From Mannheim to Berlin - Sonatas for violoncello piccolo

Barokowa Muzyka Klasyczna / Klasycyzm
premiera polska: 2023-10-18
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Wyjątkowa płyta poświęcona wiolonczelowej muzyce stylu Galant, skomponowanej w połowie XVIII wieku w Mannheim i Berlinie. Kompozycje Johanna Christopha Friedricha Bacha, Franz Bendy, Georga Czartha, Antona Filsa, Christopha Schaffratha i Josepha Benedikta Zyka w zjawiskowej interpretacji Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde, kanadyjskiej wiolonczelistki grającej na Violoncello Piccolo z pianistą Artemem Belogurovem i wiolonczelistą Victorem Garcia Garcia.
Pretekstem do sięgnięcia po niemiecką literaturę wiolonczelową epoki Galant był instrument, który Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde kupiła w 2018 roku. Jest to barokowa wiolonczela z sygnaturą "M Alban, fecit 17 a Graz".
Jak sama pisze w liner notes "Instrument ten ma mniejsze rozmiary od dzisiejszej standardowej wiolonczeli, a dźwięk jedwabisty, plastyczny i bogaty. Słyszałam o istnieniu czterostrunowych wiolonczeli piccolo (nastrojonych G-d-a-e') w XVII i XVIII wieku, dlatego zdecydowałam się wypróbować ten strój na mojej małej wiolonczeli z XVIII wieku. Rezultat był imponujący - brzmienie instrumentu stało się jasne, krystaliczne i wielobarwne, a na górnej strunie uzyskałam wyższy poziom śpiewności. Rezultat był tak zdumiewający, że nie mogłam oprzeć się przygotowaniu programu na ten właśnie instrument"
Dobrze, że są tacy wydawcy jak Challenge Classics, dzięki nim możemy cieszyć się nagraniami, które w znaczący sposób poszerzają naszą wiedzę na temat wykonawstwa muzyki, pomyślanej, jako ciągłe dialogowanie między partyturą a instrumentem.
autor: Witek Marynowski
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Gramophone Magazine 10/2023 - Editor's Choice
Zapewniam, że warto posłuchać samemu, a satysfakcja z lektury płyty daleko przewyższy satysfakcję płynącą z zaspokojenia ciekawości

Music Web International 07/11/2023
Każdy wykonany przez nią utwór jest doskonałej jakości i ma swój własny charakter. Dobrym pomysłem było urozmaicenie programu, pod kątem powiązań pomiędzy różnymi instrumentami. Dwa utwory przeznaczone są na piano obbligato i wiolonczelę, cztery na wiolonczelę i basso continuo. Artem Bielogurow znakomicie gra na fortepiano, kopii instrumentu Johanna Andreasa Steina z 1783 r. Praktyka akompaniamentu do wiolonczeli nie jest dziś często stosowana, jest bardzo inspirująca i dająca muzyczną satysfakcję, jeśli jest realizowana w tak kreatywny sposób, jak tutaj autorstwa Victora Garcíi Garcíi. Najjaśniejszym światłem świeci oczywiście Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde, która odniosła wielki sukces na Festiwalu Muzyki Dawnej w Utrechcie w 2022 roku. Ta kanadyjska wiolonczelistka gra na najwyższym poziomie - wydobywa piękną barwę, a jej pełna wigoru i dynamicznego różnicowana interpretacja ożywia te utwory. Są to wystarczające powody, aby dać tej płycie specjalną rekomendację!

De Standaard
Zwłaszcza z wyjątkową paletą małej wiolonczeli i fortepianu Stein, który uderza w struny odkrytymi drewnianymi młotkami: błyszczy na wysokościach, słodkie bułeczki w dole. Brzmi wspaniale, smakuje jeszcze bardziej.

