Fritz was Swiss-born in 1716 and is obscure. His career was centred on Geneva, city of his birth. These flute sonatas were written essentially for the amateur market of the day. As a footnote it's interesting that editions of Fritz's music should be so geographically far flung but he did dedicate an awful lot of his works to foreigners.
The Op.II Flute sonatas were published over a wide period of time; some three decades in fact. They look to models for the violin, such as the sonatas of Locatelli, whilst also showing sure awareness of the solo works of Bach. There is only one sonata di chiesa amongst the set of six and that is the A major (No.3) which is perhaps a little surprising. Nevertheless with craft and architectural guile Fritz fashions sonatas of genuine warmth and surety. Nothing truly earth shattering happens but it's clear that his neglect has been unwarranted and the performers do great credit both to his legacy and their own subtlety and instrumental finesse in bringing it to life.
A few examples will suffice. The Largo of No.1 reveals a debt to Bachian models – it's not the only movement to do so. The D major sonata has hints of Locatelli and its athletic central Allegro tests technique (not found wanting here). As so often it's the finale, which embeds an aria and variations, that is the most personable and fluent movement. There's a delicious series of brief variations, as well as some fine decorations, and a quite extended solo role for harpsichord.
The best moments in that sonata di chiesa are probably the charming arabesques of the second movement and the sense of lightness and vivacity that are imparted generally. The fourth sonata is one of the finest of the straight from the fluent and fluid opening, through to the mini cadenza for harpsichord in the finale. Here Fritz seems genuinely inspired. He brings a sense of fantasy to the writing and to the exciting exchanges between flute and harpsichord which, allied to textual variety, ensures that this sonata should have a life outside the confines of the Op. II set. If the finale of the Fifth sonata, whilst deft, lacks the ultimate in melodic distinction it's always smiling and engaging. The same goes for the variations in the Moderato finale. Here again, Fritz is found at his most unbuttoned and imaginative.
Claire Genewein is the intrepid heroine of the disc, aided with great perspicacity and musicality by Maya Amrein (cello) and harpsichordist Nicoleta Paraschivescu. With helpful notes and a good, well-balanced recording these hitherto little appreciated works have been given a fine send-off into the market-place.
Gasparo Fritz is one of the many composers from the mid-18th century whose name and works have disappeared under the dust of history. He was a respected musician, though, who once performed at the Concert Spirituel in Paris, and whose music was appreciated by Handel and Charles Burney. His Christian name Gasparo is the Italian form of his original name, Kaspar. His father, Philipp, was from Celle in Germany and had settled in Geneva as a music teacher. According to Charles Burney he was a pupil of Giovanni Battista Somis in Turin, but in 1736 he was back in Geneva where he stayed the rest of his life. He seems to have moved in aristocratic circles as the dedications of his various publications indicate. He acted as director of musical performances by English residents of Geneva and also as a teacher, apparently to great acclaim.
Charles Burney praised him for his expressive powers and Handel judged his sonatas opus 1 positively, but his playing didn't meet with universal approval. His concerts in France were not really successful as a result of his Italian style of playing, and when an amateur violinist from Basle heard him play, he found his ornamentation excessive. He stated that Fritz sometimes lost his rhythm and accused him of lack of musical taste.
Fritz's compositions are various in character and technical requirement. The sonatas opus 2 and even more so the sonatas opus 3 require considerable technical skills, whereas the trios opus 4 are far less demanding. The fact that the Sonatas opus 2 are set for either violin or transverse flute reflects the growing popularity of the flute at the time, especially among amateurs. Five of the six sonatas are in three movements – only Sonata III has four – and four follow the modern fashion of beginning with a slow movement. That is to say: three of those four opening movements are andantes, which are not meant to be really slow. Four sonatas end with variations on a chaconne bass.
In the programme notes Nicola Schneider writes: "The fourth sonata is very impressive, which in the first movement shows thematic echoes of the sonata in B minor for flute and harpsichord BWV 1030 by Johann Sebastian Bach". Surprisingly she doesn't mention the second movement of the Sonata I which begins with the same motif as the siciliana of Bach's Sonata in E flat (BWV 1031).
The style of the sonatas can be described as galant which was one of the main fashions in music at the time. But, as already indicated, this doesn't mean these sonatas are easy. One of the aspects which demands great skill is the ornamentation. Claire Genewein adds extensive cadenzas at the end of some movements. This seems to be in line with Fritz's intentions: the adagio of the Sonata II contains a long cadenza written out by Fritz himself. There is a considerable amount of improvisation in these performances – the cadenzas are good examples of that. It is also part of the realisation of the basso continuo. Sometimes I feel the almost concertante style of playing the bass part is at the expense of the rhythmic support of the flautist.
