United Continuo Ensemble, Jan Kobow - Johann Krieger: Love Songs & Arias; Philipp Friedrich Buchner: Sonatas (2009)

Johann Krieger may not be one of the more prominent baroque composers but like his two years older brother Johann Philipp, he is at least something more than a footnote in the annals of music. He was born in Nuremberg and served for some years in Bayreuth and Graz before in 1682 settling in Zittau, where he spent the rest of his life. He seems to have been especially revered for his keyboard compositions and Handel approached him so much that he took a copy of Krieger’s Anmuthige Clavier-Übung to England. He is reputed to have produced large quantities of vocal music, most of which apparently have been lost. No operas have been preserved and of his 225 cantatas only thirty remain.

That he was well equipped to write for the human voice is however very clear when one listens to the songs and arias from Neue musicalische Ergätzlichkeit. The texts were written by Zittau born Christian Weise (1642 - 1708). He was a teacher and in 1678 he was appointed principal at the Gymnasium in his hometown. Today this institution bears his name. In 1679 he started writing school comedies to be performed at the Carneval. Such comedies often had musical inserts and after a while Krieger got this task. In 1684 he published a collection of such settings and it is from this collection the songs on this disc have been chosen.

Weise was an excellent poet, something that Gotthold Ephraim half a century after Weise’s death pointed out, finding parallels even with Shakespeare. Fact is that the texts performed here are unusually witty, often humoristic, sometimes satirical. Considering that 325 years have passed since they were written, they are surprisingly modern and they express feelings and situations in a way that makes the reader feel that the late 17th century wasn’t too unlike our present world.

Even the music feels extremely fresh with captivating rhythms and catchy melodies, some of them probably inspired by folk songs of the day. The United Continuo Ensemble, playing on period instruments, have specialized in basso continuo instruments in their cooperation with singers, dancers, actors and other instrumentalists. They work well here and there is true heft when they are joined by the two trumpets in a couple of numbers.

Jan Kobow has emerged as one of the most outstanding German lyric tenor lately. His Die schöne Müllerin some years ago was one of my Recordings of the Year, a disc in the Naxos Complete Schubert Edition was also very successful and Haydn’s Die Schöpfung for the same company, where he was the excellent tenor soloist, almost swept the board with the competition. Quite recently he also appeared as operetta singer in Lehár’s Die blaue Mazur. He also appears on another dozen recordings for CPO. It is a beautiful voice, flexible, elegant, honeyed when needed and, first and foremost, his enunciation is exemplary. Even without the printed texts every syllable can be heard with the utmost clarity. To this must be added that he can express the meaning of the text, colour the tone - in sum: he is a superb interpreter.

The first three titles are sacred arias and they are more or less solemn but with a nice twist every so often. Then follows two groups of secular songs, and they are gorgeous. Ihr Freunde, fragt ihr noch, lively and rhythmic, followed attacca by Kömmt wir wollen ausspazieren, where Kobow indulges in some charming whistling at the end, are just appetizing starters. The real treats are found in the second secular group, where Ich habe mein Liebgen im Garten gesehen is so extremely beautiful and Kobow sings it with marvellous tone. The fast and rhythmic Ich traue nicht is intensely dramatic and has some fearsome runs, while the ironic Die Losung ist Geld erases more than three centuries: money was then and is today the solution! For the concluding group we are back where we started: with some sacred arias, of which Neu Jahrs-Andacht has the singer rejoicing the arrival of Jesus to the New Year, and the Abend-Musick is a festive conclusion, employing the full band with trumpets and timpani.

Soprano Julia von Landsberg appears in two numbers and sings well and the recording is atmospheric. On their own the ensemble play three sonatas by Philipp Friedrich Buchner, who was a generation older than Krieger. It is nice and varied music and ideal resting points between the groups of songs. The main attraction is however Krieger’s secular songs and they are certainly my baroque discovery of the year. This is a disc that shouldn’t be missed by any lover of vocal music from the 17th and 18th centuries.

