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Reviewer: Barry
Brenesal While recordings of Delalande’s Symphonies for the King’s Suppers aren’t common, one or more have usually been in print over the last several decades. And to be truthful, they’ve frequently covered much the same terrain, in a style that remains relatively constant. So does this new release bring to the table something that the others have not? It brings two things, in fact. Both stem from attempts to remedy problems of transmission. Like much of the orchestral and operatic music of its day in France, Delalande’s suites were never written out in full, but usually notated in two parts, dessus and bass, and sometimes with a second dessus. Since internal evidence (ouverture fugues with five entries) supports the idea that the composer used the traditional five parts common to French orchestral writing right into the middle of the next century, this means either ignoring the issue or reconstructing those missing parts. Fortunately, the most important parts already exist, and the lesser ones that serve a harmonic function are fairly predictable. Unfortunately, it’s not easy to predict the thematic or rhythmic role these unknown parts performed. The second point is a matter of orchestration. The idea of a score-as-the-letter-of-the-law had yet to take shape during the late 17th century. Delalande sometimes mentions individual instruments, or even a duet or trio with sets of a given instrument, but again much must be left to the taste of the arranger. The arrangements are in the hands of harpsichordist Jörg Jacobi, as is a lengthy piece in the liner notes that can only be described as Historical Fiction Lite, offering in six fat paragraphs enough facts to fit in a single, non-fictional one. Fortunately, Jacobi’s five-part reconstructions have more substance than his fiction, and his musical liberties—such as altering the rhythms and an occasional passing harmony in the First Air of the Fifth Suite, or adding a rattle to the First Suite’s “Petit Air”—are stylistically possible when not evident in the surviving scores. Nor have I any problems with his mix of loud wind and soft string arrangements in any given suite, since there’s no evidence Delalande’s symphonies would have been played in the suites and caprices as they’ve been compiled and handed down to us. They are in any case more colorful and texturally diverse than other recorded versions, making broad use of recorders, oboes, bassoon, violins, viols, cello, continuo, and percussion. Finally, while there is some crossover with other recordings of the symphonies, Gross has enough unique content to warrant at least a degree of interest on that point alone. Reyne (Harmonia Mundi 901303) duplicates Gross on the Fifth Suite and the Grande piece in G, and Paillard (Apex 25646 04502, but also Erato 675239) shares the First and Third caprices with Gross. But only Gross at this moment supplies the First and Third suites; and it has to be noted that Paillard’s version, recorded in 1985, sounds very thin without any attempted reconstruction of the missing parts, as well as stylistically dated in some other respects. I’d rate Gross at a tie with Reyne. Gross has the better sound, more varied tempos, and a far more diverse aural palette, but at times his color choices seem meretricious. This new recording of Delalande in any case has an irresistible rhythmic drive and sense of showmanship that should win new friends to the score. Recommended. | |
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