It isn't always easy here to distinguish between what exactly Fritz wrote down or indicated and what is the result of the performers' decisions. One example is that some passages – in particular the last movements of the Sonatas II and IV – are played by the cello and the harpsichord without the flute. But I haven't heard anything which crosses the line of what is stylistically conceivable.
I have really enjoyed listening to this disc. Fritz's various musical ideas and melodic invention have resulted in a set of entertaining sonatas. With their creative and imaginative performances the three artists serve them well. This disc is a fine addition to the catalogue, and has made me curious about the rest of Fritz's oeuvre.
Der Barockkomponist Gasparo Fritz ist bis heute weitestgehend unbekannt, denn bereits zu seinen Lebzeiten war das kulturelle Klima seiner Heimatstadt Genf so träge, dass der Musiker und Komponist lediglich einige wenige Kontakte zum Ausland herstellen konnte. Umso erstaunlicher ist die Tatsache, dass inzwischen wieder zahlreiche Abschriften, besonders von den Sonatendrucken in den Bibliotheken größerer europäischer Städte ausfindig gemacht werden können.
Bei seiner steten Recherche nach vergessen Musikquellen des 17.–19. Jahrhunderts stieß das Ensemble L'Arcadia auf die Sammlung der Sechs Sonaten für Violine oder Traversflöte mit Basso continuo op. 2. Obwohl die Wahl des Soloinstruments im Titel offen gelassen wird, nehmen die Tonarten – alle ausschließlich Kreuztonarten – besondere Rücksicht auf die schwierige Intonation der Traversflöte. Doch nicht nur dieser Umstand ist ein auffälliges Indiz für Fritz' Vorliebe für dieses Blasinstrument, sondern auch der sehr differenzierte Kompositionsstil zeugt von großer Kenntnis der Flötenliteratur seiner Zeitgenossen. Ein augenscheinliches Beispiel ist die Sonate Nr. 4 in e-Moll; übrigens das einzige Werk dieser Sammlung in einer Moll-Tonart. Das Kopfthema des 'Andante' weist geradezu plakativ Anlehnungen an die melodische Gestaltung des ersten Satzes von Bachs großartiger h-Moll-Sonate auf. Auch die beiden folgenden Sätze von Gasparo Fritz' Sonate verstecken nur schwerlich das große Vorbild Bach, jedoch entwickelt Fritz durchaus wie auch in den anderen Sonaten seinen persönlichen Kompositionsstil, der sich in den prägnante Themen ausdrückt.
Leider wirken die sehr unterschiedlichen Anlagen von Melodiebildung und Satztechnik nur wenig eingängig, obwohl Fritz' Stärke eben nicht in außergewöhnlichen Melodieeinfällen liegt, sondern alle Melodiethemen stets wiederholt oder leicht variiert dargebracht werden. Der fehlende Wiedererkennungswert dieser Musik mag auch in mangelnder Klangdifferenzierung in der Interpretation durch Claire Genewein, Traversflöte, Nicoleta Paraschivescu, Cembalo, und Maya Amrein, Cello, ihren Ursprung haben. Jedenfalls fehlt es besonders den mit reicher Ornamentik verzierten langsamen Sätzen an dynamischer Differenzierung. Dabei zeugt das Flötenspiel Geneweins von großer Feinfühligkeit, was an ihrem stets zarten und zugleich auch sehr klaren Flötenton deutlich wird. Umso mehr ist an vielen Stellen der Sonatensammlung ein luftigerer und zugleich voluminöserer, aber trotzdem scharf gestochener Klang wünschenswert. Dieser fehlt hörbar in der kompositorisch mitreißenden Sonate Nr. 5, welche erstaunliche Ähnlichkeiten – diesmal aber zu Bachs Sohn Carl Philipp und dessen äußerst empfindsamen Stil in seinen Flötenwerken aufweist. Obwohl Genewein über eine absolut einwandfreie Technik hinsichtlich Intonation und Fingerläufigkeit verfügt, mangelt es der Komposition deutlich an melodischer Richtung. Dieses fehlende Gefühl vermögen auch Cembalo und Cello nicht wiederherzustellen, weil deren Spiel zu wenig offensiv und bisweilen sogar erheblich unterrepräsentiert erscheint.
Die Musiker des Ensemble L'Arcadia geben zwar ein homogenes Klangbild ab. Dies täuscht aber nicht über den Umstand hinweg, dass ein undifferenzierter Eindruck hinsichtlich der Interpretation der Sonatensammlung entsteht. Obwohl solide Kenntnisse der Historischen Aufführungspraxis übermittelt werden, ist das Zusammenspiel des Ensembles kaum mitreißend. Dabei darf die kompositorische Leistung des vergessenen Komponisten Gasparo Fritz nicht in den Hintergrund treten und allein des schönen Repertoires wegen ist diese Aufnahme doch empfehlenswert.