Vanhal

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.

Johann Baptist Vanhal numbers among the most productive composers of the eighteenth century. Among other works, seventy-seven symphonies and sixty solo concertos by him are documented. He was for quite some time, especially before the works of Haydn and Mozart became more widely known, one of the most popular and even one of the most renowned instrumental composers in Germany.

The G minor Symphony, the second of Vanhal’s symphonies in that key, is an absolute delight, full of good ideas The C minor Symphony (1770) is also a work of originality Matthias Bamert and the London Mozart Players give an excellent account of themselves, and are recorded with clarity and warmth.

The inaccurate and ineptly translated Wunderkind by a generation, and Mahaut was born 36 years before him. It’s not surprising that they share so little stylistically with the younger composer. What they do present are various solutions to the question of how to write a pleasing symphony at different stages of the Viennese and Parisian Classical traditions. Each succeeds, in his own inimitable way.

Like so many Bohemian composers, the eastern Bohemian Johann Baptist 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 it's quality and opulence, but surprises the listener above all with three prolonged concert solo arias. The works are beautifully performed on this release by soloists Natalia Melnik and Marta Benackova, as well as the Prager Kammerchor and Prager Kammerorchester.

One of the Czech composers to progress from baroque style to that of preclassicism, Brixi is now credited with preparing Prague for the subsequent arrival of Mozart whose operas and symphonies were to be performed there with such success.

Johann Baptist Vaňhal was one of Haydn’s most important contemporaries. His symphonies in particular were widely admired throughout Europe, with music historian Dr Charles Burney reporting that Vaňhal’s symphonies were known in England before those of Haydn. The finely wrought works in this recording include the Symphony in F minor, considered one of his best in this genre, and the Symphony in C which was highly popular in its day. All of these works illustrate Vaňhal’s sophisticated mastery of musical structure, imaginative handling of the orchestra, and a profusion of memorable themes.

Three attractive and lively concertos by two exact 18th-century contemporaries (they were both born in 1739) the Viennese Dittersdorf and the Bohemian Vanhal who on at least one occasion played string quartets with Mozart and Haydn. (Haydn and Dittersdorf played violins; Mozart played viola; Vanhal the cello.) This seems to be the only recorded pairing of the two Dittersdorf concertos.