Neapolitan composer Leonardo Leo (1694-1744) was one of the forerunners of the Classical style, a composer primarily of opera. His experiments with a lighter, freer concept of melody in his comic operas spilled over into instrumental works like these cello composers of 1737 and 1738, which have a flavor all their own. They owe little to the concertos of
Vivaldi, which must have been well known even as far south as Naples. They are in four (or five) movements rather than the conventional three, and their opening Andante movements, especially, show signs of the breaking-up of terraced Baroque structure that would lead eventually to the shifting motion dynamics of Classicism. Most striking is the role of the cello, which was not a common solo instrument at the time. Its relationship with the orchestra is not one of competition but of relaxed cooperation, with the cello joining the orchestra soon after the beginning of the music, or sometimes immediately at the beginning. The music for the cello soloist contains little opportunity for virtuosic display; instead the cello weaves itself in and out of the texture in a relaxed way, lightly ornamenting tutti material or executing a graceful modulation. Perhaps Leo (a composer not much studied by musicologists) was writing for a patron of modest capabilities, but it seems likelier that he was experimenting with a new conception of the concerto form, one in which the soloist served more as an agent for subtle variation of the texture than as the star of the show. It is significant that Leo titles one of his concertos "Sinfonia concertata" (CD 2, tracks 5-8). This concerto doesn't differ stylistically from the others, and all bear certain resemblances in mood to the later sinfonia concertante, where smoothly shifting textures rather than instrumental fireworks were the rule. The performance by cellist
Josephine Knight and the
English Chamber Orchestra (modern instruments are used) is appropriately low-key, with the sometimes tricky problem of giving the cello its proper prominence solved with admirable clarity.
Each disc of this two-disc set clocks in at just over 40 minutes, so the whole thing is hardly longer than a single full-length disc -- a shame for the budget-minded buyer, but reassuring to the one who might be worried about getting too much Leonardo Leo. This music has a languid, garden-party feel that any listener might enjoy, and that those interested in the early Classical period will find quite intriguing.