Vivaldi in Prague
Hana Blažiková (soprano), Ciara Hendrick (contralto), Tim Dickinson (bass)
Tassilo Erhardt (violin), Mark Baigent (oboe), Sally Holman (bassoon)
The Harmonious Society of Tickle-Fiddle Gentlemen / Robert Rawson
rec. 2025, St Mary the Virgin, Bishopsbourne, UK
Texts and translations included
Reviewed as a download
Accent ACC24420 [76]
Antonio Vivaldi is inextricably connected to Venice. Although he was occasionally elsewhere – for instance, in Rome during carnival season to overlook the performance of one of his operas – he spent most of his life in Venice. However, his reputation, especially as a violin virtuoso, was not confined to Italy. In 1716 the German violinist Johann Georg Pisendel came into contact with him, when he was in Venice as a member of the retinue of the Saxon electoral prince Friedrich August, who was visiting the city as part of his Grand Tour. Two years later, a nobleman from Prague, Count Wenzel von Morzin, came to Venice with his orchestra, which Vivaldi described as “virtuosissima”. During the time of the Count’s stay, Vivaldi acted as its maestro di musica in Italia.
The present disc documents the contacts between Vivaldi and Prague which resulted from this visit. The programme reflects Vivaldi’s two main qualities, as violin virtuoso and opera composer.
The first is illustrated by two violin concertos by Czech composers. The first is Antonín Reichenauer, who seems to have been part of Count Morzin’s orchestra during its stay in Venice. Only since the beginning of this century has his music been receiving interest. He has no entry in New Grove, and not that much is known about his education. He was a prolific composer of sacred music, but to date especially his concertos have been recorded. These include concertos for violin, oboe and bassoon. According to Adrian Chandler he was a bassoonist, and Vivaldi may have written some of his bassoon concertos for him. On this disc he is represented with two concertos: the Concerto for violin in C minor, which Robert Rawson, in his liner-notes, associates with Vivaldi’s early works, has a virtuosic solo part, but includes wide leaps and “abrupt changes of direction”, which are unusual. The piece ends with fast string crossings and figurations. The other violin concerto was written by Frantisek Jiránek, another composer who does not appear in New Grove. He was also in the service of Count Morzin, but at a later time. In 1724 his employer sent him to Venice to study with Vivaldi. This has resulted in his writing violin concertos that are so much alike Vivaldi’s that there are some doubts about their authorship. The Concerto in D minor (which has also been recorded by Gunar Letzbor; Challenge Classics, 2016), is a brilliant example. It may be a demonstration of Jiránek’s skills. In the first movement he explores the violin’s high register. The slow movement refers to opera, and in the fast-closing movement the solo violin has a virtuosic part, which becomes even more brilliant after a short cadenza. In these two concertos Tassilo Erhardt is the soloist, who impresses with his technical prowess, his ornamentation and his cadenzas, but also his feeling for the more lyrical features. These two concertos prove that the respective composers were true masters, and deserve the growing interest in their oeuvre.
The third instrumental work on this disc is by Reichenauer, the Concerto for oboe and bassoon in F. Although in double concertos the two instruments are usually treated on equal footing, the bassoon part is the most technically challenging, which may support the view that Reichenauer was a professional bassoonist. Vivaldi is also represented with a concerto, not for violin, but for bassoon. He was the first composer who wrote a large number of concertos for this instrument, which for a long time was nearly only used in the basso continuo. Rawson suggests the Concerto in G minor was written for Anton Möser, a bassoonist in Count Morzin’s service. The addition ‘Per Morzin’ leaves no doubt as for which musical establishment it was written, but why could it not have been intended for Reichenauer?
The same question can be asked with regard to the latter’s motet Quae est ista, in which the bass is accompanied by oboe, violin, bassoon and basso continuo. The piece is connected to the Jesuit pilgrimage site of Svatá Hora (Holy Mountain) at Příbram, southwest of Prague. Hence the addition “ad Montem Sanctum” and the text: “Mary, Mother of grace, from your holy mountain look with favour upon your suppliant children in this valley of woe”. The piece consists of a recitative and an aria, nicely sung by Tim Dickinson.
This piece brings us to the vocal part of this recording, which focuses on opera. The contact between Vivaldi and Count Morzin not only resulted in the former’s dedicating his concertos The Four Seasons to the latter, but also a personal visit to Prague to overlook the production of his opera Il Farnace. That was not the first time an Italian opera was performed in Prague. In 1724 another Czech nobleman, Count Anton von Sporck, had invited a Venetian opera troupe. They performed at his spa and estate in Kuks in northern Bohemia, and later in Prague’s first public opera house. Under the Venetian impresario Antonio Denzio mainly pasticcios were performed. Italian opera became so popular that Prague became a “secondary Venetian operatic centre, where numerous performers moved on to opera houses either in Italy, Germany or the London stage”.