Editor's info:
Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde: In 2018, I acquired a beautiful Baroque cello labeled J. M. Alban, fecit 17… a Graz. The instrument is of a smaller size than today’s standard cello, and the sound is silky, malleable and rich. I had heard of the existence of four-string violoncello piccolos (tuned G-d-a-e’) during the 17th and 18th centuries, and soon I decided to try this tuning on my small 18th-century cello. The result was impressive: the instrument’s tone became bright, crystalline and colourful, with an enhanced singing quality on the top string. This new voice of the Alban was an exciting discovery, and I set my mind to recording a full programme featuring my four-string violoncello piccolo.
I first tried it in a lovely sonata for violoncello and continuo by Georg Czarth (which appears on this album), and found that the cello’s tone displayed sweetness and elegance perfectly suited to German Galant music. I selected a number of works where the compass fitted this tuning, and narrowed the lot down after initial reading sessions with Artem Belogurov. I wanted to offer space on this album for his expressive playing and his Stein fortepiano, a copy made by Gerard Tuinman, so I included two pieces for obbligato cello and fortepiano, where the piano has a central role.
The Stein has an action with hammers made of uncovered wooden rings, instead of the leather-covered hammers more commonly heard today: when wooden hammers strike the metal strings directly, they produce a uniquely brilliant and sparkling tone in forte passages, and a gentle cantabile sound when played softly. By engaging the moderator (a piece of felt that lies between the strings and the hammers), Artem introduces an entirely contrasting sound world, perfectly suited for adagios and intimate, delicate passages in an Emfindsamer Stil. While preparing for this recording, Artem, Victor and I have enjoyed exploring expressive means to bring out the full range of sentiments we found in the music, including occasional extemporised ornamentation, cadenzas and continuo harmonisation, the use of melodic rubato (when the melody speeds up or slows down freely around a stable accompaniment) and portamento.

Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde (cello)
Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde is a versatile musician whose repertoire ranges from the late-17th to the 20th century. She researches and uses techniques and instruments according to the time of the music she plays.
After studying modern cello with Denis Brott and Carole Sirois at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal, Octavie received the Prix avec Grande Distinction in 2011. Following her interest in performance practice, she studied baroque cello with Susie Napper in Montreal and with Viola de Hoog in Amsterdam. As a young musician, Octavie regularly won prizes in national competitions in Quebec and Canada and regularly attended masterclasses and courses with internationally renowned soloists and pedagogues. She received prizes as a soloist at the International Competition “Concours Corneille” in France and the Early Music Competition in Yamanashi, Japan. Her musical endeavors were supported by grants from the Canada Arts Council, the Banff Center for the Arts and the CALQ.
Currently focusing on the historical performance of late Baroque, Classical and Romantic repertoires, she performs recitals regularly with fortepiano player and harpsichordist Artem Belogurov. Together, they took part in the Oude Muziek Festival Utrecht, Festival Montreal Baroque, the International Young Artist Presentation in Antwerp, Festival Royaumont, the Fortepiano Festival Zaandijk, among others. Their first CD will be issued later this year on the label Challenge Classics and is centered around mid-18th century German music for violoncello piccolo.
In Europe, she regularly performs with groups such as Ensemble Masques, Vox Luminis, La Sfera Armoniosa, Il Gardellino, Orchestra of the 18th century, and the Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht. She was selected for the 2017 Experience Scheme with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Handel House Talent 2018-2019 and the Monteverdi Apprenticeship 2019-2020. An avid chamber musician, she co-founded the period ensemble Postscript, which has performed during Oude Muziek Festival Utrecht and MA Festival Brugge, among others. While still in Montreal, Octavie performed with many ensembles including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Caprice, les Rendez-vous baroque français, Les Lys Naissants and the chamber groups Epsilon, quintette à cordes, Ensemble Arkea, Ensemble Allogène, Ensemble Paramirabo and the Ensemble BOP. Her recordings can be heard on labels such as Alpha Classics, Passacaille, Challenge Classics, Brilliant Classics and TRPTK.
She was the co-director of Romberg Dagen, a festival celebrating the composer and cellist Bernhard Romberg and the performance of 19th-century music, which took place in Amsterdam in May 2018. Her current research is centered on the performance practice of late 19th and early 20th century through the imitation of early recordings: these experiments are explored on the Romantic Lab blog.
Octavie has the pleasure of playing a Thomas Dodd cello from 1800 on loan from the Nationaal Muziekinstrumenten Fonds of the Netherlands, as well as her own ca.1700 baroque cello by Johann Michael Alban.

