Michelucci/Ayo & I Musici: Bach BWV 1043 + Handel, Mozart - Philips Hi-Fi Stereo

$

95

ITEM DESCRIPTION:

This outstanding LP – in the “Hi-Fi Stereo” edition – from Philips (835 028 AY, Dutch pressing, plum/silver Hi-Fi Stereo label, glossy laminated jacket) features the crack Italian ensemble I Musici in a triptych of truly brilliant and poetic performances of works by Bach, Handel, and Mozart.

The exact discographic details are as follows:

Bach: Concerto for Two Violins and Orchestra in D minor BWV 1043

> with violinists Roberto Michelucci and Felix Ayo

(rec. at Villa Mondragone, Rome on 8 May 1958)

Handel: Concerto Grosso in A minor Op. 6 No. 4 HWV 322

(rec. at Istituto Antoniano, Rome on 15 September 1958)

Mozart: Adagio & Fugue for Strings in C minor K. 546

(rec. at Istituto Antoniano, Rome on 5 October 1958)

These performances originally appeared on separate LPs, each part of an album devoted to their respective composer. When reviewing the Philips release of BWV 1043, which first was first issued on an all-Bach disc with renditions of the Violin Concertos BWV 1041 and BWV 1042. When reviewing that LP (SABL 1042), the critic R.F. wrote in his review for the May 1960 issue of The Gramophone: “If you buy concerto records for the sake of the soloist, you won't be much interested in this one. But if you would like to hear two Bach concertos played as Bach wanted them played, then this record is a "must". These are by far the most successful and delightful performances of these works in the eighteenth-century style that I have ever heard. They can, of course, be successfully played by a great virtuoso soloist standing out from his fellow musicians and delighting us by a personal and individual "performance". But Bach wrote these concertos for a private band in days when virtuoso soloists were scarcely known; the solo parts were played by members of the band in the normal course of their duties, and there was almost a sense of anonymity about their performance.

“I Musici are ideally constituted to recapture this attitude, and the recording engineers have supported them with splendid judgement. The soloists (it is a different member of the group for each concerto) sound as though they are in the band and not right out in front of it, with the result that many passages which never normally sound right on records, do so on this one. The soloist's last semiquaver passage in the A minor and his part from bar 57 onwards of the E major first movement should sound like accompaniments; on every other recording they drown or partly drown the tunes on the orchestra. Here the effect is ravishingly right, and you feel you are hearing these passages for the first time. The balance is wonderfully good in other ways too; for instance at the start of the two slow movements, in which the bass instruments have a strength and solidity sadly lacking in the recent Menuhin mono recording. Indeed there is a good solid bass all through, a rare virtue on records these days, and plenty of harpsichord, and trills added in all the right places, and semiquavers played on the string in the eighteenth-century way. I am inclined to prefer the soloist in the E major, if only because his intonation is superior. He plays the two adagio bars in the first movement unaccompanied, and though this is how Bach wrote them, it is very hard to believe he wanted the harpsichord silent at this point; the chord progression without it is too unsatisfying. But this is a tiny detail. Both soloists, and indeed the whole group, play both concertos with a quite remarkable sense of style, and yet with grace and vitality. I haven't enjoyed anything so much for a long time. And the quality is superlative.”

Incidentally, the striking cover art was executed by Waldemar Post. The superb liner notes on the reverse side of the jacket, in English only, are uncredited.

CONDITION:

The gradations of condition I use are as follows: MINT, Near-Mint, Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor.

The condition of the jacket is EXCELLENT-. The only real flaw concerns some pen notations made to the rear of the jacket. There is also minor instances of creasing, but that is all. There are no seamsplits, bends, or other defects. The fine laminate finish is perfectly intact and the album remains solid, bright, and richly glossy – overall, a handsome collector's copy.

The condition of the LP itself is similary EXCELLENT. Although the surfaces are not always CD silent, in general the playback is superb. If you must have a flawless copy, then you are advised to look elsewhere – overall, this is an excellent collector's copy.