There have been a couple of rather exciting records recently of symphonies Vanhal symphonies; but this disc, though pleasant enough, is a good deal less arresting. These six quartets were written about 1770, for oboe or flute with strings, as domestic diversion or background entertainment music. They would still serve that purpose admirably; Vanhal was a polished composer, with a secure technique and a pleasing vein of melody. The first movements here, most of them in a moderately fast tempo, unwind with considerable charm – sometimes (as in No 2) the lines are quite elaborate, and several (for example, No 4) have a pleasant vein of wit. There are several expressive slow movements – an undemanding eloquence to the Cantabile of No 1 and real expressiveness in the Largo of No 5, for example. I liked the wit in some of the finales, such as No 3’s, but there isn’t really anything that grabs you, that really insists on your attention – Vanhal’s world is just a little too conventional for that.
However, the playing here does compel attention: there are few if any oboists, at least on modern instruments, as skilled and as stylish as Sarah Francis, and her impeccable playing, sweet tone and musicianly phrasing – which are amply matched by the string group – are a real pleasure to listen to. It is more for Francis than for Vanhal that I would commend this CD.
Vanhal was a contemporary of Haydn and Mozart; Wagenseil was a generation older, born in 1715, but the set of quartets recorded here date from the 1760s. They are written for the curious combination, perhaps unique for the time, of three cellos and double-bass. The original offers the option of violas for the two upper cello parts and here the even-numbered quartets are done that way; though in fact the homogeneous cello ensemble has rather more character, with its uniformity of attack and the sense that the instruments are playing at the top of their compass. The textures are sombre, of course, and have the deep, rather gruff double-bass at the bottom and dense middle-pitch sound; by the end one is inclined to echo the reaction of a member of the audience at the Paris Opera to Mehul’s violin- less opera Uthal – ‘Oh for the sound of an E string!’ Still, this is pleasantly tuneful music, and there is much ingenious and interesting writing, with a certain amount of counterpoint and a good deal of texture that is akin to a trio sonata with an extra voice. Each piece is in four movements, including a minuet (note the graceful example in No 2, the epigrammatic one in No 5, the elegant one in No 1, the unusually dark-coloured one in No 4). There are some slow movements of considerable intensity (the C minor example in No 3, for instance, or that of No 6), and not very many jolly pieces except, perhaps, the finale of No 2, which has some nicely spruce rhythmic playing.
These are very capable performances, with much neatly shaped detail, and some particularly happy moments, especially when the three cellos are playing in perfectly unified rubato (there is a delicious example in the first movement of No 5). Cello addicts will certainly want this pair of discs; others may feel it is too much of a good thing.'