From Mannheim to Berlin - Sonatas for violoncello piccolo by Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde | Artem Belogurov

Various composers

Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde | Artem Belogurov | Victor García García

From Mannheim to Berlin - Sonatas for violoncello piccolo

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Challenge Classics
UPC: 0608917296129
Catnr: CC 72961
Release date: 06 July 2023
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Label
Challenge Classics

UPC
0608917296129

Catalogue number
CC 72961

Release date
06 July 2023

"You can feel a certain freshness of enthusiasm in playing together..."

Classic Voice, 01-7-2024

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

Press

About the album

Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde: In 2018, I acquired a beautiful Baroque cello labeled J. M. Alban, fecit 17… a Graz. The instrument is of a smaller size than today’s standard cello, and the sound is silky, malleable and rich. I had heard of the existence of four-string violoncello piccolos (tuned G-d-a-e’) during the 17th and 18th centuries, and soon I decided to try this tuning on my small 18th-century cello. The result was impressive: the instrument’s tone became bright, crystalline and colourful, with an enhanced singing quality on the top string. This new voice of the Alban was an exciting discovery, and I set my mind to recording a full programme featuring my four-string violoncello piccolo.

I first tried it in a lovely sonata for violoncello and continuo by Georg Czarth (which appears on this album), and found that the cello’s tone displayed sweetness and elegance perfectly suited to German Galant music. I selected a number of works where the compass fitted this tuning, and narrowed the lot down after initial reading sessions with Artem Belogurov. I wanted to offer space on this album for his expressive playing and his Stein fortepiano, a copy made by Gerard Tuinman, so I included two pieces for obbligato cello and fortepiano, where the piano has a central role.

The Stein has an action with hammers made of uncovered wooden rings, instead of the leather-covered hammers more commonly heard today: when wooden hammers strike the metal strings directly, they produce a uniquely brilliant and sparkling tone in forte passages, and a gentle cantabile sound when played softly. By engaging the moderator (a piece of felt that lies between the strings and the hammers), Artem introduces an entirely contrasting sound world, perfectly suited for adagios and intimate, delicate passages in an Emfindsamer Stil. While preparing for this recording, Artem, Victor and I have enjoyed exploring expressive means to bring out the full range of sentiments we found in the music, including occasional extemporised ornamentation, cadenzas and continuo harmonisation, the use of melodic rubato (when the melody speeds up or slows down freely around a stable accompaniment) and portamento.

Voor het album ‘From Mannheim to Berlin’ selecteerde Octavie een aantal werken die bij deze stemming paste, waaronder vier wereldpremière-opnamen van hofcomponisten van de Pruisische koning Frederik de Grote. Omdat ze op dit album ruimte wilde bieden aan het expressieve spel van Artem Belogurov en zijn Stein fortepiano (een kopie van Gerard Tuinman) zijn er twee stukken voor obligaat cello en fortepiano opgenomen, waarin de piano centraal staat.

Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde: Im Jahr 2018 erwarb ich ein wunderschönes Barockcello mit der Bezeichnung J. M. Alban, fecit 17... a Graz. Das Instrument ist kleiner als ein heutiges Standardcello, und der Klang ist seidig, geschmeidig und reich. Ich hatte von der Existenz viersaitiger Violoncello-Piccolos (gestimmt G-d-a-e') im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert gehört und beschloss bald, diese Stimmung auf meinem kleinen Cello aus dem 18. Jahrhundert auszuprobieren. Das Ergebnis war beeindruckend: Der Ton des Instruments wurde hell, kristallin und farbenreich, mit einer verbesserten Gesangsqualität auf der obersten Saite. Diese neue Stimme des Alban war eine aufregende Entdeckung, und ich machte mich daran, ein komplettes Programm mit meinem viersaitigen Violoncello piccolo aufzunehmen.

Ich probierte es zuerst in einer schönen Sonate für Violoncello und Continuo von Georg Czarth (die auf diesem Album zu hören ist) und stellte fest, dass der Ton des Cellos eine Süße und Eleganz aufweist, die perfekt zur deutschen galanten Musik passt. Ich wählte eine Reihe von Werken aus, bei denen der Kompass zu dieser Stimmung passte, und schränkte die Auswahl nach ersten Lesesitzungen mit Artem Belogurov ein. Ich wollte seinem ausdrucksstarken Spiel und seinem Stein-Fortepiano, einer Kopie von Gerard Tuinman, auf diesem Album Raum geben und habe daher zwei Stücke für obligates Cello und Fortepiano aufgenommen, in denen das Piano eine zentrale Rolle spielt.

