Benda: Harpsichord Concertos

Album review

Georg Anton Benda is one of those composers who had some amount of fame in his time, but is underrepresented in modern times both in publication and recording of his music. Although he was more widely known for his stage works, some degree of his reputation was built on his harpsichord concertos. The four on this recording by Sabine Bauer and La Stagione Frankfurt show very clearly characteristics of that period in the middle of the eighteenth century when the Baroque was waning and the Classical-era was waxing. The facts that they were specifically for harpsichord and that the harpsichord is also a member of the orchestra are the most obvious Baroque elements. Benda wrote nearly all of the movements in a ritornello form, with the orchestra and soloist trading off as they do in Vivaldi's concertos. What marks these works as belonging to a later period, however, are the changing moods in each movement. The F minor Concerto sounds as if a Vivaldi concerto were being played with Haydn's Sturm und Drang upheaval. The fast movements of the B minor are also full of tension. The F major and G major concertos are less dramatic, and the finale of the G major is even playful, but the harpsichord part in both concertos is still florid and flashy. Bauer handles the incredibly brisk tempos of conductor Michael Schneider with the greatest of ease, along with all the fancy ornamentation and even hand crossing. She also gives a sympathetic dignity to the slow movements. The orchestra plays much more of a supporting role in those movements, but Schneider and La Stagione are still precise, just as they are vigorous in the fast movements. The recording's sound is very good, not artificially boosting the harpsichord's sound to equal that of the full orchestra or rise above it. Bauer and La Stagione have done an excellent job of dusting off and polishing Benda's reputation.
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