The baryton remains a curious oddity among string instruments. Developed in the 17th century, it is much like a bass viol with six gut melodic strings, but also has at least 10 to 15 sympathetic wire strings to be plucked with the left thumb. Its apex of popularity came barely a hundred years after its invention with the efforts of Prince Nicholas Esterházy, an avid amateur musician and patron of Haydn. The prince was by far the baryton’s chief enthusiast; the ever-fruitful Haydn alone wrote no less than 175 baryton works for his royal patron.
In recordings from 1968, baryton player János Liebner and harpsichordist Hans Pischner present arrangements of two of Haydn’s many trio divertimentos along with works by two other Esterházy court musicians, Luigi Tomasini and Joseph Burgksteiner. The program also includes an arrangement of three short pieces from Flemish composer Joseph-Hector Fiocco’s first suite for harpsichord. Even though the entire program clocks in at just a little more than 42 minutes, the selections do become a bit monotonous–after all, the majority of these works were written to cater specifically to the strengths of one amateur player. But Liebner and Pischner make the most of these slender, charming pieces, most notably Burgksteiner’s sprightly divertimento that shows off the baryton’s unique qualities. At budget price, Berlin Classics makes this a very good buy, although the sound isn’t up to the standard we expect from the best modern transfers.
