Claude Wassmer and Jean-Louis Fiat: The Art Of the Baroque Bassoon. Assisted by Marc Vallon, Laurent Vergeat, et al. (Arion 3675 1. Disques Arion, 36 Avenue Hoche, F-75008 Paris, France).
France is fortunate to have a thriving community of baroque bassoon players and makers. This record features several of the best players in France playing on copies by Olivier Cottet (Versailles) after originals by Prudent (Paris) dating from ca. 1760-1770. Fourth bassoonist Laurent Vergeat plays his own copy after an original by Eischentopf from ca. 1730, and third bassoonist Marc Vallon took the cover photo.
Bassoonists Claude Wassmer and Jean-Louis Fiat have dedicated their disc to duets by Philidor the Elder, Saggione, Boismortier, Francois Couperin, and Guillemant, and the famous quartet, Le Phenix, by Michel Corrette. Their playing is always stylish, and their matching bassoons sound homogeneous. The recording quality sounds a bit muffled sometimes, but in general this is a fine recording of some good baroque bassoon playing.
Danny Bond: Les Délices de la Solitude. Sonatas for Bassoon and Continuo by Corrette and Boismortier. Assisted by Richte van der Meer, violoncello, and Robert Kohnen, harpsichord. (Accent 8331. AGLA p.v.b.a., Eikstraat 31, B-1673 Beert, Belgium).
Danny Bond is an American who has been playing baroque bassoon in The Hague, and uses a copy by Peter de Koningh after an original by Prudent from ca. 1765.
The title of this record is taken from Michel Corrette's collection of sonatas, Op. 20, published in Paris in 1776. Included are sonatas number 1, 3, and 5, as well as four sonatas by Boismortier from two collections: Cinq Sonates pour le Basson avec la Basse, Op. 26 (1729), and Six Sonatas pour deux Basses, Op. 40 (1732).
This is state-of-the-art playing. Every ornament is executed tastefully, every technical passage handled easily, and the intonation is excellent throughout. The acoustics flatter the musicians. Bond plays with a sweet, singing tone, and the sensitive continuo makes this the most elegant of bassoon recordings.
Vivaldi: 6 Concerti a Flauto Traverso e B. c., Op. 10. Members of the Orchestra of the 18th Century, conducted by Frans Bruggen. RCA red seal RL30392 (disc) RK30392CX (cassette).
If there is one person responsible for the everexpanding interest in wind-playing on baroque instruments, it would have to be the Dutch baroque flutist and recorder player Frans Brüggen. His dazzling technique and clean musicianship are aided and abetted on this classy recording by the baroque oboist Bruce Haynes and baroque bassoonist Danny Bond, Americans both. Other notable musicians featured are Anner Bylsma, violoncello, and Bob van Asperen, harpsichord. This record features six Concerti à 5 lovingly played in a performance of the deepest interest. The audio quality is excellent, and it is great to hear these pieces the way they were meant to sound, with the centuries of varnish and "tradition" stripped away.
Valeri Popov: works by Boismortier, Malipiero, and Gubaidulina, Soloists' Ensemble of the State Symphony Orchestra of the U.S.S.R., conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky and Pyotr Mekhaninov. (Melodiya 12749-50).
Valeri Popov (b. 1937) has had a distinguished career as the Soviet Union's leading bassoonist. He has a cult following on this side of the iron curtain, and his hard-to-find records on the Melodiya label, especially his version of the Jolivet concerto, are collectors items. After graduating from the Moscow Conservatory in 1965 where he was in the class of Prof. Terekin, he became solo bassoonist with the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the U.S.S.R. and professor at the Moscow Conservatory. He won first prizes in the Soviet National competition in 1963, and in Budapest in 1965.
This recent release begins with the standard Boismortier Concerto in D Major in a down-to-earth rendition which breaks no new ground but is nonetheless charming. On first hearing, Popov's tight vibrato and nasal, dark tone may surprise some listeners. But his musicianship is always sure-footed and his technique impeccable. Let us rejoice and luxuriate in the differences of our national approaches to our instrument.
Gian Francesco Malipiero's Serenade for Bassoon and Strings dates from 1961 and this may be the first recording of this solid, little-known work. Malipiero wrote thirty operas, eleven symphonies and ten concerti, and is equally well-known as a musicologist (he edited Ricordi's Vivaldi collection). This short, one movement work for solo bassoon and chamber orchestra is not extremely virtuosic, but rather a melancholy ensemble piece. The bassoon carries on dialogues with each of the ten instruments in a hauntingly lovely fashion, and ends as simply as it begins.
Sofia Gubaidulina (b. 193 1) is one of
the Soviet Union's leading composers. She writes in an unabashedly
contemporary style which is a refreshing change from the heroic
tractor operas we are used to hearing from the Soviets. Her Concerto
for Bassoon and Low Strings (1975) was written for Popov after
extensive consultation with him. Due to the unusual orchestration
(four violoncelli and three contrabasses), the bassoon is usually
the highest voice in this five- movement work. The concerto makes
use of numerous contemporary techniques, including glissandi,
multiphonics and double-trills. The piece is a little long, but
it is always a pleasure to hear Popov's commanding playing.