Album
Czech Ensemble Baroque, Roman Válek
Richter: Super flumina Babylonis, Miserere
Catalogue Number: SU 4274-2
Published: 25th October 2019
Genre: Chamber Music
Format: 1 CD
Franz Xaver Richter (1709-1789): Super flumina Babylonis - Psalmus 136 á 12 voci (1768). Miserere (in f) á 10 voci per il Venerdi Santo (1770-73)
Markéta Böhmová, Pavla Radostová - soprano, Piotr Olech, Kamila Mazalová - alto, Jaroslav Březina, Jakub Kubín - tenor, Jiří M. Procházka - bass. Czech Ensemble Baroque, conductor: Roman Válek
For the 60-year-old Franz Xaver Richter, a composer of Moravian origin living and working in France, the spring of 1769 was a true watershed in his career. When, two years previously, he joined a competition held by Concert Spirituel, a major French music institution, he evidently had in mind being employed as a musician in Paris. The contestants' task was to compose a "motet á grand choeur", encompassing a sequence of arias, ensembles and choruses, set to the Latin text of Psalm 136, Super flumina Babylonis. Although Richter failed to win the competition, his work arouse great interest and on 28 March 1769 it premiered within the Concert Spirituel series at the Tuileries Palace, at the largest music venue in Paris at the time. Less than a month later, Richter was appointed the Maitre de Chapelle de Notre Dame de Strasbourg. The motet Super flumina Babylonis undoubtedly played a significant role in his being named to the prestigious post. Over the first years he spent in Strasbourg (1770-73), Richter wrote three settings of Psalm 50, Miserere mei Deus, intended for the night liturgy of Tenebrae, a religious service held during the three days preceding Easter. In addition to Super flumina Babylonis, the present album features the third setting of the Miserere, in F minor, in a premiere recording. In their fourth disc of Richter's music, Czech Ensemble Baroque discover the yet to be mapped legacy of the distinguished 18th-century composer.
F. X. Richter's settings of psalms rediscovered after 250 years
Markéta Böhmová, Pavla Radostová - soprano, Piotr Olech, Kamila Mazalová - alto, Jaroslav Březina, Jakub Kubín - tenor, Jiří M. Procházka - bass. Czech Ensemble Baroque, conductor: Roman Válek
For the 60-year-old Franz Xaver Richter, a composer of Moravian origin living and working in France, the spring of 1769 was a true watershed in his career. When, two years previously, he joined a competition held by Concert Spirituel, a major French music institution, he evidently had in mind being employed as a musician in Paris. The contestants' task was to compose a "motet á grand choeur", encompassing a sequence of arias, ensembles and choruses, set to the Latin text of Psalm 136, Super flumina Babylonis. Although Richter failed to win the competition, his work arouse great interest and on 28 March 1769 it premiered within the Concert Spirituel series at the Tuileries Palace, at the largest music venue in Paris at the time. Less than a month later, Richter was appointed the Maitre de Chapelle de Notre Dame de Strasbourg. The motet Super flumina Babylonis undoubtedly played a significant role in his being named to the prestigious post. Over the first years he spent in Strasbourg (1770-73), Richter wrote three settings of Psalm 50, Miserere mei Deus, intended for the night liturgy of Tenebrae, a religious service held during the three days preceding Easter. In addition to Super flumina Babylonis, the present album features the third setting of the Miserere, in F minor, in a premiere recording. In their fourth disc of Richter's music, Czech Ensemble Baroque discover the yet to be mapped legacy of the distinguished 18th-century composer.
F. X. Richter's settings of psalms rediscovered after 250 years
Reviews
“Pour le jeu de l’orchestre, nous sommes saisis par la subtilité des nuances et la souplesse des phrasés, mais également par sa vitalité. L’énergie solaire est ici au rendez-vous de la variété des couleurs, de la netteté des attaques et donc d’une sonorité cristalline. Quant au chœur, nous en apprécions l’intensité et l’homogénéité en termes de la maîtrise du vibrato, jamais envahissant, et du timbre.”
ResMusica, January 2020
“Ces deux partitions imposantes, aux choeurs puissants (fugués ou non), chantés avec l'énergie et les nuances qui conviennent, comportent de belles parties de solistes. Dans l'une et l'autre, on entend un duo soprano-alto fort bien rendu, propre à retenir l'attention. Les sonorités pointues et incisives de l'orchestre donnent le ton, sans nuire à la plénitude, et l'on s'en félicite. Pour ce genre de répertoire, cette réalisation est de celles qui s'imposent.”
Classica, March 2020
“These are powerful and beautiful pieces, made all the better by sterling performances by the Czech Ensemble and Chorus. From the standpoint of interpretation, this is a fine disc to have and comes highly recommended.”
Fanfare, May 2020
“Válek verfügt über ein ausgezeichnetes Vokal- und lnstrumentalensemble. Sein Chor enthält mehrere Sänger, die die Arien und sonstige Solopassagen sehr gut darstellen. lch möchte diese beiden CDs nachdrücklich empfehlen. Die meisten Werke erklingen hier auch zum ersten Mal auf CD.”
Toccata, July 2020