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GRAMOPHONE (07/2016)
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Audax 
ADX13705



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Reviewer: Charlotte Gardner

Back in 2011, four years after Reinhard Goebel’s Musica Antiqua Köln had disbanded, they issued a surprise new premiere recording of trio sonatas by the little-known 17th-century German composer Johann Friedrich Meister, from a 1695 collection entitled Il giardino del piacere (Berlin Classics). The sonatas had apparently been recorded in 2004 for a televised broadcast but then forgotten about, and they were an entertaining bundle: better described as suites given their multi-movement structure, they were stylistically varied with clear French and Italian influences, and indisputably worthy of resurrection beyond their sheer obscurity value. However, while Meister’s collection was 12-strong, MAK had only recorded six.

So, fast forward five years, and the French-based period ensemble Ensemble Diderot (Johannes Pramsohler and Roldan Bernabe on violins, with cellist Gulrim Choi and harpsichordist Philippe Grisvard) have stepped in to complete the set, Goebel himself lending his blessing in the form of a booklet-note. They’re a perfect fit for the job, too: not only have they been garnering a reputation for clever championing of neglected Baroque repertoire in recent years, as typified by their 2015 release of Montanari violin concertos, but they also resemble MAK in the way in which they combine an elegant performance style with liveliness, warm tonal brilliance and razorsharp definition.

Unsurprisingly, therefore, this disc is an absolute winner, Meister’s music shining in the warm, zingy and sweet playing from Ensemble Diderot, subtle ornamentation adding elegant extra gloss. The opening A major Sonata’s first movement sets the standard for the whole: an Adagio full of lovingly rendered dynamic swells, the tempo expansive but momentum-filled, which segues into a bright Allegro presto that slices the air with its crispness. The engineering is equally spot-on, instruments well balanced, with plenty of immediacy to the sound without going uncomfortably close. This and the earlier MAK recording make a super pairing.

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