Luigi Boccherini: The Six Symphonies, Op. 35
Marc Destrube, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century
Luigi Boccherini: The Six Symphonies, Op. 35
Marc Destrube, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century
Emilio Moreno's passion, knowledge and thirst for the music of Luigi Boccherini yields a further revelation with the Six Symphonies, Op 35, premiered in 1782, newly edited by violist Moreno and performed here by the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century.
In 1769, Boccherini extended his travels in search of work, fame and fortune across Europe to include Spain, country in which he would stay for the rest of his life. In 1776, Boccherini's patron, Don Luis de Borbon, found himself outmanoeuvred by the king Carlos III in the royal succession stakes. He was exiled far enough from Madrid so as not to be a nuisance. He decided to set up home in Arenas de San Pedro, in the province of vila. Fortunately for Boccherini (and posterity), Don Luis was a committed and rich patron of the arts (the young Goya was a beneficiary) and devoted to his music...
In Madrid Don Luis had been enthusiastic about the developing symphony genre and Boccherini sought to palliate the prince's exile some seven years into it with these six sprightly three-movement Sinfonas Quatro, imbued with the light of Spain. That the palace "house band" was typically a string quintet didn't prevent Boccherini from imaging these symphonies as involving up to four string players per part for future performances, and it is such a conception which is being followed by the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century (continuing to maintain the love of music-making and the touring spirit instilled by their founder, the late Frans Bruggen), here led by violinist Marc Destrube.
In 1981, Frans Bruggen, Lucy van Dael and friends founded the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, consisting of fifty members from twenty different countries. Six or more times a year the orchestra assembles to go on tour. The musicians, all specialists in eighteenth and early nineteenth century music, play on period instruments or on contemporary copies.
The wide-ranging repertoire this orchestra performs includes works by Purcell, Bach, Rameau, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn and Chopin, and has been recorded for Philips Classics and nowadays for The Grand Tour/Glossa. In August 2014, the Orchestra had to say farewell to Bruggen. While the collaboration between the orchestra and its founding father came to an end with his death, Bruggen's inspiration remains and will guide the Orchestra for years to come. The Orchestra continues the tradition of six or more projects a year, now by inviting guests and guest conductors to lead.
Review
Kate Rockstrom
I love a composer with a big idea. In 1775 the Spanish prince Don Luis de Borbon found himself exiled to a back corner of Spain after a failed attempt to become King. During his time in Madrid, he was a patron of an up-and-coming young composer from Italy, Luigi Boccherini. But as his exile dragged on, he commissioned Boccherini to write him something to cheer him up and these delightful six symphonies were premiered in 1782. Unfortunately (in Boccherini’s mind) there was only a string quartet on hand to play these three movements. Nevertheless, he dreamed big and left notes to inform future performances by a full orchestra.
Two hundred and forty years later, renowned early music specialist and viola player Emilio Moreno gets his hands on the original score and recreates it as Boccherini had envisioned. Moreno is a member of the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century and with conductor Marc Destrubé they have brought a new sunbeam into the world.
To say these symphonies are pure delight is underselling them. Even the movements in a minor or historically sad key signature somehow contrive to sound cheerful. Each symphony is quite short when we consider how much the genre expanded in the subsequent 200 years. But I can just imagine Don Luis de Borbon sitting down to listen to his in-house string quartet perform one of these delights in between banquets, dancing and discussions of his latest commissions.
Boccherini was a prolific composer and with almost 600 works to his name, it can be hard to know where to start. All I can say is that these recordings would be a perfect place to start, or finish, or if you’re in the middle of your musical journey they will springboard you into a new appreciation of his compositional prowess.
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