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Josef Myslivecek, Concerto Köln
Il Divino Boemo: Josef Myslivecek Symphonies
Genre: Classical

Track Listings (21) - Disc #1
1. I. Allegro Con Brio
2. II. Andante
3. III. Allegro
4. I. Allegro Assai
5. II. Andante
6. III. Menuetto
7. I. Allegro Assai
8. II. Allegretto
9. III. Prestissimo
10. I. Allegro
11. II. Allegretto
12. III. Prestissimo
13. I. Spirituosa
14. II. Andante
15. III. Presto
16. I. Larghetto
17. II. Allegro
18. III. Presto
19. I. Allegro
20. II. Largo
21. III. Presto Assai

CD Details

All Artists: Josef Myslivecek, Concerto Köln
Title: Il Divino Boemo: Josef Myslivecek Symphonies
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: Archiv Produktion
Original Release Date: 1/1/2007
Re-Release Date: 2/13/2007
Genre: Classical
Styles: Chamber Music, Forms & Genres, Concertos, Historical Periods, Classical (c.1770-1830), Symphonies
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 028947764182

Synopsis

Amazon.com

Recordings of music by Myslivecek aren't exactly thick on the ground and few can compare with the colorful repertory or the brilliant playing of the Concerto Köln on this disc. Myslivecek was called Il boemo (the Bohemian) in Italy, where he enjoyed considerable success and where these "sinfonias" (really brief operatic overtures, none lasting more than ten minutes) were written in the 1770s. They are works brimming with melodic invention, surprising contrasts, and delicious gestures. Highlights abound ? the teasing string figures of the A major Overture that opens the disc, the perky wind writing for horns, flutes and oboes in the five Sinfonias, and above all, the lively E-flat major Concertino that closes the program, with its expanded wind brigade. Along with some irresistible music, the performances of the period-instrument group offer attractive pleasures of their own, with accurate, smooth strings and dazzling wind playing. The engineering is on the same high level. Here's hoping for more Myslivecek by the Concerto Köln. --Dan Davis

CD Reviews

Attractive Music from a Mozart Contemporary

M. C. Passarella | Lawrenceville, GA | 12/24/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Sometimes, I wonder if Concerto Koln doesn't play so ardently and so well that they make the old music they advocate sound better than it is. I'm going to conclude that isn't the case with Josef Myslivecek, a Bohemian composer who flared like a comet across Europe's musical skies but died in obscurity, aged 43, in 1781. The successful composer of operas and orchestral music, he influenced the young Mozart. Like that other important influence on Mozart, J. C. Bach, Myslivecek's music is charming, urbane, highly melodic. It lacks the intellectual rigor of a C. P. E. Bach or Haydn but substitutes a sunny grace colored by a special reliance on winds and horns. Like the typical Italian sinfonia or the early Mannheim symphony, Myslivecek's symphonies are all three-movement affairs, fast-slow-fast for the most part except for the early Sinfonia in C, based on a string quintet that Myslivecek wrote in the 1760s, which has a Larghetto first movement. My favorite is the Sinfonia in E-flat. It has a little more drama and dash than do some of the other symphonies, but all are attractive works, including the bubbly Concertino, which features flutes, clarinets, and a chortling bassoon as well as horns.

As examples of the early three-movement symphony, these works of Myslivecek have it all over the typical example of the Mannheim symphony from the same period and, as I say, are fully the equal of those of J. C. Bach. This CD features wonderfully committed playing from Concerto Koln as usual and a very sympathetic recording from DG, close in their typical manner but with a little more spaciousness than in some Concerto Koln recordings, imparting a pleasanter ambience as befits the music. If you're a fan of the early Classical symphony, this disc will be a must-have for you."