Fanfare and Filigree: Chamber Music from Paris and Dresden
Fanfare and Filigree: Chamber Music from Paris and Dresden
Acis Productions, 2017
APL00244
Our debut CD, Fanfare and Filigree, invites listeners into the salons of eighteenth-century Paris and Dresden, where the virtuosity of wind players was highly esteemed. This music, as much refined entertainment as celebrations of the triumphs on the battlefield, evokes an array of styles and affections, which we have heightened through varied instrumentation, as oboes are exchanged for recorders, cello for viola da gamba. The dazzling complexity of sonatas by Fasch and Zelenka complements the grace and elegance of dances from the French masters Couperin, Marais, and Dornel that we have assembled as a satisfying pastiche-suite. The works presented here highlight the expressiveness, stylistic versatility, and technical capacity of these instruments that made them an essential embellishment of court life across Baroque Europe.
“The fact that they play one of the Zelenka trio sonatas is a real tribute to their virtuosity as players because the most famous recordings of those pieces are by Heinz Holliger and Maurice Bourgue, and they play them on modern instruments…you do feel exhausted listening to Holliger and Bourgue – but listening to Kleine Kammermusik, you feel they’re just enjoying their virtuosity, and…it’s a lovely warm sound, it just feels a more human sound actually. …it’s a beautiful natural feel, and I love the way they bring so much fun and expression out of the music here. They don’t see it as a period piece performance.”
- Sarah Devonald, Record Review, BBC Radio 3, September 30 2017
"As today's Baroque ensembles explore a larger range of the music of the past, we get a clearer picture of the staggering depth and variety of music from the Baroque period. This excellent recording shows off some French and German chamber music for woodwinds. The ensemble's name means "small chamber music" and the intimacy of this music is incredibly effective. The playing is graceful and engaging, with the double reed instruments taking on warm vocal characteristics. The French repertoire is especially fun, with a joyous dancing quality that inspires repeated listening."
- Jeff Zumfelde, Colorado Public Radio New Releases August 2017
“Battlefield meets salon in Kleine Kammermusik’s CD, “Fanfare and Filigree: Chamber Music from Paris and Dresden,” an evocative collection of attractive pieces for oboes, recorders, bassoon, and continuo by six composers active in those cities between 1692 and the 1740s…The group shows off its musical prowess…the disc shows the members of the ensemble off in the best possible acoustical light — the sound is present and authentic.”
- Mike Telin, EMAg, August 2017
Session Producer: Colin St. Martin
Engineer, Editing, and Mixing Engineer: Drew Schlegel
Assistant Editor: Geoffrey Burgess
Recorded June 28-30, 2016, Lenfest Hall, Curtis School of Muisc, Philadelphia, PA