Vivaldi: Bassoon Concertos, volumes 1-2 • Sophie Dervaux

Last year, bassoonist Sophie Dervaux released an album of concertos with La Folia Barockorchester (Dresden) and they’ve just released volume 2. Booklets were not available for these releases which I auditioned via Qobuz. Both albums from Berlin Classics, interestingly, feature the same cover art with no words.

Dervaux isn’t strictly an historical player. But trusting my ears, she’s using an historical bassoon in these productions. The concertos covered include:

• Volume 1
  • RV 474
  • RV 497
  • RV 481
  • RV 501 “La Notte”
  • RV 484
  • RV 473
• Volume 2
  • RV 488
  • RV 502
  • RV 500
  • RV 493
  • RV 477
  • RV 485
  • RV 498

Vivaldi wrote a total of 39 concertos for featuring the double reed instrument we in English call the bassoon. During the baroque, the instrument was included in orchestras as a basso continuo instrument (for which earlier works may have used the dulcian, an earlier instrument). Vivaldi’s role in the instrument’s development is assuredly placed due to the fact that he chose to write solo concertos for this instrument.

To this day, I still remember a fellow musical student of mine at Eastman performing (I think) an A minor bassoon concerto live with a small compliment of four string players. It was not an historically-minded performance, but I remember how expressive she was, and altogether it was well-played. It was far more expressive, I remember, than the recording I had of Danny Bond playing the same concerto with the Academy of Ancient Music (Decca L’oiseau-lyre).

There are some already good performances by HIPP performers on record; of those I’ve liked the most have come from Sergio Azzolini. One should also seek out Peter Whelan’s recordings with La Serenissima.

Sound

I auditioned these recordings both on headphones and via a two-channel speaker setup. The speakers setup leaned toward the orchestra, at least the violins and the plucked continuo sounding in sharp focus, while the bassoon itself was further back with less focus. My experience on headphones reinforced this with respect to the orchestra, but the the bassoon for me had better presence.

The overall atmosphere is a little on the wet side, but the microphones are close enough to the musicians. In this way we get that almost ideal-sound, ample reverb, but also the sense of being in the front row near all the action.

Listening

RV 477 in C major

The middle movement of this work is barebones; Vivaldi provides a bass line along with the melody for the bassoon. The movement repeats, and each start is approached differently, the second, more quiet with dynamics. Lute, bowed strings, and harpsichord provide chordal support in intelligent ways. While Dervaux varies things with the repeats with appoggiaturas and the like, she doesn’t go enough for my taste. However, compared to some of Vivaldi’s violin concertos written with simple parts, the bassoon part in this one is nearly aided on how to elaborate from the start. Which makes me think Vivaldi may have been helping a young start from the Pièta.

The third movement of this concerto has a number of challenging changes with articulation that Dervaux plays technically well. Both her approach, and that of the orchestra, makes great dramatic impact. The rubato brought in around measure 213 is nicely done.

RV 498 in A minor

The eleven-minute concerto by now for me is “an old warhorse,” one of the pieces that often comes to my inner ears when I think of Vivaldi’s concertos for bassoon. The opening movement is a little docile compared to my memory of other recordings, but it’s very far from boring. Despite the tempo choice, both soloist and orchestra own the piece. The dynamic treatment in this concerto’s opening movement has been squeezed harder (likely by the Italians), but it’s no less enjoyable played this way. The bassoon’s presence is always out in front.

The middle movement differs from the example above, my opening with melodic material from the upper strings. The challenge for the bassoonist is to sound as even-keeled as they go up and down lines Vivaldi left to outline the harmonies. There’s a bit of cuteness to this movement, which after the first presentation, opens for the soloist to show off more of their technical capabilities. Here the soloist does well with what’s written, but I was hoping for some more improvisatory exploration.

The small forces of La Folia are in good sync in the start of the third movement; as I’ve listened to this album, I’m in appreciation for the lute and harpsichord players. They play with good vitality and exposure. The team takes advantage of the “sighing” figures written for the bassoon by Vivaldi to good affect.

RV 500 in A minor

This concerto opens with plenty of energy. In reading the autograph score for this one, I was pleased to see Dervaux adding in plenty of her own ornamentation. I’d dare say that Dervaux’s impact on me in this concerto from the second volume is even more punchy and extravagant. Nicely played with a good infusion of pulse and drama.

The middle movement nearly asks the bassoonist to retreat into their sound, to be introspective; I think that’s the effect we get here, and it’s well done, with Dervaux coming out into the light as the movement progresses in its repeats.

The third movement provides evidence is a bit of a different sound signature in the second volume; what I hear is more reverb and less focus in the way the music is captured. The benefit from this approach is the application of dynamics from the first violin and bassoon soloist. The whole movement is played quickly and was a delight.

RV 485 in F major

I’m less appreciative of this concerto—from Vivaldi’s pen. It has a theatrical association for me. The tempo chosen by these musicians I think is a good one, they aren’t slaves to the metronome, and they can appreciate the grandeur suggested by the opening, which gets repeated by the bassoon in the first solo episode. Dervaux almost seems to take over when her solos come in, which I think is a smart way to play with this movement.

The effect at the start of the slow movement would seem to work better with a larger ensemble; my assumption is that they’re playing 1-per-part. While I don’t think this movement, nor this concerto is among Vivaldi’s best, it’s played nevertheless with the same care as we experienced before.

I’m not enough of a Vivaldi expert to tell you I think I’ve heard some of the thematic material in the opening for a violin concerto; from Vivaldi’s pen is more of what he’s done already in his other concertos in terms of the type of writing for bassoon. At about a minute in, he changes course by offering a little dialog between the first violin and bassoon, which is a fun twist.

I took a listen to Alberto Grazzi’s performance of this same concerto under the direction of Trevor Pinnock in their 1995 release on DG Archiv. The orchestra is larger, without a doubt. There’s an attractive aspect to Grazzi’s timbre. I think the dramatic nature of the opening movement makes sense with a larger ensemble.

American Michael McCraw’s recording on BIS with the Drottningholm Baroque Orchestra starts far too slowly for my taste. Unlike Dervaux, however, he plays along in the tutti passages before the solos. The 1985 recording, while it has good sound, and a great tone from McCraw, I think isn’t in the same league as this new recording by Dervaux and La Folia.

Final Thoughts

Before I set to write my conclusions, I auditioned Sergio Azzolini’s recording of the concerto entitled “The night,” RV 501. The Sonatori de la Gioiosa Marca and Azzolini together are far more extravagant affair compared to these recordings under review with La Cetra and Dervaux. While the dramatic effects are interesting, they also feel a bit artificial at times.

There’s no comparing the sound quality between the 2004 recording by Naïve Classics and these by La Cetra; the sound in the Berlin Classics productions is superior in every way.

While I certainly admire the invention and daring of Azzolini in his recordings, these two by Dervaux strike a good compromise. They are performed by technical experts. Dervaux makes her role sound easy in every track; there’s no doubt she’s an expert, despite her start on the clarinet and guitar (!).

While I think there is something to be gained by auditioning all of the musicians I’ve listed in this review, the first two volumes by Dervaux and La Cetra are very solid releases that play enough with tempo and affect to keep me happy. I think the concertos I auditioned from volume 1 had the tighter sound, they both work well for those auditioning with headphones.

I look forward to future releases, should they be planned. Both the orchestra and their soloist are well-equipped to go for recording all 39!