Luc Loubry, bassoon; Rachel Talitman, harp: Pavane ADW 7126 (no address).
Luc Loubry is a young Belgian bassoonist who studied at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp and at the Paris Conservatory. He has won competitions in Brussels, Prague, Geneva, and Colmar, and is currently solo bassoonist with the Belgian National Orchestra. He is teamed here with Rachel Talitman, an accomplished Israeli harpist, who is professor of harp at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp.
This disc consists of music for bassoon with accompaniments mainly transcribed from the usual keyboard instruments. The recital opens with the Telemann Sonata in E Minor in a version that is far removed from the sound of the original viola da gamba and harpsichord Telemann might have heard. Loubry's elegant Iyricism is combined with a bright tone and saccharine, almost-saxophone vibrato, but his ornamentation is always imaginative and tasteful. The harp transcription of the figured bass is not particularly successful, however. In the last movement for example, Loubry has to hold a note patiently on several occasions while waiting for Talitman to finish her intricate roulades. Some pieces survive the transition from keyboard to harp better than others.
The record continues with the Mozart Sonata in Bb, K. 292, for bassoon and violoncello, a transcription of the Beethoven Rondo for piano and violin, Wo0. 41, and the only original work for bassoon and harp on the program, the Francois-Adrien Boieldieu Solo.
The soirée concludes with the Saint-Saëns Sonata, Op. 168. The use of harp is musically convincing, giving the performance a light quality of salon music appropriate for Proust and Madeleines. Loubry executes all with a clear tone and unselfconscious technique, always emphasizing the singing quality inherent in the French bassoon. He is daring dynamically, except in the low register where, on the French bassoon anyway, discretion must be the better part of valor.
The audio quality is warm, albeit miked too closely. The audible breaths and sometimes percussive harp mar an otherwise superior disc.
Juliani Tapaninen, bassoon; T.P. Saraste and J. Ives, violin; M. Hirvikangas, viola; R. Pontanen, violoncello; Helsinki Chamber Orchestra; J.P. Saraste, conductor; Finlandia FA340. (no address)
This record by Finnish bassoonist Juliani Tapaninen consists mainly of Kalevi Aho's 1977 Quintet for Bassoon and String Quartet. This 37-minute work was well-received when it was played by the same group at the 1980 IDRS Conference in Edinburgh. The bassoon writing is by turns integrated into the fabric of the piece and then bursting out in virtuosic runs over the whole range of the bassoon. Tapaninen handles the technical and musical challenges with ease and control. The composition is a good example of the best of contemporary Nordic music, challenging, Iyrical, and never academic.The piece is coupled with a robust performance of the Mozart Concerto with the Helsinki Chamber Orchestra. The orchestra with its sure-footed horns, provides a gutsy back-up helping Tapaninen to turn in the best Mozart concerto recording in recent memory, occasionally spotty intonation notwithstanding. It is too bad that bassoonists haven't kept pace with the musicologists in terms of Mozart style, but this is a satisfying record nonetheless.
Telemann, Suite in G Minor for oboe and bassoon, Sonata in A Minor for violoncello, Sonata in F Minor for bassoon, Sonata in A Minor for oboe; Reynald Parrot, oboe; Maurice Allard, bassoon; Etienne Péclard, violoncello; Richard Siegel, harpsichord; Arc-en-Ciel SM 30 12.45 (Studio SM, 3 rue Nicolas Chuquet, 75017 Paris).
The bassoon world has been awaiting for a long time this, the latest recording from Maurice Allard. It was worth the wait. This elegant and regal collection of Telemann sonatas was the brainchild of M. Allard. His careful, loving attention to detail is everywhere to be seen, from the well-organized cover layout (including the names of the Buffet-Crampon and Marigaux technicians who put the finishing touches on the instruments!) to the well-crafted musical phrasing and discreet ornamentation.
M. Allard needs no introduction: first prize from the Paris Conservatory at the age 17 in 1941 and winner of the Geneva competition in 1949, he joined the Paris Opera as premier basson solo in 1949 and has dominated the French bassoon world ever since. Reynald Parrot is a young oboist with an interesting solo career that has taken him to Africa and Asia, where he gave master classes in China. Etienne Péclard is the young solo violoncellist of the Orchestre de Paris, and Richard Siegel is an equally-young American harpsichordist teaching at the Paris Conservatory and at the Sorbonne, and playing with the Jean-Francois Paillard Chamber Orchestra. M. Allard has brought them together in an association called "Grands Solistes et Jeunes Talents," and a happy combination it is.
All the musicians play with taste and sensitivity, and a maturity which reflects a deep musicianship. M. Allard is especially impressive in the G Minor Suite, in which his dazzling, effortless technique shines as usual. The record left me feeling a little sad, however--maybe it was a physiological reaction to the fact that every piece on this record is in a minor key. Let us hope for many more recordings like this.
New Music. David DeBolt, bassoon; John Russo, clarinet; Lydia Walton-Ignacio, piano; et al.; CRS 8220 (P.O. Box 312, Broomall, PA 19008).
David DeBolt is professor of bassoon at Kent State University, and has held solo bassoon positions with the Kansas City Philharmonic, Birmingham Symphony, and Santa Fe Opera.
This moderately interesting recording is notable for its inclusion of Bernard Garfield's Quartet for Bassoon and Strings. Mr. Garfield wrote the work in 1950 while studying composition at Columbia with Otto Leuning and Hugo Kauder. Cast in three movements, it is a tonal piece in the mid-twentieth century American East Coast tradition of Fine, Piston, and Persichetti. One can hear plenty of Leuning there too, tuneful and fuguing.
DeBolt performs his Adagio and Fugue for flute, viola, bassoon, and piano, a well-crafted if rather earnest work in conservative style. John Russo's Trio for clarinet, bassoon and piano follows, a work that is a little too reminiscent of Villa-Lobos' Fantaisie Concertante for the same combination. Russo's Two Pieces for solo bassoon is next, a piece of limited interest.
Dialogue for clarinet and piano of Sy Brandon is the next offering. This work exploits Mr. Russo's considerable talents as soloist in an appealing composition, again in a rather conservative style. Alla Gitana by Dukas ends the concert.
Mr. DeBolt performs throughout with a middle-of-the-road approach to the bassoon and a warm, American tone.