ZWV 6, ZWV 140, Stoelzel's Missa in E Minor

[Elwro]

The German Consulate in Krakow has kindly decided to sponsor the CD release of a recording of Missa Fidei ZWV 6, Salve Regina ZWV 140 and Stoelzel's Missa in E Minor (as well as an organ piece by Bohm) made last year by Kantorei Sankt Barbara, L'Estate Armonico orchestra under the direction of W. Delimat. What I know now is that there'll be a concert on the 27th of November 2016 (in Krakow) when the CD will be officially presented. I don't know what pieces will be performed, but presumably parts of the recorded works.

[Xanaseb]

Wow, congrats on the funding! Good to see it come to fruition A multi-premiere CD from Kraków

[Elwro]

It's produced :-) Anyone who'd like a copy, write a PM to me please or post in this thread!

[Elwro]

The back of the CD:
zelcd2.jpg

[Elwro]

And the front:zelcd1.jpg

[Elwro]

A small taste: Salve Regina ZWV 140: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...a_ZWV_140.flac

[Elwro]

Status: All CDs sent :-)

[Testudo]

Hi! I am very interested in buying a CD, but your Mail-Inbox here on this site seems to be full, I could not send you a message! Can you please contact me here on this site or via testudolegens@hotmail.com Kind regards from Austria, Roman

[Elwro]

Sure! Please give me some time, I have a horrible amount of work right now. I just wanted to say that yes, I've noted your post :-)

[rnkt]

The disc arrived today and it is a complete joy. It's not every day you get to hear a Zelenka mass for the first time and it turns out that Missa Fidei (ZWV 6) is an absolute peach even though it seems only the Kyrie and Gloria have survived. I had never looked at the score and did not know when it was composed, but following my first listen I thought to myself, I'd bet my house on it being penned in late 1725. Bingo! Those of you who were, like me, blown away by Inégal's Psalmi Verspertini I disc from late last year will find that this new release of ZWV 6 is a perfect partner to that disc. Fidei is dated November 1725, exactly when Zelenka was churning out his first vespers cycle. In that cycle Zelenka seems to be experimenting a lot with through-composed works (Dixit, Confitebor) or by having themes which unify whole works (e.g. Beatus vir). The mass is definitely in this vein. For instance the Kyrie theme (which is uncannily similar to the first theme of Laudate Pueri, ZWV 82 which is dated only 18 days earlier) is fused with the Christe theme to make a double fugue for the second Kyrie. And then the Gloria is unified by the recurring acclamation of Laudamus te etc... When I first heard that I immediately thought of Missa dei Filii from 15 or so years later. It's kind of the same trick (though much less complex), and actually the Laudamus te theme is almost the same, just inverted. Finally, there is a rather experimental-sounding "Amen", quite like those in the Vespers settings.

So this premiere recording of ZWV 6 is a very timely and wholly enjoyable experience. Congratulations go to all the performers, who absolutely nailed it. The soloists are very fine and Sop and Alto do well to hit Zelenka's absolutely fiendish first entries in the Gloria (he could be quite a meany couldn't he?!). For me their highlight though is in the Qui tollis II - a wonderful duet in antiphony with the two oboes.

The disc ends with a very fine and moving performance of one of Zelenka's Salve Regina settings (ZWV 140). Those who don't (yet) have the disc can download it on this thread.

Also on the disc is the premiere recording of a mass by Stölzel, a composer I only knew from a rather beautiful trio sonata I found in my school music library in the 90s. I think I read somewhere that Stölzel had more to do with JS Bach than Zelenka. However, the style of this mass is actually more in the direction of the latter (let's say north european-italian fusion). While it is much more conventional than Zelenka, there are some lovely moments, like the echos between the soloist, oboes and violins in the Laudamus Te. And the Crucifixus is very poignant and in the stilo antico (possibly even a parody of a much earlier work). Stölzel shows his true colours at the end though with a cheeky and cheesy quotation of Pachelbel's canon on the words "Dona nobis pacem" (at least that is what it sounds like). A more serene and reflective end to a mass would be hard to find...

The choral works are framed by some very stylishly played organ works by Pachelbel and Böhm.

Many thanks Elwro for making this disc possible through your transcriptions of the manuscripts and of course thanks so much for sending out the recording to Zelenka devotees, who I am sure are gobbling it up just like me! Fingers crossed you have another Zelenka premiere recording in the pipeline