Zelenka: Solo Motets

Alex Potter (counter-tenor)
Capriccio Basel Baroque Orchestra, Dominik Kiefer

“one is in the company of such an inventive composer, such a stylish orchestra and such a fine singer … [Alex Potter] carefully crafts melodic lines, slowly warming longer notes, adding tasteful ornaments in Da Capo repeats, and deftly getting around the coloratura without a hint of strain in his voice” --Early Music Review, December 2012

Jan Dismas Zelenka, court composer of August Elector of Saxony in Dresden, is steadily regaining his deserved reputation.In thi snew recording for Pan Classics, the accomplished young British countertenor Alex Potter succeeds in displaying a wide emotional range in selected works for alto solo: he dazzles with astounding virtuosity in the motet 'Barbara, dira effera' and soars in tender arcs of tension in his performance of the 'Christe eleison' from a late unfinished mass.

He is accompanied with consummate sensitivity by the Capriccio Barockorchester from Basel who also round off this recording with several of Zelenka’s instrumental works. Alex Potter was a choirboy at Southwark Cathedral in London and subsequently Choral Scholar at New College, Oxford, before continuing his studies in ancient music with Gerd Türk and Evelyn Tubb at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. He now works regularly with conductors such as Philippe Herreweghe, Frieder Bernius and Roland Wilson.

Zelenka: Sonatas

“it's the group's nuance that's transfixing. When textures become sparse, delivery intensifies; when the line expands, the tempo stretches; when counterpoint thickens, articulation is leavened. The players are audibly intelligent, at once humorous and illuminating. Non-interventionist engineering shows that less can be more when the artists are first-rate.” --BBC Music Magazine, November 2012 *****

“There is highly capable playing, with expert tuning, smooth lines, and techniques apparently taxed only by the quickfire repeated notes in Sonata No. 6. The sound is also wonderfully clear and well balanced.” --Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2012

“The lively Ensemble Marsyas are joined by violinist Monica Huggett in the third of the set, full of literally breathless counterpoint, while at the end is a beguiling single slow movement that leaves us up in the air, as if I had finished this review with a question mark.” --The Observer, 2nd September 2012

“Zelenka constantly beguiles...Ensemble Marsyas play everything with real flair.” --Sunday Times, 23rd September 2012

Biber & Locke: Battalia, The Tempest

Having firmly established itself at the forefront of modern Vivaldi performance, Il Giardino Armonico explores two masters from the previous generation, rooted in its own cultural milieu. Biber’s Battalia has arguably become the most celebrated sui generis programmatic suite of the seventeenth century with its easy Bohemian juxtaposition of poignant airs and almost choreographic stage music. Too often we hear each implicit detail exaggerated to death; the Italians represent the dissolute revelling of the muskateers with vitality, and yet each movement is conveyed within the bounds of courtly decorum. The group’s leader, Enrico Onofri, provides a memorable and effective gimmick in the March as he walks from right to left and disappears into the distance.

His playing in the Sonata violono solo representativa is just as impressive as the exceptional readings by Reinhard Goebel and Romanesca’s Andrew Manze. Though less freewheeling than either, Onofri’s account is just as acutely characterized: the Cuckoo is positively charming, the Frog leaps in a spontaneous counterpoint of improvised special effects and the Hen and the Cock fly by the seats of their pants with a stirring full-throttled sound and thrilling technical precision.

Such qualities are apparent in the remarkable C minor ‘partia’ from Biber’s most challenging scordatura consort publication, Harmonia artificiosa of 1696. Composed for two violas d’amore, this is a beguiling work which has received its finest performances to date from the Purcell Quartet and The Rare Fruits Council. Il Giardino Armonico generates a ringing, almost orchestral palette – darkened by a tenor chalumeau – upon which float these soft-grained viole. Less agreeable is the Allemande which is fussily handled and never quite allowed to bed down into its natural harmonic rhythm; the ‘Aria variata’ that ends the suite has reflective sobriety nonchalantly sacrificed for Mediterranean effervescence.

This is both the strength and weakness of Il Giardino in northern and central European repertoire, exemplified in Locke’s music for The Tempest, from which a majestic orchestral suite can be wrought. The musical ideas are impressive (the famous Curtain Tune with its force-ten wind finds a natural home here), but too often miscast with ill-suited outbursts imposed on such temperate dances. Overall though, this is a dynamic and distinctive programme with some brilliant performances. --Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, Gramophone [2/1999]

Zelenka: Orchesterwerke

"Berne Camerata and an impressive line-up of soloists present a vibrant portrait of Zelenka. The playing is sympathetic and stylistically alert whilst unashamedly making use of instrumental refinements and interpretative gestures of our own time. A thoroughly estimable achievement well documented and pleasingly recorded." --Gramophone Magazine

Cantatas for Soprano & Trumpet

“…not only is Ziesak on cracking form but also she is supported by Reinhold Friedrich's sensitively complementary trumpet partnership and the constantly alert string playing of the Berline Barock Compagney.” --BBC Music Magazine, September 2008 *****

“Fleet, flexible, clarion singing? That’s Ziesak’s forte. Golden trumpeting? Step forward, Reinhold Friedrich. Pitch both into German Baroque church pieces, from the familiar Bach cantata Jauchzet Gott to Rosenmüller’s sacred concertos and you’re guaranteed a bright, interesting display. 

The drawbacks? Soloists and the Berliner Barock-Compagney never give us the thrill of audacity, which these showpieces demand: this is safety-first music-making.” --The Times, 15th August 2008 ***

MP3 320 · 134 MB

Zelenka: Orchestral Works

“As usual with this conductor, accents are strong and rhythms bounce firmly, yet there is also some fine, expressive playing. The five-movement Overture (or suite), which shows well the diversity of Zelenka’s invention, is particularly characterful. Recording is characteristically bright and forward, yet the range dynamic is wide” --Penguin Guide

MP3 320 · 101 MB