Das Stein-Fortepiano hat eine Mechanik mit Hämmern aus unbedeckten Holzringen anstelle der heute üblichen lederbezogenen Hämmer: Wenn die hölzernen Hämmer direkt auf die Metallsaiten schlagen, erzeugen sie einen einzigartig brillanten und funkelnden Ton in Forte-Passagen und einen sanften, kantablen Klang, wenn sie leise gespielt werden. Durch den Einsatz des Moderators (ein Stück Filz, das zwischen den Saiten und den Hämmern liegt) führt Artem eine völlig kontrastreiche Klangwelt ein, die sich perfekt für Adagios und intime, zarte Passagen in einem Emfindsamer Stil eignet. Während der Vorbereitungen für diese Aufnahme haben Artem, Victor und ich es genossen, ausdrucksstarke Mittel zu erforschen, um die ganze Bandbreite der Gefühle, die wir in der Musik gefunden haben, zum Ausdruck zu bringen, einschließlich gelegentlicher extemporierter Verzierungen, Kadenzen und Continuo-Harmonisierung, der Verwendung von melodischem Rubato (wenn die Melodie frei um eine stabile Begleitung herum beschleunigt oder verlangsamt wird) und Portamento.

Artist(s)

Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde (cello)

Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde is a versatile musician whose repertoire ranges from the late-17th to the 20th century. She researches and uses techniques and instruments according to the time of the music she plays. After studying modern cello with Denis Brott and Carole Sirois at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal, Octavie received the Prix avec Grande Distinction in 2011. Following her interest in performance practice, she studied baroque cello with Susie Napper in Montreal and with Viola de Hoog in Amsterdam. As a young musician, Octavie regularly won prizes in national competitions in Quebec and Canada and regularly attended masterclasses and courses with internationally renowned soloists and pedagogues. She received prizes as a soloist at the International Competition “Concours Corneille” in France...

After studying modern cello with Denis Brott and Carole Sirois at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal, Octavie received the Prix avec Grande Distinction in 2011. Following her interest in performance practice, she studied baroque cello with Susie Napper in Montreal and with Viola de Hoog in Amsterdam. As a young musician, Octavie regularly won prizes in national competitions in Quebec and Canada and regularly attended masterclasses and courses with internationally renowned soloists and pedagogues. She received prizes as a soloist at the International Competition “Concours Corneille” in France and the Early Music Competition in Yamanashi, Japan. Her musical endeavors were supported by grants from the Canada Arts Council, the Banff Center for the Arts and the CALQ.

Currently focusing on the historical performance of late Baroque, Classical and Romantic repertoires, she performs recitals regularly with fortepiano player and harpsichordist Artem Belogurov. Together, they took part in the Oude Muziek Festival Utrecht, Festival Montreal Baroque, the International Young Artist Presentation in Antwerp, Festival Royaumont, the Fortepiano Festival Zaandijk, among others. Their first CD will be issued later this year on the label Challenge Classics and is centered around mid-18th century German music for violoncello piccolo.

In Europe, she regularly performs with groups such as Ensemble Masques, Vox Luminis, La Sfera Armoniosa, Il Gardellino, Orchestra of the 18th century, and the Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht. She was selected for the 2017 Experience Scheme with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Handel House Talent 2018-2019 and the Monteverdi Apprenticeship 2019-2020. An avid chamber musician, she co-founded the period ensemble Postscript, which has performed during Oude Muziek Festival Utrecht and MA Festival Brugge, among others. While still in Montreal, Octavie performed with many ensembles including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Caprice, les Rendez-vous baroque français, Les Lys Naissants and the chamber groups Epsilon, quintette à cordes, Ensemble Arkea, Ensemble Allogène, Ensemble Paramirabo and the Ensemble BOP. Her recordings can be heard on labels such as Alpha Classics, Passacaille, Challenge Classics, Brilliant Classics and TRPTK.

She was the co-director of Romberg Dagen, a festival celebrating the composer and cellist Bernhard Romberg and the performance of 19th-century music, which took place in Amsterdam in May 2018. Her current research is centered on the performance practice of late 19th and early 20th century through the imitation of early recordings: these experiments are explored on the Romantic Lab blog.

Octavie has the pleasure of playing a Thomas Dodd cello from 1800 on loan from the Nationaal Muziekinstrumenten Fonds of the Netherlands, as well as her own ca.1700 baroque cello by Johann Michael Alban.

