Author Archives: Stephen Estep

Since 2009, the Palazetto Bru Zane organization has punched above its weight in dusting off neglected romantic French music, presenting concerts and making recordings for its own label and others. Their own productions are always high quality with classy artwork and hefty booklets. This release collects 25 short songs by Jules Massenet, one of several composers who wrote similar settings in the vein of Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été. The string orchestra is complemented by harp or piano, maybe a wind instrument or three, and sometimes percussion. With a limited palette, Massenet still wrote cleverly, and the smaller forces let the singers do their thing without pushing. It’s an aural treat to hear this talented, varied cast of young vocalists just sing, without the distractions of acting, without fussing over virtuosity. The mood of the whole album is utterly relaxing. The lyrics are fragrant with love, nature, religious devotion, and sentiment. I particularly like the melancholy opening of “Autumn Thoughts,” the pizzicato accompaniment of “To Columbine,” the cheerful faux-Baroque counterpoint in “Marquise,” and the effervescent bounce of “Musette’s Song.” A few well-chosen instrumental numbers provide a diversion now and then. Nice clear sound, too. French and English texts.

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Wenzeslaus (or Wenceslas, or Wenzel) Matiegka (1773–1830) was born in Bohemia and studied music and law, working in both fields even after his move to Vienna in 1800, at least for a few years. Thanks to the work of Mauro Giuliani and others, the guitar was popular in his new Austrian home, and Matiegka learned the instrument and began teaching it. He wrote his first guitar pieces for students, but he soon started publishing solos and chamber music. These six sonatas are from the early to mid-1810s and are charming and interesting. They are all light classical in style and pretty good-humored, but Matiegka makes sure to throw some curveballs now and then. The third movement of Sonata No. 2, variations on an old French tune, conjures up Schubertian melancholy and ends with a disturbingly quiet minor chord. This is David Starobin’s final album (he retired from performing in 2018), and the Sixth Sonata lets him go out on a high note with its playful phrasing, flavorful counterpoint, unexpected accents, and outbursts of enthusiastic strumming. Starobin’s clarity and lyricism will be missed, but we can be thankful for souvenirs like this.

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The concept here is pieces—most by female composers—that Madame Bovary may have heard in her (fictional) life or that reflect her character and the novel’s plot. In fact, only the three Chopin nocturnes are not by or about women. Four selections from The Year by Fanny Hensel-Mendelssohn demonstrate that she was quite an inspired composer; “May” is particularly fetching. Pauline Viardot was a French singer and pianist of Spanish heritage, and her gorgeous “Serenade” balances Spanish colors against (pardon my stereotyping) Gallic restraint. The final flourish sounds impressively harp-like. Clara Schumann’s variations on one of her husband’s themes sounds less like a composer trotting out trick after trick, and more like an impressive collection of character pieces. It’s practically inevitable that a recital of high romanticism should have a frou-frou virtuosic number: here, it’s Liszt’s overheated Reminiscences of Lucia di Lammermoor. Erno Dohnanyi’s florid transcription of the waltz from Delibes’ Coppelia would normally provoke more eye-rolls from me, but Kadouch plays so gloriously and mellifluously that I want to learn the piece, too! His musicianship makes this recital. The sonics are decent but the piano is a little too distant, and the low end could be richer.

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