Review by Göran Forsling, MusicWeb-International.com

The German solo song came into its heyday during the Baroque era, but the major record labels haven't been attracted to this repertoire as a whole. Apart from folk song and polyphonic song (such as madrigals), which must be counted as entirely different genres, the more ambitiously written German continuo song with lute or keyboard accompaniment is pretty much uncharted territory on CD. A representative list of composers of early Lieder who are awaiting first recordings might include five coincidentally named Johann or Johannes: Stobäus, Fischer, Schop, Kindermann, and Franck, along with the better known Heinrich Albert, Heinrich Biber, Andreas Hammerschmidt, and Reinhard Keiser. Many of these composers wrote predominantly for the church–secular songs, especially during the time of Pietism, being a much rarer bird. I remember a splendid Telefunken LP from the late 1960s that featured Max von Egmond singing songs of Biber, Schütz, Purcell, and Adam Krieger, a contemporary of Schütz who evidently was not related to Johann. One of the Adam Krieger songs, a husband's amusing lament about his unpredictable wife, still sticks in my mind: "Der Unbestand ist ihr verwandt," which loosely translates as "flightiness is her nature"–the same topic that occupied Mozart and da Ponte in Così fan tutte. Certainly not a propos these days considering society's general abhorrence of sexism, but back then the song was probably a big hit. Unfortunately, that Telefunken LP was never reissued on CD, but it deserves to be.

The German label cpo–the name stands for "Classische Produktion Osnabrück"–bills itself as both an audiophile label and as a specialist in early music and neglected areas of the German standard repertoire. What could be more natural, then, that Burkhard Schmilgun and his colleagues should launch an investigation of German continuo song? I wish, however, that they had started with a different composer.

Johann Krieger (1651-1735), a contemporary and classmate of Pachelbel, was born and educated in Nuremberg and pursued his craft in Zeitz, Bayreuth, Halle, and towards the end of his life, in Zittau, some 80 km southeast of Dresden on the present-day Czech border. Krieger is best known for his keyboard music–Handel is said to have greatly admired his keyboard sonatas, and took a copy of one of Kreiger's pedagogical works with him to England. Krieger was drawn to the works of Zittau poet Christian Wiese (or Wiesse), who began publishing his poetry in the 1680s. The poems themselves are fairly simply, one might even say simplistic, creations that paint a picture of domestic German life in the aftermath of the Thirty Years War. The topics are familiar ones: love, life, death, faith, friendship, and melancholy, and are treated in rhymed, strophic format, with little of the literary refinement, for example, that distinguishes contemporary English or French poetry.

In keeping with the poetry, Krieger's musical settings are straightforward and uncomplicated. Usually an instrumental introduction precedes the text, which is delivered in short, two-bar phrases interspersed with instrumental ritornelli. The instrumental accompaniment is supplied by the lute or keyboard, with two violins or other melody instruments ad libitum. The melodies themselves are mostly one-note-to-a-syllable, sometimes with a division or cadential formula thrown in for variety. Krieger's harmonic language is unadventurous and predictable: nearly every song begins with an initial statement in the tonic followed by a shift, via the supertonic, to the dominant (I-II-V). In the strophic songs, each verse is set to exactly the same music, in the manner of a hymn. Only sporadically does Krieger's muse allow him to break free from this mold, as in the rousing "Ich traue nicht" and "Die Losung ist Geld." Two other songs that manage to rise above the perfunctory level are the "Oster-Andacht" (Easter Service) and "Auff ein Ernte-Fest" (For a Harvest Festival), which are kind of mini-cantatas enlivened with extensive obbligati for two trumpets and drums.

Although this type of material undoubtedly has its place in the history of German song, and may have inspired others to reach for greater heights, I question the wisdom of devoting an entire disc to it. Time and again I yearned for the melodic and harmonic invention of a Buxtehude, Bruhns, or Pachelbel, to name but three of Krieger's more gifted contemporaries.

