Bohemia's contribution to the Viennese musical life of the late 18th century is generally mentioned in history books, but resounding testimonies of it have long been rare. This CD with music by Leopold Kozeluch (1747-1818), played by the Kurpfälziches Orchester conducted by Jiri Malát, fills a gap. Kozeluch learned the trade of music from local teachers and further trained in Prague under the
… direction of Dussek and his uncle Jan Kozeluch. In 1778 he moved to Vienna, where he quickly achieved success as a pianist and composer. In 1792 he was appointed court bandmaster and held this position until his death in 1818. Like several of his Bohemian colleagues, Kozeluch experimented with the genre of the 'sinfonia concertante'; a hybrid of symphony, solo concert and concerto grosso, in which a combination of instruments performs solo roles. Rarely, however, has such a remarkable combination been chosen as in this "Sinfonia concertante", because here trumpet, mandolin, double bass and piano sound successively as soloist. Especially the combination of trumpet and mandolin is remarkable because these instruments had a very different status. The trumpet was the revered instrument of the official city musicians; the mandolin the inferior vehicle of the traveling players. Kozeluch's music is attractive, but throughout the concert the line-up continues to make a curious impression. More conventional is the "Symphony in A", a four-movement work that is somewhat reminiscent of Haydn. The whole makes a somewhat disappointing impression due to the extremely short final, which is too much of a triviality for a final movement. All in all this is quite a nice CD. (JvG) _more
