Antonio Casimir Cartellieri (1772-1807)
Symphony No. 1 in C minor (Vienna, 1795)
Symphony No. 2 in E flat major (Vienna, 1795)
Symphony No. 3 in C major
Symphony No. 4 in E flat major
Evergreen Symphony Orchestra/Gernot Schmalfuss
rec. 2011, Keelung City Cultural Center, Keelung City, Taipei, Taiwan
cpo 777667-2 [73]
Although the name Antonio Cartellieri isn’t at all familiar, a spot of googling reveals several recordings featuring his music on the MDG and Capriccio labels. His oeuvre includes wind concertos and chamber music, operas, masses, motets, a Christmas Oratorio and the oratorio Gioas, Re di Guida. He was born in 1772 to an Italian father and Latvian mother in Danzig, which is modern day Gdansk. His family were settled in the Baltic region at the time of his birth. His parents, who later separated, were musicians and Antonio stayed with his mother and studied music in Berlin. He studied composition under such figures as Salieri and, it has been suggested, Beethoven, whom he came into contact with in Vienna. He worked as Kapellmeister to Joseph Franz Maximillian Lobkowicz and died at the early age of 34 in 1807.
The CD features four symphonies; two were already known about, and the other two were more recently discovered by Gernot Schmalfuss, the conductor on this recording. Each symphony has four movements, except number 2 which is of shorter duration with three movements. One thing that struck me when listening to these works was the influence of Haydn and Mozart, and there are also echoes of Schubert. In fact, the opening of Symphony No. 1 reminded me of the unison opening of Mozart’s piano sonata in C minor K.457. This same Symphony has a gloriously lyrical slow movement. The same can be said for the Andante variation movement of the Second Symphony. Each of these symphonies embraces all the elements of Viennese classicism. Cartellieri seems to write especially very well for the winds.
The Evergreen Symphony Orchestra under Gernot Schmalfus deliver modern instrument performances. These works are a real delight and I’m very tempted to explore this neglected composer in the other recordings that are available. You get a sense that these players are wonderfully committed to this music and play with real enthusiasm and freedom of expression. Audio quality and balance is well achieved, with the woodwinds wonderfully profiled, and the package is complete with comprehensive liner-notes in English, German and Taiwanese.
Stephen Greenbank
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