The performers certainly make the most of this rather sparse material. Jan Kobow is cpo's house tenor, and has participated in that label's series of highly acclaimed recordings of Bach, Stölzel, and Telemann. Here he lends his light, lyric tenor to the proceedings, as well as his considerable interpretive skills. I would love to hear him sing Schubert–he has the perfect voice and intellect for it. We can forgive Kobow for over-interpreting at times; when the umpteenth strophe comes around and he feels a need to "sell" the song, there is a tendency to lapse into a kind of Sprechstimme. Soprano Julia von Landsberg, who is listed as a guest artist, graces two of the songs with her pleasant voice. The rather industrially named United Continuo Ensemble contributes top-notch instrumental work. The group boasts an excellent string complement, as well as two outstanding players of the Baroque (valveless) trumpet. I particularly liked the punchy playing of dulcianist Lyndon Watts, who in real life inhabits the post of principal bassoon of the Munich Philharmonic.

The sonatas of Philipp Friedrich Buchner (1614-1669) were rather more engaging for me. Written for two violins and basso continuo (the dulcian is quite effective here as well), they borrow heavily from Italian string idiom of the early 17th century, sounding every bit like long lost sonatas of Cima or Castello. I don't mean this as a disparaging remark–we have to remember that instrumental music in Germany at the time was some 20 or 30 years behind that of Italy or France. The multi-sectional, quasi-improvisational writing is frequently quite inventive, and never less than interesting. Too bad only three sonatas were recorded, and that they were intended as mere "filler" between the songs.

Full texts and translations are provided, and the recorded sound lives up to cpo's high standards. Unless you are the ultimate Baroque completist, or are writing a doctoral dissertation on Johann Krieger, I suggest you pass on this one.

Review by Christopher Brodersen, Fanfare

Exact Audio Copy V1.1 from 23. June 2015

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Jan Kobow, United Continuo Ensemble / Krieger - Love Songs & Arias

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foobar2000 1.2 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2015-12-16 20:56:35

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Analyzed: Jan Kobow, United Continuo Ensemble / Krieger - Love Songs & Arias, Philipp Friedrich Buchner - Sonatas
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DR Peak RMS Duration Track
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DR9 -4.01 dB -15.79 dB 6:14 01-Johann Krieger: Auff die Kirch-Weihe
DR9 -2.83 dB -14.62 dB 5:05 02-Johann Krieger: Oster-Andacht
DR9 -3.07 dB -13.93 dB 4:02 03-Johann Krieger: Vor der Trauung
DR9 -4.46 dB -15.60 dB 5:23 04-Philipp Friedrich Buchner: Sonata for 2 Violins & Bassoon
DR11 -2.62 dB -19.07 dB 1:50 05-Johann Krieger: Lasst uns freuen
DR10 -3.30 dB -15.76 dB 1:34 06-Johann Krieger: Ihr Freunde, fragt ihr noch
DR11 -3.53 dB -17.04 dB 1:46 07-Johann Krieger: Kommt wir wollen ausspazieren
DR11 -3.25 dB -18.55 dB 2:42 08-Johann Krieger: Lasst mich in der Einsamkeit
DR9 -4.92 dB -16.80 dB 4:05 09-Philipp Friedrich Buchner: Sonata for 2 Violins
DR11 -3.71 dB -19.36 dB 3:08 10-Johann Krieger: Es ist mir von Natur gegeben
DR9 -2.49 dB -16.77 dB 1:55 11-Johann Krieger: Ihr angenehmen Leute
DR11 -3.67 dB -18.91 dB 6:11 12-Johann Krieger: Ich habe mein Liebgen im Garten gesehen
DR9 -3.07 dB -15.64 dB 2:28 13-Johann Krieger: Ich traue nicht
DR10 -2.64 dB -15.30 dB 1:57 14-Johann Krieger: Die Losung ist Geld
DR10 -4.36 dB -17.07 dB 4:00 15-Philipp Friedrich Buchner: Sonata for Violin & Bassoon
DR9 -3.64 dB -15.55 dB 6:41 16-Johann Krieger: Neu Jahrs-Andacht
DR10 -4.71 dB -17.07 dB 4:05 17-Johann Krieger: Auff ein Ernte-Fest
DR11 -3.53 dB -18.39 dB 2:46 18-Johann Krieger: Abend-Andacht
DR9 -2.20 dB -14.24 dB 5:07 19-Johann Krieger: Abend Musick Sei willkommen
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Number of tracks: 19
Official DR value: DR10

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Channels: 2
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