Trios pour basson

Description

Associating wind instruments with other families of instruments — including the brand-new pianoforte, gradually replacing the centuries-old harpsichord — was a constant among composers and instrumentalists of the late 18th century, still following in Mozart’s footsteps. Ludwig van Beethoven devoted many compositions from his early Viennese period to it, before never returning to it again. Among other combinations (winds alone or winds opposed to strings), he pairs the piano with a few solo winds: the flute and bassoon in the present trio Wo037, the horn in his Sonata op. 17, the oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon in his Quintet op. 16, a counterpart to Mozart’s brilliant Quintet K452. Lightness, brilliance of invention, and a spirit of entertainment characterize this program, which offers us a panorama of salon music at the beginning of musical Romanticism. Display music for Devienne (himself a flautist and bassoonist), decorative music for Donizetti and Morlacci-Torriani, more structured and inspired music for Beethoven’s trio, where each instrument is best characterized through its own character, timbre, range, and technical possibilities. The bassoon blends with the flute in the recurring unisons of Devienne’s allegro moderato, sings (almost) like a cello in the adagio of the trio Wo037, and chatters in duet with its companion in the little overtures of the two Italians. Everyone gets their moment in the final variations of Wo037; the pianist handles the changes of style with assurance and establishes a certain homogeneity despite a flute recorded a little too closely. (Pascal Bouret)