Bohemians and Moravians abroad

Abstract

The composers represented here are typical of Bohemian and Moravian composers of the 17th and 18th centuries. They were mostly, if not all, born in villages, attained a reputation at a court, then moved abroad, found international fame and ultimately died on foreign soil. In British music of the period one would struggle to find more than a handful of composers of any great stature that died abroad, whereas in Bohemia you would struggle to find many that were buried in their native land. Few composers typify the transformation from rural obscurity to Europe-wide fame as well as Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber. It is rather remarkable that within the space of a generation his so-called ‘Mystery Sonatas’ have gone from being relatively unknown pieces by an otherwise obscure Bohemian composer to becoming mainstays of the repertory and something of a rite of passage for today’s Baroque violinists. Among the latest to join the growing ranks is the American Leah Gale Nelson, whose recording of Biber: The sacred mysteries (Lyrichord lems8079, rec 2010, 126′) is helped by a clear and resonant recording. Her tone is generally bright and attractive and she especially excels at some of the faster bowed passages where her exemplary technical control seldom veers into over-excitement. The double-stops in The Annunciation are played with a delicate sweetness and accuracy that is most welcome—rather than in the severe and modern way of forcing multiple stops that still pervades so much period-instrument playing. The continuo is a little on the unimaginative side, though the recording is mercifully free from the extravagant and anachronistic continuo orchestrations that have dogged a fair few recordings of these pieces. There are a few places where Nelson plays into the string quite heavily, stretching the tone of the instrument to the limit—or perhaps just past it. The bow strokes at the opening of the The Crucifixion sonata, for example, can be somewhat brutal, and although this must be part of the rhetorical effect she is seeking, in places it has the result of straining the sound of the violin. Despite these small reservations, however, this is generally an elegant and beautiful recording.