In the 1980s and 90s Frans Brüggen became one of the leading conductors in the period-instrument movement; he was co-founder of the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, and regularly worked with other period bands, including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. But in the early years of his career he was an outstanding recorder player, who from the mid 1950s onwards brought a new expressive flexibility and rhythmic freedom to the recorder repertoire, as well as commissioning new works for the instrument.
Ten years after Brüggen’s death, it’s that achievement as an instrumentalist that is celebrated on Lucie Horsch’s disc. More specifically it’s the remarkable array of recorders from the late 17th and early 18th centuries which he collected and played that are in the spotlight here, all of them documented, together with illustrations, in the accompanying CD booklet. For the 26 tracks Horsch uses 15 different instruments – sopranino, descant, treble and tenor recorders – some of which are now so fragile that she was only able to record a couple of takes on each. There is a mixture of original pieces – by Telemann, Handel, and Couperin, among others – alongside arrangements of Haydn, Marcello and Bach, with the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century used for the larger-scale movements.
With instruments from different eras and countries, the pitch of the performances naturally varies, as does their individual tone quality. Horsch points out in the booklet that she had to play them much more carefully and delicately than she would a modern recorder, and to emphasise the differences she plays movements of Handel’s F major sonata on different instruments, one made in London and one in Berlin. For once it’s the instruments that matter more than the music; anyone remotely interested in recorder playing will find it fascinating, and get a reminder of just what an extraordinary musician Brüggen was.
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