fine Hungarian players of the Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia make a strong case for them.