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Track(s) taken from CDA67646

Quintet for flute and strings in D major, G428

composer
Op 19 No 4

Auser Musici
Recording details: April 2007
Oratorio di S Domenico, Pisa, Italy
Produced by Sigrid Lee
Engineered by Roberto Meo
Release date: March 2008
Total duration: 9 minutes 48 seconds

Cover artwork: The Rehearsal (detail) by Etienne Jeaurat (1699-1789)
Private Collection. Copyright Gavin Graham Gallery, London / Bridgeman Images
 

Reviews

‘These are delightful works played with a persuasively affectionate period-instrument style, with a felicitous lead from the nimble and gently expressive flautist, Carlo Ipata. Hyperion do the players proud in their debut recording; we shall surely hear more of them’ (Gramophone)

‘These are enjoyable performances. No 4 is particularly attractive, with its beautifully paced Adagio assai, lyrical flute and virtuoso cello playing’ (Early Music Review)

‘Listening to these six quintets, one is immediately captivated by a charm and invention that, while of a different nature, easily equals that of Haydn or Mozart … the playing is exceptional … beautifully recorded in the Oratorio di S Domenico, Pisa, this is an auspicious debut for Auser Musici on Hyperion. Further recordings are planned—let's hope we don't have to wait too long for them’ (International Record Review)

‘I was pleasantly surprised with this disc. The music is typical Boccherini, charming and with a certain amount of energy … but the performances by Auser Musici flow beautifully. They have both inner energy and a smile’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘Finest of all is the opening Allegro of the G minor Quintet, a movement of tensely swirling, surging passions. The Italian ensemble Auser Musici … capture admirably the spirit of Boccherini's multi-faceted world’ (Goldberg)
The six Op 19 quintets cover a wide range of character and display all the resources, technical as well as expressive, common in the composer’s major works. In particular, Boccherini does not sacrifice his typical ‘symphonic’ concept of chamber music (octave doublings, full ‘orchestral’ chords and so on) while emphasizing the role of the flute. Nevertheless, the string-writing is fully integrated into the texture, rather than being of the more ‘insignificant’ type associated with concertos of the period. Two of the quintets (Nos 3 and 4) have virtuoso writing for the cello, Boccherini’s own instrument, that calls for an outstanding player.

In terms of the succession of movements, these works can be subdivided into three groups, with the sixth quintet being a special case. The first two quintets follow a ‘fast–fast’ pattern (with a minuet as the second movement), the third and fourth (the ‘flute and cello’ quintets) are ‘slow–fast’ (ending with a Rondeau grazioso and a Minuetto con moto respectively), and the fifth progresses from ‘fast’ to ‘faster’, being sealed by a breathtaking Presto assai. The second quintet is the only one in a minor key: it has a particularly dramatic first movement, in contrast with the sunny character of the first quintet.

from notes by Marco Mangani © 2008

Les quintettes op. 19 couvrent un large éventail de caractères et déploient toutes les ressources technico-expressives des grandes œuvres de Boccherini. Ce dernier, notamment, bien que ce dernier exalte le rôle de la flûte, il ne renonce pas pour autant à sa conception «symphonique» de la musique de chambre (redoublements à l’octave, accords complets «orchestraux», etc.). Néanmoins, l’écriture des cordes est totalement intégrée à la texture et n’est pas aussi «insignifiante» que dans certains concertos de l’époque. Deux des quintettes possèdent une écriture de violoncelle virtuose (c’était l’instrument de Boccherini), qui requiert un interprète hors pair.

Pour ce qui est de l’enchaînement des mouvements, ces œuvres se répartissent en trois groupes, sachant que le sixième quintette constitue un cas à part. Les deux premiers quintettes suivent un schéma «rapide–rapide» (avec un menuet en guise de deuxième mouvement); les troisième et quatrième (ceux avec «flûte et violoncelle») adoptent un schéma «lent–rapide» (ils s’achèvent respectivement sur un Rondeau grazioso et sur un Minuetto con moto); le cinquième, lui, passe de «rapide» à «très rapide» et est scellé par un époustouflant Presto assai. Quant au deuxième—le seul en mineur—, il a un premier mouvement particulièrement dramatique, en contraste avec le caractère radieux du premier quintette.

extrait des notes rédigées par Marco Mangani © 2008
Français: Hypérion

Die sechs Quintette op. 19 bieten ein breites Spektrum an Charakteren und bedienen sich aller Mittel, der kompositionstechnischen sowie der emotionalen, die man gewöhnlich auch in den großen Werken des Komponisten findet. Vor allem an seinem typischen „sinfonischen“ Kammermusikkonzept (Oktavverdopplungen, volle Orchesterakkorde und so weiter) machte Boccherini keine Abstriche. Gleichzeitig betonte er die Rolle der Flöte. Nichtsdestotrotz sind die Streicher voll in das Geschehen integriert und unterscheiden sich damit von denen unter den damaligen Konzerten, wo sie nur eine „unbedeutendere“ Rolle spielen. Zwei Quintette (Nr. 3 und Nr. 4) enthalten eine virtuose Violoncellostimme (das Cello war Boccherinis eigenes Instrument), die nur von einem sehr fähigen Interpreten bewältigt werden kann.

Hinsichtlich der Satzfolge kann man diese Werke in drei Gruppen unterteilen, wobei das sechste Quintett einen speziellen Fall darstellt. Die ersten zwei Quintette folgen dem Muster schnell-schnell (mit einem Menuett als zweiten Satz), das dritte und vierte Quintett (die „Flöten-und-Cello-Quintette“) sind „langsam-schnell“ (wobei das eine mit einem Rondo grazioso und das andere mit einem Minuetto con moto endet), und das fünfte entwickelt sich von „schnell“ zu „schneller“ und schließt mit einem atemberaubenden Presto assai. Das zweite Quintett ist das einzige in Moll. Es hat einen besonders dramatischen ersten Satz und steht damit im deutlichen Gegensatz zum sonnigen Charakter des ersten Quintetts.

aus dem Begleittext von Marco Mangani © 2008
Deutsch: Elke Hockings

I quintetti dell’op. 19 coprono un ampio spettro di caratteristiche e dispiegano tutte le risorse tecniche ed espressive proprie dei lavori più ampi del compositore. In particolare, Boccherini non rinuncia qui alla sua tipica concezione «sinfonica» della musica da camera (raddoppi d’ottava, accordi «a piena orchestra», etc.), pur esaltando nel contempo il ruolo del flauto. D’altra parte la scrittura degli archi è pienamente integrata nell’ordito, e non si limita al ruolo insignificante proprio di certi concerti solistici dell’epoca. Due dei quintetti (no 3 e no 4) affidano al violoncello, lo strumento di Boccherini, dei passi virtuosistici che richiedono un esecutore non comune.

Per quanto attiene alla successione dei movimenti, questi quintetti possono essere suddivisi in tre gruppi, senza contare il caso particolare del sesto brano. I primi due quintetti seguono lo schema «veloce–veloce» con un minuetto al secondo posto, il terzo e il quarto (i due quintetti «per flauto e violoncello») lo schema «lento–veloce» (terminando rispettivamente con un Rondeau grazioso e un Minuetto con moto), mentre il quinto procede da «veloce» a «più veloce», terminando con un Presto assai mozzafiato. Il secondo è l’unico quintetto in una tonalità minore: ha un primo movimento particolarmente drammatico, che contrasta con il carattere solare del primo quintetto.

Marco Mangani © 2008

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