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Artem Belogurov (fortepiano)

Known equally for his “verve, wit, and delicatesse” (Boston Musical Intelligencer) and his “infinite tenderness” (Evening Odessa), Artem Belogurov has an extensive repertoire, ranging through three centuries of solo and chamber works. He has a particular affinity for the Viennese classical style, in which he is distinguished by his use of improvisatory ornamentation. His interest in period performance leads him to historical keyboards, including clavichord, harpsichord, and fortepianos spanning the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. His critically acclaimed album of solo piano works by the late nineteenth century American Romantic composers, recorded on a Chickering piano built in 1873, was released by the London-based label Piano Classics in 2015. He is also a discerning advocate of contemporary music, and collaborates with a number of composers. In 2009 he had the honor of performing the Boston premiere of Elliott Carter’s Caténaires for solo piano.
As a soloist and in chamber groups, Artem has performed in a wide variety of venues, among them Jordan Hall, Harvard Musical Association, the Universität der Kunste in Berlin, the Musikhochschule in Hanover, St Andrews University in Scotland, the Odessa Philharmonic Hall in Ukraine, the Rachmaninoff Society in Saint Petersburg, Castello di Galeazza in Italy, Tivoli Vredenburg in Utrecht, and Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam.
Artem’s recent projects included a series of lectures, recitals, and masterclasses in Germany on the Chopin Préludes with the noted musicologist and historian Mark Lindley, US tours with the brilliant young Ukrainian violinist, Aleksey Semenenko, and performances at the Early Music Festival Fabulous Fringe in Utrecht. He has also been performing programs drawn from his solo CD in the US and Europe. His recording of a new arrangement of Prokofiev’s opera Fiery Angel for cello and piano with the Russian cellist Maya Fridman on the label TRPTK is scheduled to be released in Fall 2016. His next recording projects include Beethoven’s complete works for fortepiano and cello on original instruments with the Canadian cellist Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde, for the Italian label Gamma Musica and a CD of violin and piano music by composers from Boston with Aleksey Semenenko. In the coming season, Artem will be touring Europe, the US, and Japan.
In April 2016, Artem was awarded second prize at the 29th International Competition for Early Music in Yamanashi, Japan. Artem received his Bachelor degree in Piano Performance from the New England Conservatory where his teachers were Gabriel Chodos, Patricia Zander, and Victor Rosenbaum. In 2016 he graduated from the Master of Music in Early Keyboards program at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and received cum laude in both clavichord and fortepiano. His main teachers were Menno van Delft, Richard Egarr, and Kris Verhelst.

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Víctor García García (cello)

Victor Garcia Garcia is a Spanish cellist specialized in historical performance. He enjoys a varied and international musical career as a soloist, teacher, chamber musician and orchestral player. He teaches historical cello at the Utrechts Conservatorium, and was recently awarded a doctoral degree at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. His artistic research focused on the performance practices of cellists around Beethoven. Victor is a prizewinner at the Witold Lutoslawski Cello Competition, the Händel Competition (as part of the Duo Auxesis) and the Biagio Marini Competition (as part of Ayres Extemporae). Additionally, he has been an Artist in Residence at the Schloss Weissenbrunn. Victor has participated in the Monteverdi Apprentices Programme at the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, the Collegium Vocale Gent...

Victor Garcia Garcia is a Spanish cellist specialized in historical performance. He enjoys a varied and international musical career as a soloist, teacher, chamber musician and orchestral player. He teaches historical cello at the Utrechts Conservatorium, and was recently awarded a doctoral degree at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. His artistic research focused on the performance practices of cellists around Beethoven. Victor is a prizewinner at the Witold Lutoslawski Cello Competition, the Händel Competition (as part of the Duo Auxesis) and the Biagio Marini Competition (as part of Ayres Extemporae). Additionally, he has been an Artist in Residence at the Schloss Weissenbrunn. Victor has participated in the Monteverdi Apprentices Programme at the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, the Collegium Vocale Gent Academy and the Academy of the Balthasar Neumann Ensembles. He also performs regularly with ensembles such as the Orchestre des Champs- Élysées, the Utopia Orchestra and the Millenium Orchestra. He is the artistic director of the Festival Impulso in La Palma, Spain.

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Composer(s)

Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach

Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach was the third of the four composing sons of Johann Sebastian Bach and Anna Magdalena Wilcken. He is also referred to as the ‘Bückeburg Bach’, since he worked some 40 years at the court of Count William of Schaumburg-Lippe in Bückeburg. In 1750 he was appointed by Count William as a chamber musician. At the moment the Italians Angelo Colonna and Giovanni Battista Sereni were active as concert master and chapel master at the court, through which Bach came to know the style of Italian cantatas and operas.
Both Italians left the court in 1756 and Bach was then appointed as concertmaster. He was not only responsible for the direction of the concerts, he also had to compose new works. This became the start of an intensive work period in which he composed chamber music, piano works, symphonies and oratorios.
When the Count, who formed the center of the cultural life at court, died in 1777, Bach went on to look for new sources of inspiration for his works. He found these during his trip to London in the early summer of 1778 that he made with his eldest son Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst. In London they visited Johann Christian Bach, who made Johann Christoph Friedrich familiar with the music of amongst others Mozart and Gluck through his concerts. These composers would continue to influence him from then on.
Johann Christoph Friedrich returned to Bückeburg, where he led the court chapel to a great reputation. He also wrote many piano works with the help of the pianoforte that he had brought with him from London.
The oeuvre of Johann Christoph Friedrich marks the transition from the Baroque to the Classical period, with works in the Baroque and galant style, and works in which both styles are combined with elements of the classical style. His works are not as well-known as those of his brothers, which is possibly due to the fact that a significant part of his oeuvre was destroyed during the Second World War.

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Christoph Schaffrath

Franz Benda

Joseph Benedikt Zyka

Georg Czarth

Johann Anton Filtz

Press

You can feel a certain freshness of enthusiasm in playing together...
Classic Voice, 01-7-2024

Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde’s recent recording of 18th-century cello repertory with Artem Belogurov (fortepiano) and Victor García García (cello) is a triumph of imaginative musicianship.
Early Music, 03-5-2024

The sonatas are in three movements and embody the elegance, intimacy, and emotional sensitivity of the Empfindsamer Stil. Dostaler-Lalonde plays them exquisitely, with a beguiling lyrical tone quality, elegant phrasing, and flawless technique. (...) The satisfaction provided by the performances of Dostaler-Lalonde and Belogurov (and cellist Victor García García in the Benda and Zyka works) is augmented by their introduction of ornamentation, portamento, and flexibility of melodic phrasing over a regulated accompaniment. All of the elements lend the music-making a freshness, spontaneity, and sense of freedom that do not diminish over repeated hearings. The recorded sound is marvelous. Dostaler-Lalonde's liner notes are of considerable value as well. Recommended.
Fanfare Magazine, 01-3-2024

The performances by cellist Dostaler-Lalonde are excellent. She handles the musical requirements (and there are many that are varied) with complete ease. The instrument has a lovely tone that literally sings. The second cello part in those continuo works forms a nice duo with him, while the fortepiano playing of Artem Belogurov is sensitive and every bit the equal of the cello, as it should be. This is one excellent disc, and though it may be long, the wonderful styles presented here are all well worth obtaining. This is a most excellent production of some music and an instrument that need further exploration.
Fanfare Magazine, 01-3-2024

Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde and her two companions deserve the credit of having put together a repertoire thanks to which his instrument shines like a jewel. Just like she describes it herself, the delicacy of her interpretation is amazing, as any of the slow movements demonstrate, but it's equally convincing when it requires audacity and agility, as in the Zyka Sonata. A disc of discoveries of forgotten sounds and musicians.
Ritmo, 01-3-2024

Unfortunately, this repertoire is rarely performed and that is the first reason why this album is worth listening to. The second is the enthusiasm of performance and the incredible level of virtuosity of Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde. The delicacy of her playing, agility and boldness in making interpretive decisions are truly astonishing. I wouldn't call the soloist's companions accompanists, they are co-creators of the recording's success. Victor García García and Artem Belogurov play with attention to the smallest details. The whole thing is dominated by the spirit of improvisation, wit and charm. A thrilling recording!
Kulturalny sposob, 23-12-2023

Every single piece performed her is of excellent quality and has a character of its own. It was a nice idea to vary the programme with regard to the relationship between the various instruments. Two of the pieces are for an obbligato keyboard and cello, four for cello and basso continuo. Artem Belogurov delivers excellent performances on the fortepiano, a copy of an instrument by Johann Andreas Stein of 1783. The practice of accompaniment by a single cello is not often applied today, but is very interesting and musically rewarding, if it is realised in such a creative manner as here by Victor García García. The star of the show is, of course, Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde, who made a great impression in the Utrecht Early Music Festival of 2022, and whose qualities are confirmed here. This is playing of the highest calibre: she produces a beautiful tone, and her speechlike and dynamically differentiated interpretation does bring these pieces to life. Reasons enough to give this disc a special recommendation.
Music Web International, 07-11-2023

I concur that everything here is worth hearing. Even if you're not a fan of the galant period, the delicacy of her playing is astonishing, as any one of the slow movements demonstrates, but she's just as convincing when boldness and agility are required...
Gramophone, 01-10-2023

A bold debut. Dostaler-Lalonde chooses no common repertoire, but has her eye and ear on sonatas by unknown eighteenth-century greats as Christoph Schaffrath, František Benda and Joseph Benedikt Zyka.
Luister, 01-9-2023