Steven Isserlis Plays and Directs Boccherini

It was during my undergraduate years that I first became a subscriber to the Musical Heritage Society (MHS). When I first started working at the campus radio station, I discovered that I was the first broadcaster to present a weekly program of music from the twentieth century (at least in the memory of my colleagues). Thus, while I stuck to my guns for my own program, I began to take a fair amount of interest in those of my colleagues who were suspicious of any music composed after 1750. (For those that do not already know, that was the year in which Johann Sebastian Bach died.)

Cover of the album being discussed (from its Amazon.com Web page)

One of my first MHS acquisitions was an album of three string quintets by Luigi Boccherini. It was through that album that I discovered that a very familiar theme I had known since childhood came from the minuet movement of a string quintet in E major, now listed as G 275 in the catalog complied by Yves Gérard. That theme has remained a favorite, but it was only at the beginning of this month that my interest in Boccherini was revived. This was when I learned that, at the beginning of next month, Hyperion would release its latest album of cellist Steven Isserlis, whose full title is Music of the Angels: Cello Concertos, Sonata & Quintets by Luigi Boccherini. It should go without saying that one of the quintets included is G 275! (It should also go without saying that Amazon.com has already created a Web page to process pre-orders.)

It was from those colleagues from my student days that I first encountered the epithet that Boccherini was the “wife of Haydn.” To some extent this probably reflected the tensions associated with the “rivalry” between Austria and Italy, better known through the relationship between Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri. I have not encountered evidence of Salieri’s awareness of Boccherini’s music; but Boccherini’s brother Giovanni was a poet who wrote libretti for both Salieri and Haydn! Of greater relevance is that, in the recording industry, cellists such as Jacqueline du Pré have released albums that couple concertos by Boccherini and Haydn.

Nevertheless, there is much to enjoy in this new Isserlis release devoted entirely to Boccherini. If the quintet tracks are personal preferences, it is because it was through that genre that I first came to know Boccherini. On the other hand, according to his Wikipedia page, Boccherini composed twelve cello concertos (and one concertino); and I am not yet sure that I want to take a “deep dive” into the full extent of that repertoire!