Pressestimmen zur CD
Fanfare - November/Dezember 2000 - Rober Maxham
.....But the Anthologie lies well beyond the historical. The music speaks
eloquently in performances like these that place sholarship at the service
of modern theatrical sensibility. Siedel builds the opening untitled work
by Shop, for example, to an almost unbearable level of intensity (and nearly
reaches it in the same composers's Nasce la Pena); and her imposing virtuosity in his
Allemande helps underscore the work's dramatic logic....
Siedel's violin may be set up in the old way, but the tone she produces from
it ought to be acceptable, at least after few minutes of listening,
to almost anyone. And she moves to center stage (where the engineers have left her)
as confidently as Isaac Stern or Itzhak Perlman. While some period instrumantalists
create the illusion of viewing violinist composers of legendary stature
trough the wrong end of a telescope. Siedel creates exactly the opposite
impression, magnifying these relatively minor figures far beyond their
column inches in biographical dictionaries. And the ensmble's reading,
no matter how imaginative timbrally (in the opening Nasce la Pena),
for example, the chambers organ's dramatic sonority immediately
commands attention), never degenerate into mere essays in textures.
The collection should be more widely enjoyed than its title suggests, for the performances
are as reminiscent of stages as ofthe museumor the textbook anthology.
High general commendation.
American Record Guide / Barker
..... He (J.Shop) was the focal personality in early-17th-Century Hamburg,
which, with Lübeck, served as main centers of instrumental style in
northern Germany. Around him cluster his predecessor in Hamburg and teacher
in Copenhagen, the peripatetic Englishman, William Brade (1560-1630),
and Schop's successor there, Samuel Peter Sidon (16??-1701), as well as Schop`s
Hamburg contemporary, Heinrich Scheidemann (c.1596-1663).
Also represented are another Brade pupil, Nicolaus Bleyer (1591-1658),
who settled inLübeck, an a native of that city, Thomas Baltzer (c.163063),
who ended up in England...... so if you like the form you will parlticularly
enjoy this engangig literature. Above all , if you like vortuosic playing,
you will be wowed by Annegret Siedel's fabulous fiddling. A lot is alled also by the robust continuo work of her two partners.
The booklet presents good notes on the participating composers.... Still, this program is an illumiminating exploration of a neglected area of North-German early-baroque music, as well as a revelation of the fact that genuine violin virtuosity in German-speaking lands did not begin only in the late 17th Century with Biber.
Early Musik Review - 63 - September 2000 / BC
This is a wonderful CD - I have sat and listened to it
(or rather allowed myself to be transported far beyond the confines
of my new living room) several times in the last few weeks. If I once likened
Elisabeth Wallfisch to Locatelli, I have to say that Annegret Siedel might
well be Thomas Baltzar incarnate - his music must simply flow in her veinst!
Not that her Schop, Brade, Bleyer, or Sidon are any less compelling.
Accompanied by harpsichord, organ and theorbo (or solo, since some of
the pieces are unaccompanied), her violin was like the Pied Piper's flute -
wherever it led, my ears followed without any straining or effort on my or
her part. I'd never heard of Schop so this is a most welcome addition to
my CD collection and I cannot recommend the disc highly enough to anyone
interested in the 17th century.
Klassik heute 9/2000 / Matthias Hengelbrock
Eine herausragende Figur im hamburgischen Musikleben des 17. Jahrhunderts war Johann Schop, der Impulse von William Brade aufgriff und die Kunst der Diminution von Tanzsätzen verfeinerte. Er und sein Umfeld werden mit der vorliegenden CD, die neben Stücken für Geige ohne Begleitung und Werken mit Generalbaß auch einige Sätze für Tasteninstrumente enthält, plastisch porträtiert. Durch eine geschickte Anordnung der 21 Nummern entsteht mehr als nur eine Blütenlese, nämlich thematische oder stilistische Einheiten, an denen nicht nur die hohe Qualität, sondern auch Entwicklungslinien des hanseatischen Musiklebens deutlich werden.
Die Interpreten widmen sich ihrer dankbaren Aufgabe mit Hingabe und beweisen profunde Kenntnisse und Stilkompetenz. Interessant wäre es, diese Musik nicht auf einer hoch-, sondern auf einer frühbarocken Geige zu spielen, deren Klang noch gerader und heller ausfällt. Gleichwohl ist auch schon in der vorliegenden Weise Schop und seinen Zeitgenossen ein guter Dienst geleistet.
BA Heppenheim Nr 188, 16.08.2000
.... Im norddeutschen Frühbarock aber waren diese Komponisten und Musiker wahre Größen.... Das Programm ist überzeugend ( und wohl auch repräsentativ)
zusammengestellt und wird erstklassig dargeboten.... begeistern auf alten Instrumenten bzw. Nachbauten durch plastisches, aber nicht übertrieben drastisches Solo- und Ensemblespiel.... Das warme, völlig durchsichtige Klangbild ist exzellent. Für alle Fans barocker Kammermusik, die die ausgelatschten "Großmeister"-Pfade satt haben.