Artem Belogurov (fortepiano)
Known equally for his “verve, wit, and delicatesse” (Boston Musical Intelligencer) and his “infinite tenderness” (Evening Odessa), Artem Belogurov has an extensive repertoire, ranging through three centuries of solo and chamber works. He has a particular affinity for the Viennese classical style, in which he is distinguished by his use of improvisatory ornamentation. His interest in period performance leads him to historical keyboards, including clavichord, harpsichord, and fortepianos spanning the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. His critically acclaimed album of solo piano works by the late nineteenth century American Romantic composers, recorded on a Chickering piano built in 1873, was released by the London-based label Piano Classics in 2015. He is also a discerning advocate of contemporary music, and collaborates with a number of composers. In 2009 he had the honor of performing the Boston premiere of Elliott Carter’s Caténaires for solo piano.
As a soloist and in chamber groups, Artem has performed in a wide variety of venues, among them Jordan Hall, Harvard Musical Association, the Universität der Kunste in Berlin, the Musikhochschule in Hanover, St Andrews University in Scotland, the Odessa Philharmonic Hall in Ukraine, the Rachmaninoff Society in Saint Petersburg, Castello di Galeazza in Italy, Tivoli Vredenburg in Utrecht, and Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam.
Artem’s recent projects included a series of lectures, recitals, and masterclasses in Germany on the Chopin Préludes with the noted musicologist and historian Mark Lindley, US tours with the brilliant young Ukrainian violinist, Aleksey Semenenko, and performances at the Early Music Festival Fabulous Fringe in Utrecht. He has also been performing programs drawn from his solo CD in the US and Europe. His recording of a new arrangement of Prokofiev’s opera Fiery Angel for cello and piano with the Russian cellist Maya Fridman on the label TRPTK is scheduled to be released in Fall 2016. His next recording projects include Beethoven’s complete works for fortepiano and cello on original instruments with the Canadian cellist Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde, for the Italian label Gamma Musica and a CD of violin and piano music by composers from Boston with Aleksey Semenenko. In the coming season, Artem will be touring Europe, the US, and Japan.
In April 2016, Artem was awarded second prize at the 29th International Competition for Early Music in Yamanashi, Japan. Artem received his Bachelor degree in Piano Performance from the New England Conservatory where his teachers were Gabriel Chodos, Patricia Zander, and Victor Rosenbaum. In 2016 he graduated from the Master of Music in Early Keyboards program at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and received cum laude in both clavichord and fortepiano. His main teachers were Menno van Delft, Richard Egarr, and Kris Verhelst.

Gramophone, 01-10-2023
"I concur that everything here is worth hearing. Even if you're not a fan of the galant period, the delicacy of her playing is astonishing, as any one of the slow movements demonstrates, but she's just as convincing when boldness and agility are required..."
Gramophone Magazine 10/2023 - Editor's Choice
I assure you that it is worth hearing for itself, but this recital goes well beyond the attractiveness of curiosity.

Music Web International 07/11/2023
"Every single piece performed her is of excellent quality and has a character of its own. It was a nice idea to vary the programme with regard to the relationship between the various instruments. Two of the pieces are for an obbligato keyboard and cello, four for cello and basso continuo. Artem Belogurov delivers excellent performances on the fortepiano, a copy of an instrument by Johann Andreas Stein of 1783. The practice of accompaniment by a single cello is not often applied today, but is very interesting and musically rewarding, if it is realised in such a creative manner as here by Victor García García. The star of the show is, of course, Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde, who made a great impression in the Utrecht Early Music Festival of 2022, and whose qualities are confirmed here. This is playing of the highest calibre: she produces a beautiful tone, and her speechlike and dynamically differentiated interpretation does bring these pieces to life. Reasons enough to give this disc a special recommendation."

De Standaard
"Especially with the unique palette of the small cello and the Stein fortepiano that taps the strings with uncovered wooden hammers: sparkles in the heights, sweet rolls in down-under. Sounds great, tastes like more."

muzycy:
Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde: cello
Victor García García: cello
Artem Belogurov: fortepiano

utwory:
Bach, J C F: Sonata in A major for Violoncello & B.C
Benda, Franz: Cello Sonata in D major
Czarth: Cello Sonata in F major
Fils: Cello Sonata in A major, Op. 5 No. 2
Schaffrath: Duetto in C major for Violoncello & Harpsichord
Zyka, J B: Cello Sonata in G major

total time - 70:07
wydano: 06 July 2023
more info: www.challenge.nl