Overige medewerkers:
Gabriela Eibenová - soprano, Hana Blažíková - soprano, Marta Fadljevičová - soprano, Lester Lardenoye - alto, Jaroslav Březina - tenor, Tomáš Král - bass
"This is a wonderful recording of some of the Red Priest’s most popular early church pieces"
Antonio Vivaldi had a fairly extensive relationship with the Czech Lands (Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia), which is why the title of this CD can be understood in many different ways. It is almost certain that he did visit Bohemia; admittedly, there is no solid proof of this, but musicologists agree that Prague was one of the stops on Antonio´s and his father´s tour of „Germania“ in late 1729 and early 1730. The composer´s operas, some of which were presented in Prague just then, represent one of the salient parts of his output. However, Vivaldi´s fine standing of more than two decades (then) was primarily based on the popularity and impact of his solo concertos instead, which had swept like a great tide of fashion all over Europe, including the Czech Lands. After all, the many aristocrats with whom Vivaldi kept in touch included a number of noblemen resident in Bohemia. It was to one of them – count Václav Morzin – that the composer dedicated, in the year 1725, his eighth printed collection including (among other works) his set of violin concertos Le quattro stagioni, which became as famous then as they remain to this day. For another Czech nobleman Vivaldi composed concertos for lute and trios, and to yet another he sold, on the threshold of his demise, a large set of his instrumental compositions. The key to the programme of our recording should be looked for elsewhere, however, namely in the third-largest part of Vivaldi´s output – his church music. The compositions on this CD have one thing in common; to this day their sources have remained preserved in Czech collections of sheet music.
At the height of the baroque period, the Czech Lands were a great power in the field of church music. True, there was no ruler´s court in Prague to have a brilliant imperial court orchestra; instead, however, there was a great concentration of church choirs, which were unparalleled anywhere else in Central Europe. Rich monastic churches in particular boasted not only the splendour of their edifices rebuilt in baroque style with opulent decorations, but also fine music that resounded from their organ lofts. While Jesuit churches were among the prominent ones, very little has been preserved of music of Jesuit provenance since the order was abolished later on by Emperor Joseph II. A copy of the parts of Vivaldi´s music on the psalm Dixit Dominus RV 595 has survived; it was originally the property of the Jesuit seminar of St. Francis Xaverius in the New Town of Prague. The composition, uniquely preserved by way of this source of music, belongs (like all other pieces of music on this CD) among Vivaldi´s early works of church music dating back to about 1715-1717. As was customary in those days, the composer set the psalm text to music in a number of independent parts, making use of a variety of compositional techniques and forms – from solo arias through polyphonic parts and choral fugues up to concertos for choir. In doing so, he followed the sense of the psalm, both in the his use of rhetoric figures of music and also in instrumentation (e.g. the clarino trumpet announcing doomsday in Judicabit in nationibus). Other such effects of instrumentation include the use of two concerto cellos with two sopranos in Tecum principium. In three of its parts Vivaldi made use of other authors´ compositions: the splendidly polyphonic Gloria Patri comes from a madrigal by Antonio Lotti, and the parts Tu es sacerdos and the final double fugue in Et in saecula saeculorum are based on works by unknown composers. Each time, however, Vivaldi reworked his borrowings thoroughly, and it is interesting to hear them finely blend with the whole of the composition, adding to its multi-form nature.
Vivaldi´s church music was greatly cherished and acclaimed all over Bohemia, as witnessed by the music inventory of 1737-38 in the Prague Church of the Knights of St. John with the Red Cross compiled in 1737-38. There we can find eight of Vivaldi´s works, of which only one has been well preserved. The psalm Laudate pueri RV 600 for solo soprano and orchestra and three other Vivaldi compositions listed in the inventory came into the Knights´ possession together with a collection of the then deceased Prague organist Jan Kryštof Karel Gayer in 1734. Gayer had acquired quite a selection of sheet music during his stay in Italy, possibly including the above-mentioned works by Vivaldi. However, as already suggested, there were a number of ways by which compositions by Vivaldi and other Italian composers were reaching the Czech Lands.