One of the pasticcios was Il confronto dell’amor coniugale (1727). Included was Jsme veselí a zpíváme, the first opera aria ever sung in Czech, probably in an attempt to broaden the audience. The score of this parody has been lost; here, we hear a reconstruction on the basis of Vivaldi’s cantata La Farfaletta (RV 660). It is vintage Vivaldi: both vocal and instrumental parts include imitations of birds, to which the text refers (originally to butterflies, but the difference is negligible). Ciara Hendrick’s singing is playful, just as the aria requires. Obviously I can’t check whether her pronunciation of Czech is idiomatic. Maybe Hana Hana Blažiková has given her some advice; she takes care of the other arias.
One of them is another reconstruction. La Cervetta is taken from the pasticcio Praga nascente da Libussa e Primislao, a retelling of Prague’s founding myth. Apparently, the score has not been preserved. We hear here a slight adaptation of the aria of the same title from Vivaldi’s opera Giustino, first performed in Rome in 1724. This aria is another example of imitation, this time of a “little doe”. This was something Vivaldi was very fond of. As mentioned, he was in Prague in 1729 for a performance of his opera Il Farnace. Part of it is the aria Gelido in ogni vera, which Vivaldi first used in Siroe, re di Persia; this version reappeared in Argippo, which was especially put together for a performance in Sporck’s theatre in 1730. The opening of the aria – “Like ice in every vein I feel my blood flowing” – inspired Vivaldi to write music which uses motifs from the ‘Winter’ concerto of the Four Seasons.
The first aria sung in Czech has been mentioned above; in 1734 the first large-scale vocal work largely in Czech was performed, written by František Antonín Míča. Inspired by the performances at Sporck’s theatre, Count Adam von Questenburg set up a theatre as part of his musical household in Jaromerice in Moravia. Míča was his court composer, who was a pupil of Antonio Caldara. The aria Jako plamen vzhůru cílí is taken from a name-day ode in two languages. The first half – The Seven Planets – was in German, the second – The Four Elements – in Czech (Čtyři Živlové). As is to be expected of a name-day ode, the aria is in praise of the Count. The text – “Just as a flame reaches upward, so in this moment my spirit rises” – explains the rising figures. The aria includes quite some coloratura.
One can leave it to Hana Blažiková to fully explore such features. She is one of the stars of the early music scene, but does not often sing opera. Maybe it is not something she really likes, or she is not invited to participate in opera performances and recordings. If the latter is the case, that may well be due to her way of singing, which is so different from what – much to my regret – is common practice these days. In my view the singing in most performances of baroque operas has little to nothing to do with the baroque aesthetics. The use of a lot of vibrato and the lack of interest in the intelligibility of the text is an especial nuisance. I would like opera singers to be more like Blažiková. She demonstrates here that it is perfectly possible to sing brilliantly and with much expression without turning to a style of singing that has come into existence in the course of the 20th century. And how nice is it to be able to understand what is being sung.
Given that this disc includes so many novelties and that the repertoire is put into its historical context, this disc has much to offer. It broadens our musical horizon, both with regard to Vivaldi and to music life in baroque Prague, and includes music of high quality, which is all performed at the highest level. The Harmonious Society of Tickle-Fiddle Gentlemen is an excellent ensemble, as it has already proven on its previous discs. In addition to Tassilo Erhardt in the violin concertos, Mark Baigent and Sally Holman shine in the solo parts for oboe and bassoon respectively.
Johan van Veen
www.musica-dei-donum.org
twitter.com/johanvanveen
https://bsky.app/profile/musicadeidonum.bsky.social
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Contents
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
La Cervetta (ed. Robert Rawson)
Antonín Reichenauer (c1694-1730)
Concerto for violin, strings and bc in C minor
Antonio Vivaldi
[Jsme veselí a zpíváme] (ed. Robert Rawson)
Concerto for bassoon, strings and bc in G minor ‘Per Morzin’ (RV 496)
Argippo (RV 697-8):
Gelido in ogni vena
Antonín Reichenauer
Concerto for oboe, bassoon, strings and bc in F (Rk 16)
František Antonín Míča (1696-1744)
Čtyři Živlové: Jako plamen vzhůru cílí
Frantisek Jiránek (c1698-1778)
Concerto for violin, strings and bc in D minor
Antonín Reichenauer
Quae est ista, Cantata de B.V.M. ad Montem Sanctum
