JOHANN ADOLPH HASSE: IL CANTICO DE' TRE FANCIULLI Gillian Keith (Azaria), Gabriele Hierdeis (Anania) – soprano; Dean Kustra (Misaele) – countertenor; Simone Vondung (Angel) – contralto; James Tolksdorf (Nabuccodonosorre) – bass Kammerchor des Theresiengymnasiums München Camerata Fulda Harald Kraus – conductor Koch Schwann 3-6587-2 2 CDs, ££ TPT: 89' 38

A valuable recording of a little-known work from the pen of a much underrated Bach contemporary.

In comparison with his views on a provincial Kapellmeister whose tenure at Leipzig had begun some thirteen years previously, Scheibe's 1746 assessment of Johann Adolph Hasse was certainly more favourable: 'Herr Hasse is well known; and who can remain unaware that he has successfully upheld his nation's reputation, even amongst the Italians?…This great man has taken melody to the utmost heights, yet will seldom indulge in excess there. His melodic invention accords perfectly with the words. Up to the present, he has few rivals in this field.' Praise indeed, especially when one considers that the composer previously referred to was none other than JS Bach. Where Bach's music was seen to have failed in adopting the aesthetics of the younger generation, Hasse became a champion for a cause in which 'nature', as opposed to 'artifice', became the catchword.

First performed in April 1734 and based on the Old Testament story of Daniel, Hasse's oratorio It cantico de' tre fanciulli is a masterful example of the synthesis between German polyphony and Neapolitan elegance. Thus models of opera seria, da capo arias, dramatic, accompanied recitatives, etc., are combined with the Dresden tradition of concertante wind and Rococo string writing, features that were all-but destroyed in a later (and to us, more familiar) revision in which double wind and brass, akin to the Viennese symphonic school of writing, and through-composed arias replaced earlier versions.

At first glance, it might appear to be something of a shame that Kraus has taken the unusual step of resurrecting this original version from an amended autograph, since there are aspects of the later one that are worth keeping. In particular, some of the arias are somewhat long-winded and the choir, in this recording the superb Kammerchor des Theresiengymnasiums München, is relegated to only two minor numbers. That said, the chance of hearing the work in a scoring that does not suffer from the heavy-handedness that seems to dog Hasse's assimilation of the early Classical style outweighs all such drawbacks. Here we find the delicacy that must have accompanied the all-star orchestra of the Dresden court, which included both Quantz and Buffardin, a feature that is clearly present in this tightly-shaped and detailed performance on period instruments from the Camerata Fulda; listen to the opening Introduzione for some wonderful oboe playing from Benoît Richard, and if you want to hear a truly beautiful Baroque guitar performance, you would have to go a long way to better Joachim Klingenfuß's ritornelli in 'Tutte all'invito'.

As far as soloists go, the recording remains something of a mixed bag: Gabriele Hierdeis as Anania fails to capture the listener's attention in the way that Gillian Keith does, who manages to keep the interest in the longer arias with a carefully-balanced sense of shape and drama. Vondung, as the angel, falls by the wayside with some intonation problems and rather ungainly breath control, especially in the long 'Venticel che sovra i prati'. Countertenor Dean Kustra (Misaele) fares much better, but, if we were to be unkind, we might accuse him of trying to engender the same, self-satisfied sound that one associates with Andreas Scholl. But whilst Scholl's tone is quite natural, the problem here is that Kustra has a tendency to force his voice, and this leads to a few problems of intonation. That said, his eleven-minute aria 'Notte amica', surely one of the most demanding of the oratorio, is sung with great poise and dignity, even if it is slightly lacking in dramatic content. Tolksdorf provides just that right amount of menace in his only aria, 'Si perfidi', but his recitatives are quite boring, containing neither the same dramatic content, nor shape, especially in the accompagnato recits, which plod along in a most uncomfortable and unrewarding manner.

That aside, this is a valuable recording of a little-known work from the pen of a much underrated composer; whilst lacking the concise qualities we might associate with Bach (sorry Scheibe) or the tightly-packed dramatic content of, for example, an opera seria in the true Handelian style, we are nevertheless provided with a unique example of eighteenth-century oratorio, something we should try not to ignore.

John Woodford