The case of Vivaldi´s Magnificat RV 610b gives a good idea of how early and immediate the arrival and influence of Italian repertoire must have been in Bohemia. Today, we know of three sources of this composition preserved in the Czech Lands, and of the previous existence of others, now lost. The music was in the possession of the Cistercians in the monastery of Osek, in the hands of the church choirs of the Knights of St. John´s Cross in Prague, in the Jesuit church of St. Nicholas in the Lesser Town of Prague, in St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, it was well known in Wroclaw, and it was also in the hands of the Czech baroque composer Jan Dismas Zelenka in Dresden. Apart from a few subsequent adjustments such as the addition of two trumpets, the three preserved Czech sources represent the earliest version of the work. All other known sources, including the composer´s autographed score (preserved in Italy) represent later versions of the work – as it was revised twice by Vivaldi. For this CD, the composition was recorded in its first version, as preserved solely in the Czech sources. What makes it different from the later revisions is its concise and lapidary nature in particular, which makes each of the constituent parts of the work so impressive.
Vivaldi´s Salve Regina RV 617 is also known only thanks to a unique Czech source, preserved this time in Brno (Moravia), in a collection of sheet music in the monastery of the Brethren of Mercy (Society of the Misericordia). This is the oldest of Vivaldi´s four musical versions of this antiphon in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Intended for soprano and strings, it is characteristic mainly in its use of solo violin in a number of roles. Thus, the very introductory movement accompanied by obbligato violin and basso continuo comes as quite a surprise in this sense – as the whole ensemble is first heard as late as the second part. In the third movement, the solo violin plays to the accompaniment of strings in ritornelli only to reappear in the final part conceived in the form alla siciliana.
In their time, Vivaldi´s church compositions were well known in the Czech Lands and were played in relatively large numbers, often soon after they were written. However, only a small proportion of what used to be well known works in the Czech Republic can still be found in the local sheet music collections. It is possible, though, that some of the lost sources will still emerge and give us a chance to study, for example, Czech copies of Vivaldi´s Gloria or Beatus vir, which are also on record in the inventory of the Knights of St. John´s Cross. Even so, time and destiny seem to have been relatively kind to us in this case – considering that two otherwise unknown works by the famous Venetian have been able to survive against all odds. The sources preserved in the Czech Republic also provide us with a fairly balanced insight into a number of aspects of the composer´s early church music.
Václav Kapsa
Ever since its foundation in the year 2000, Ensemble Inégal has been developing as a unique performing body with a wide range of interpretation, from Renaissance music to Romanticism. Apart from referring to the group´s variability of instrumentation, the word Inégal – meaning unequal – also reflects its versatility of style and repertoire, its resourcefulness, and its unconventional approach to ways of interpretation. It prides itself in its refined choice of members, from the best performers in the Czech Republic and abroad. Today, Ensemble Inégal ranks among the very best musical ensembles; it has captured the attention of music lovers worldwide and has won enthusiastic acclaim from critics all over Europe and in the United States. Ensemble Inégal appears frequently at renowned music festivals in the Czech Republic (Prague Spring, FOK Prague, Concertus Moraviae, among others) and abroad (e.g. Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Spain, and Croatia) while also pursuing its successful recording activities. The group concentrates on discovering and resurrecting outstanding works. In what is a major contribution to the world of music, Ensemble Inégal is especially renowned for its first-class world recording premieres of works by the Czech baroque composer Jan Dismas Zelenka.
The ensemble Prague Baroque Soloists was founded in Prague in 2008 as an association of outstanding Czech and foreign interpreters and renowned soloists in the field of period music. It aims at unconventional and in every way true-to-style peak-level performances of European baroque music. At their concerts the Prague Baroque Soloists perform as a chamber-size, vocal-instrumental ensemble. In their concert and recording activities, they often work in conjunction with Ensemble Inégal. Together, they have already made two world-premiere recordings of music by Antonio Vivaldi and Jan Josef Ignác Brentner. The Prague Baroque Soloists are led by their art director, conductor and organist Adam Viktora.
