Boccherini - 3 Symphonies - Hogwood, Academy of Ancient Music

 

Release Date: 1994 Label: L'Oiseau-Lyre Number of discs: 1 Composer: Luigi Boccherini Performer:  Christopher Hogwood, Academy of Ancient Music cd info/ buy

Review:

In this issue of three Boccherini symphonies by the Academy of Ancient Music the orchestra's period instruments offers a vivid expression of the music's dramatic content. In La casa del diavolo (G506) the radiance in the opening allegro and gentle pathos in the second movement and crisp, clear textures in the finale create a chilling representation of the music's diabolical character. The AAM's stylish response to Boccherini's imaginative rhythms and inventively varied textures is delightfully apparent in the F major Symphony, where the finale's sudden diversion into a minuet is deftly handled. The four-movement C minor Symphony is the most expansive and truly 'symphonic' of the three works recorded here. The taut control of the opening movement's dialogue between various instrumental groupings, the engagingly pastoral tone in the Lentarello, the suitably rustic minuet and trio and astonishing brilliance in the tarantella-like finale, produce a genuinely compelling result. The AAM's fresh, vigorous accounts are attractively presented in resonant recorded sound.

 

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