Saturday, April 19, 2008

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Simon Le Duc, Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges & Pierre-Montan Berton L'Ainé On CD


[Mozart in Paris;Yura Lee, violin; Bayerische Kammerphilharmonie; Reinhard Goebel, conductor; Oehms Classics OC 705 (2007)

In the Fall of 2007, the website of Oehms Classics posted this description of a new CD,
Mozart in Paris, combining works of Mozart and four other composers which were influential during Mozart's time in Paris in 1778-1779:
At this year’s Mozart Festival in Augsburg, Reinhard Goebel and the Bayerische Kammerphilharmonie presented works from the 'Concert Spirituels' milieu in Paris. The Concerts Spirituels played an important role in 18th century Parisian musical life and were the venue for many premieres of symphonic works. Even Mozart wrote a work for this series: the 'Paris Symphony' K. 297. Composer, violinist and conductor Chevalier de Saint-George was also active in Paris at the same time. Later generations would characterize him as the 'Black Mozart' and stylize him in legendary terms. And indeed, Saint-George, born on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, was multi-talented, becoming one of the most scintillating figures of the age: he enjoyed the highest respect as a violin virtuoso, fencing master, conductor, composer and – ladies’ man. Soloist in his Violin Concerto in G Major op. 2/1 is Yura Lee, winner of the 2006 Leopold Mozart Violin Competition.”

The works on the CD are:
Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782): Sinfonia in D Major, Op. 18, No.6 (1779)
Simon Le Duc (1742-1777): Symphony in E-flat Major (1777)
Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799): Concerto in G Major, Op. 2, No. 1 (1772)
Pierre-Montan Berton L'Ainé (1727-1780): Nouvelle Chaconne in E Minor (1762)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791): “Parisian” Symphony in D Major, KV 297 (1778)

Richard Eckstein explains in the liner notes:
“The program on this CD was never played
per se at a 'Concert spirituel'. The violin concerto by Chevalier de Saint-George, possibly the most significant violinist during the development of the classical violin technique, was no longer performed at the time of Mozart's Paris stay in 1778/1779. In addition, an absolutely authentic presentation of the works of one 'Concert spirituel' would last at least three hours. The concerts were extremely long and contained an exotic mixture of works: the repertoire ranged from French and Italian arias to sonatas and then on to symphonies and solo concertos. In contrast, this recording represents the compositional achievements that the 22-year-old Mozart found in Paris.”







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