Gabriela Eibenová, a graduate of the Prague Conservatory, studied as a private student in Prague under the guidance of Libuše Tomišková and Magdalena Hajóssyová, and with Julia Kennard at the Royal Academy of Music in London. It was the British tenor and teacher James Griffett who draw her attention to period music. Focusing mainly on concert work, she is often invited to appear as a soloist with international period music ensembles together with many acclaimed celebrities such as E.L. Banzo, F. Deuter, P. Kooij, M. Kožená, I. Partridge, S. Standage, E. Tubb, and J. Tubery. In addition to her work in the field of period music, Gabriela Eibenová is also fond of concert songs and contemporary music, and has had concert appearances with symphony orchestras such as the Czech Philharmonic, Südwestfunk Freiburg, Prague Chamber Orchestra, as well as pursuing operatic activities with the Prague State Opera and others. She has made countless recordings for TV and radio, has well over twenty compact discs to her credit, and has appeared at music festivals in almost all European countries, Israel and Japan.
Adam Viktora (b. 1973) graduated from Plzeň Conservatory (in West Bohemia) and from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. He then furthered his education with private classes under the guidance of C. Bossert, and master classes and interpretation courses with Tagliavini, Erickssohn, Koimann, and Haselböck among others. As a conductor and organist, he has appeared at music festivals all over Europe. He has lectured and given concerts at organ congresses in Sweden and Croatia. He has made many recordings for radio and television. Much of his interest is centred on period organs, and on salvaging and promoting them. He is also active as an advisor to expert commissions striving to restore priceless period organs, and as an author of articles in domestic and foreign periodicals. Mr. Viktora is the director of the Czech Organ Festival. Since 1998, he has tought organ at Plzeň Conservatory and, since 2007, he has been a lecturer in music history at Prague Conservatory. He is art director of Ensemble Inégal and also of the Prague Baroque Soloists, with whom he has performed countless concerts and made several word-premiere recordings of little-known European baroque works.
Recensie:
Vivaldi in Bohemia In CD review on August 1, 2009 at 17:15 Gabriela Eibenová, Prague Baroque Soloists, Ensemble Inégal, Adam Viktora
Nibiru 0150-2211 (66:33)
This is a wonderful recording of some of the Red Priest’s most popular early church pieces. It is a matter of record that his music was well known throughout that region, his op. 8 set (including the ubiquitous Four Seasons) were dedicated to Count Morzin in Prague, and he almost certainly visited that city with his father in the late 1720s.
For this recital, they have selected Dixit Dominus (RV595), Laudate Pueri Dominum (RV600), Magnificat (RV610b – Czech version) and Salve Regina (RV617).
Adam Viktora and his fine ensembles impressed recently in their recording of Zelenka’s Missa Purificationis Beatae Virginis Mariae, and this recording will surely enhance the reputation of all concerned. Star status (at least a front cover mention!) is given to soprano Gabriela Eibenová. While she does indeed possess an agile yet warm voice, she certainly does not outshine either of the other sopranos soloists (Hana Blažíková and Marta Fadljevičová), and the men are equally impressive (Lester Lardenoye, Jaroslav Březina and Tomas Král). The booklet notes give lots of information about the sources that have been used for the recording (as well as listing some of those known to have been lost over the years), but is slightly lacking in not mentioning the oboists or (if my ears don’t deceive me) the second trumpeter. With playing of this standard, everyone deserves credit!
I don’t know what Viktora and Co. have up their sleeves for their next CD, but I will be looking out for it, as it is guaranteed to be both a revelation and a pleasure! Buy this recording just for the ravishing sounds of Tecum principium from the Dixit Dominus (two sopranos duetting above two cellos).
Brian Clark
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