Pratum Integrum Orchestra Soloists - Joseph Wolfl: The String Quartets (2008) [SACD]

Joseph Wölfl was born in 1773 in Salzburg & had lessons from Leopold Mozart & Michael Haydn & once had quite a reputation as a pianist & composer, taking part in competitions at the keyboard with Beethoven himself to much public acclaim. Beethoven appears to have been the superior player
In 1790 he went to Vienna to visit Mozart who got him a position with Count Oginski in Warsaw where he remained for 5 years before returning to Vienna. He wrote operas, 1 of which, Der Höllenberg, was composed with Schikaneder, Mozart’s friend & librettist for The Magic Flute. Chamber & instrumental works were dedicated to Haydn, Mozart & Beethoven. In 1798 & newly-married he embarked on a huge & highly successful tour of Europe & ended up in Paris in 1801 acclaimed in 1 newspaper as “the most thrilling pianist in Europe”. In 1805 he left Paris suddenly, the excellent booklet essay making some guesses for the reasons for this, & eventually ended up in London, where his career continued but with less success. He died suddenly in 1812 having written a broad corpus of works, several operas & ballets, 3 symphonies, 7 piano concertos, & a good deal of chamber & instrumental music, including 18 string quartets.
Much of the above was new to me, & it was interesting to listen to work by a composer with a wide reputation during his lifetime but who is hardly known now. Indeed, the quartets presented here are all world première recordings. They date from 1805, the year of Wölfl’s difficulties in Paris, & are each in 4 movements, quick movements beginning & end frame a slow 1 & a minuet.
There are plenty of good ideas in the writing, imaginative canons, polyphony & unexpected key changes. Despite this, the sum total is somewhat lacking, leaving academically interesting but ultimately unsatisfying works, & regrettably I do not feel these were buried treasures.
The 4 string players are usually to be found in the Pratum Intregum Orchestra – the “unmown meadow” of neglected Baroque & Classical works being the staple diet – & play with affection for these quartets. There is a certain amount of huffing & puffing audible from at least 1 of the players, & the predictable ballooning of some of the phrasing gives an unfortunate cumulative effect.
Recording quality is excellent as is the norm for this label, the recording made by Polyhymnia sounding superb in all formats. The booklet has an excellent essay by Tatiana Sokorina & is beautifully presented. This release is well worth investigating by those interested in the byways of the classical era.

Tracks:

String Quartet in C major, Op. 30, No. 2 (21:46):
01. I. Allegro (06:46)
02. II. Minuetto. Allegro (03:44)
03. III. Adagio ma non troppo (04:47)
04. IV. Finale. Allegro (06:27)

String Quartet in D major, Op. 30, No. 3 (26:05):
05. I. Allegro (07:28)
06. II. Minuetto. Allegro (03:58)
07. III. Andante un poco allegretto (06:55)
08. IV. Prestissimo (07:42)

String Quartet in E flat major, Op. 30, No. 1 (22:18):
09. I. Allegro (07:16)
10. II. Adagio (02:37)
11. III. Minuetto. Allegro (03:03)
12. IV. Finale. Allegretto (09:20)