Among the dozens of “other” composers active during the Viennese classical period was Franz Anton Hoffmeister (1754-1812), who also was an influential music publisher and friend of Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven. Although the disc’s liner note writer goes to some length to decry our modern tendency to dismiss any composer’s work whose primary aim was “entertainment”, it doesn’t change the fact that indeed Hoffmeister’s creative ability was nowhere near that of the abovementioned masters. And yet the discussion also rightly directs our attention to music that is not only very competent and pleasing to hear, but at best (the D major concerto) can stand proud among the finer works of its period and genre.
The D major concerto is full of attractive melodies (a couple of fragments suspiciously reminiscent of tunes from Mozart’s divertimentos) neatly enhanced with virtuoso elements and supported by well-integrated orchestral accompaniment. This is by far the highlight of the program–and violist Ashan Pillai, whose performance of the lesser-quality B-flat major concerto sounds surprisingly ill-prepared by comparison–is totally in command of the solo part, which he plays with lovely tone, well-articulated runs and turns, and warm lyricism in the beautiful slow movement. The orchestra, while not exactly in first-tier form, works well with Pillai–again with some sketchy ensemble in the B-flat work–and manages to give conductor Christopher Hogwood snappy rhythms in the allegros and rich, full-bodied string sound in the D major slow movement.
The 12 studies for solo viola will be of particular interest to any violist who doesn’t already know them–the recording purports to be a “world premiere”–as they are not only appropriately challenging technically but also have the benefit of being, yes, “entertaining”. Not a bad thing at all, given the relative shortage of such viola repertoire. In all, this is a pleasing and very recommendable recording, especially to listeners who enjoy Mozart and/or Haydn. (Note to Oehms: Please include track listings inside or on the back cover of the liner booklet!)
