Cover of the album being discussed (courtesy of Naxos of America)
A little less than a month ago, Glossa released a two-CD set of the collection of six symphonies by Luigi Boccherini published as his Opus 35. The performances are by the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, performing a new edition of the score prepared by one of the ensemble’s violists, Emilio Moreno. Many readers may know that this ensemble was co-founded by wind player Franz Brüggen in 1981, and he remained a leader until his death in August of 2014.
I first became aware of Boccherini when I was in high school and my parents gave me a recording of János Starker playing one of his cello concertos. However, his repertoire is often overlooked, particularly since he was a contemporary of the First Viennese School composers. Indeed, during his lifetime (and probably afterwards as well), there were many who dismissed him as “the wife of Haydn.” (That Starker album had a Haydn concerto on its other side.)
Mind you, Boccherini does not hold up particularly well when placed alongside Joseph Haydn. The Opus 35 symphonies were first performed in 1782. By the end of 1781, Haydn had composed 75 symphonies, which were as rich in inventive diversity as the symphonies of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, if not more so. On the other hand all six Boccherini symphonies were written in major keys. One might almost say that he composed for “casual listening,” contrasting sharply with First Viennese School inventiveness.
Nevertheless, any one of the symphonies in the Opus 35 collection holds up very well in its own right. Listening to even one of the two CDs may leave many feeling that there was a “more of the same” approach to composition. However, as we all become more adept at “digital listening,” it is easy to confine the experience to a single symphony with little difficulty. Such an experience should convince anyone serious about music history that Boccherini definitely deserves his place, even if his turf is not particularly expansive.
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