One of the most exciting developments in the past year has been the steady stream of excellent recordings released by the French Alpha label. This new disc featuring the music of Philipp Heinrich Erlebach (1657-1714) reminds me that critics still receive their share of wonderful surprises. Hardly a household name, Erlebach was born in Esens (East Friesland) and was most successful as Kapellmeister at the court of the counts of Schwarzburg-Rudoflstadt. This recording focuses on his rarely heard string sonatas and a set of moralistic arias from an anthology called Harmonische Freude musicalischer Freunde.
Erlebach's arias feature vivid word-painting and are punctuated by melodic ritornello passages. Baritone Victor Torres is blessed with a big voice and sings these arias with generous helpings of personality and impeccable musicianship. Equally fine are the sonatas for violin, viola da gamba and continuo published in 1694. Like so much German music of the time, the sonatas are influenced by the French and Italian schools. Typically, the sonatas open with three-part introductions that lead into dance movements that alternatively weep, dance and sing-this is eye-opening music that deserves wider attention.
The young musicians of Stylus Phantasticus are brilliant and play with warmth (kudos to the Alpha engineers for capturing their lush string sound so realistically) and snappy virtuosity in the more animated passages. The continuo playing is filled with vibrant color and features fine work by harpist Siobhán Armstrong, Eduardo Egüez on theorbo and guitar and harpsichordist Dirk Börner.CRAIG ZEICHNER