CARL FRIEDRICH ABEL (1723-1787)

 

The Drexel Manuscript

 

Paolo Pandolfo - viola da gamba

 

Recorded at Église de Franc-Waret, Belgium, in February 2008

 

The fame that he enjoyed in his lifetime clearly hasn't served Carl Friedrich Abel well in the two centuries since his death, at least until Hyperion’s Gramophone Award in 2008. He was fêted all over Europe both for his supreme skills as a performer of the viola da gamba as well as for the quality of his compositions, and was responsible (along with JC Bach) for setting up arguably the first series of subscription concerts in the history of Western music, the "Bach-Abel-Concerts". Even the prodigy that was Mozart benefited from Abel's teachings (and was claimed as the composer of one Abel's own symphonies). All this was known by keen minds of the time such as Charles Burney, JF Reichardt and Goethe and fortunately also, in the 21st century, by Paolo Pandolfo, who delivers here a scintillating rendition of Abel's ever inventive music which ranges across Preludes, Adagios and sundry other dance forms. Where to place this ‘late’ music for the viola da gamba? Not Baroque and definitely heading in the direction of the classicism of Mozart, Haydn and even Beethoven. Or as Paolo Pandolfo - who adds dabs of his own highly-advanced improvisatory skills here and there - says, "Simply put, it is Music!"

 

Glossa GCD920410