Tage Alter Musik – Almanach 2017

dolf ii . in 1583, the Hapsburg Holy roman emperor rudolph ii (who appropriately, was crowned King of germany, one of his many titles, in regensburg) transferred his court to prague fromVienna, and soon turned the city into one of the principal cultural centers of the late renaissance and mannerist peri- ods, in the process perhaps neglecting his political responsibilities, leading to war with the ottomans and, eventually, the disastrous Thirty Year War. They centred their programme on the eight- voice Missa: Confitebor tibi Domine by phil- ippe de monte, rudolph’s court conductor, alongside motets and instrumental music by orologio (a processional Intrada ), Lasso’s motet Confitebor tibi Domine , Zanchi (a Canzona ), Luython (the organ Fuga Sua- vissima played by Catalina Vicens), a rossi Sonata , and regnart’s Litaniae Deipe- rae Mariae Virginis with its sensibly overlap- ping repetitive phrases and varied textures; all written for the court of rudolf ii. The eight singers, together with three trombones, two cornettos, theorbo, organ and occasional percussion, produced a very attractive consort sound, to the clear delight of another appreciative audience. Monday 5 June monday morning started with the Spanish group la Galanía and soprano Raquel an- dueza with their programme, Yo soy la lo- cura ( I am the madness, the only inspiration for pleasure and sweetness ). With academic assistance from Dr Álvaro Torrente (who gave a pre-concert talk), they explored as- pects of madness in Spanish dance and vocal music of the 17th century. The pieces inclu- ded the only Spanish example of a recitativo lament, Hidalgo’s Crédito es de mi decoro , in which a man escapes an overly enthusiastic lover by becoming a bird, whe- reupon she dies and evaporates as a cloud to be closer to him. The Zarabanda del Catá- logo was a reconstruction by Torrente of a dance that was apparently banned because of its particularly explicit text, although the ban rather misfired as, although the music has long since disappeared, the text survived. This was clearly a very well-rehearsed con- cert, with the result that practically all the pieces, including the ‘improvisations’, see- med over-prepared. given the nature of the music, i would have hoped for rather more spontaneous improvisation. The early afternoon concert (in St oswald) was given by la fonte Musica . it turned one of the most interesting of the weekend, not least because the involvement of a dancer. Under the title of Metamorfosi trecento their programme explored the in- fluence of greek mythology in the music of ars Nova period with composers such as guillaume de machaut, philipp de Vitry, Ja- copo da Bologna, Francesca Landini, and paolo da Firenze. rather than attempting to explain or describe the associated myths, well-known to educated people of the time, but not so much today, nuria sala Grau interpreted the myths in the form of exquisitely elegant South indian inspired narrative dance, starting in South indian dress, but later in white. The result was a de- lightful mixture of cultures, centuries and continents apart. Vocally, we heard the usual progression of the stories of Narcisso, iguana, Fenice, odysseus, phyton, Callisto, Jupiter, ariadne, Theseus, roland, Daphne, Diana, orpheus et al. instrumental interlu- des were taken from the Faenza Codex , the distinctive cadential pattern being instantly recognisable. The soprano and tenor singers were accompanied by two fidels, flute, lute, and the metallic twang of a clavisimbalum. The later afternoon concert was given in Ba- silica St. emmeram by the zürcher Barock- orchester making their regensburg debut. Their programme enclosed two Bach solo cantatas within instrumental pieces by Tele- mann and Heinichen. The austrian so- prano, Miriam feuersinger (pictured) was outstanding in Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut and Ich bin vergnügt mit meinem Glü- cke , her rock-solid, vibrato-free, and pure- toned voice, with perfect intonation, being just the thing to project Bach’s musical lines and to blend with the instruments. Her grasp of period style and ornaments was exem- plary. The Telemann ouverture (TWV 55:a4) and Concerto (TWV 52:e3) demon- strated Telemann’s love of orchestral colour, and featured fine solo playing from Sibylle Kunz and martina Joos, recorders, and Ker- stin Kramp and olga marulanda, oboe. Vio- linist renate Steinmann joined them in the Heinichen Concerto a 7. i was far less im- pressed with keyboard player Jermanine Sprosse, whose self-indulgent and continu- ally interfering continuo realisations were a serious misjudgment. He frequently added countermelodies that interfered with the vo- cal line, and added huge harpsichord flou- rishes to the Telemann Concerto that see- med designed to draw attention to himself, rather than the designated soloists. The final concert of the regensburg Tage Al- ter Musik festival (in the Trinity Church) was a reconstruction of a Lutheran mass as per- formed in 1617 (the 100th anniversary of the reformation) at the Dresden court of Saxon elector Johann georg, with music by Hein- rich Schütz and michael praetorius. The 10- strong choir la capella ducale and 24- strong orchestra Musica fiata , both based in germany, worked their way through a very complicated programme, with frequent changes of instrumentation and stage posi- tioning involved up to five separate choirs of singers and instruments. after an opening organ Praeambulum by the Hamburg orga- nist composer Scheidemann (intended for an enormous North german organ and sounding rather weedy on a curious looking chamber organ), the music alternated bet- ween Schütz and praetorius. although based on a mass, this was not a conventional mass setting, although the main components of the mass were represented by different set- tings from the two composers, including the Kyrie and Gloria from praetorius’s Missa gantz Teudsh , his version of the Lutheran Credo: Wir glauben all an einen Gott , and the Schütz Sanctus:Esaia, dem Pro- pheten . The programme finished with Schüt- z’s Danket demHerren with its distinctive re- peated phrase of denn seine Güte währet ewiglich sung to a fanfare-like mo- tif . all the pieces were segued together, and were often rather similar in style and texture, making for a rather unremitting programme without the non-musical elements of the ori- ginal occasion. Voices did not always carry over the sumptuous array of instruments and, perhaps because of the staging comple- xities, there were several lapses in coordina- tion, not helped by the impression that di- rector roland Wilson was conducting be- hind the beat on what he heard, rather than before the beat on what he wanted to hear. and so ended the 33rd annual regensburg Tage Alter Musik , a remarkable feast of music ranging from early medieval to Beethoven. it featured around 24 hours of music, in 16 concerts spread over just four days, starting at 11 in the morning and con- tinuing until after midnight. as well as the concerts, there was a major exhibition of musical instrument makers, CDs, and music scores in the historic Salzstadel overlooking regensburg’s famous Danube bridge. one possible issue for visitors from outside ger- many is that the comprehensive programme book is in german. Several of this year’s fes- tival concerts were recorded for broadcast on Br Klassik during July and august, so should be available to listen to via the inter- net. an annual quibble is that in many ve- nues it is almost impossible to see the per- formers, the low stages often only lifting them up to around the head height of the front row. adding to this problem is the fact that many of the church pews are on raised platforms, meaning that those sitting in ad- ditional chairs at floor level can be comple- tely blocked from view. perhaps this is just a reviewer’s quiblle, as trying to see who is do- ing what is pretty essential. another peren- nial issue is the lack of ventilation in some of the secular venues. Simply opening all the windows before the concert and during the interval would help. Next year’s festival is from 18-21 may 2018, over the Whitsun weekend. Tickets go on sale from 13 November. andrewbensonwilson.org 10