This is not the first time I’ve gone on record about this recording; I’ve had it now for a couple of years, having found the combination of Christoph Rousset on harpsichord and Stephano Montanari on violin a curious duo. Even more curious is the album cover, put out by Ambrosie in 2007.

The recording is made relatively “close,” with an emphasis on Montanari’s sound. The closeness is a minor quip; I think we’d here more dynamic variation from the violin if we were slightly less close to the performer. After all, he does contribute a richness in the dynamic department which is apropos to the music.

I’ve lived with these sonatas for so long; they’re akin to 3 part sonatas, except Bach wrote out two of the parts for the keyboard (bass as a basso continuo, the right-hand as a second melody, often in contrapuntal consort with the violin), and of course, the violin. These are the prototypes, I’m sure, for those later by Mozart, C.P.E. Bach, Beethoven, etc.

I’m a big fan of BWV 1017, the fourth sonata in C minor. I must have listened to the second allegro hundreds of times, my first exposure being that of Reinhard Goebel and Henk Bouman. That performance of course colored my thinking about this set; it was recorded I believe on the cusp of 1980-81, and had its own recording issues, not to mention a few spots where intonation escapes the otherwise impeccable playing by Goebel. Few recordings since have really tickled me, in terms of inventiveness or interpretive superlatives. Catherine Mackintosh, Andrew Manze, Carmignola, etc. all had noble attempts, none of whom really contributed anything remarkable, at least in the “newness” department.

Unlike others, this duo gives us alone the set of six sonatas, BWV 1014-1019, the last (in G major) being the odd-one out, with three versions having survived. We seem to get a good collection from 1019 in this set; although not clearly marked in my electronic edition, it seems with 7 tracks we might have all the tracks required to reproduce both BWV 1019, BWV 1019a, and the alternate movement with solo harpsichord.

I also find the later (in terms of Schmeider number) sonatas, which many play with an augmented bass interesting, in the BWV 1020s. Despite them “missing” here, I liked this release.

All the allegros don’t maintain the same amount of energy as what I feel they probably possess, but many are done very well, with that toe-tapping energy that seems germane to Bach’s richer fast movements. Montanari is am impressive player, and his interjection of some turns here, other ornaments there within the collection is a nice way of decorating the line. His energy seems authentic, despite some of the slower movements presenting more of an interpretive challenge. The music is difficult to perform because it leaves both players quite “naked.” With Rousset as the back-up man on harpsichord, the duo often lock in to a really steady tempo, with Montanari offering more of the affective goods. He doesn’t take every opportunity to lean-in and add what I would have to call attitude, but it’s there enough to make me smile.

The opening of BWV 1019 is a great example for closer examination. I prefer Goebel’s tempo; but these two lock-in and it’s as easy as anything to tap your foot to their choice. With headphones as my listening medium, the two instruments could use a tad more air, if for nothing else, better balance. The interpretation is stylish, if not a tad safe. Montanari often takes dynamic contrasts through his reading, although nothing would have been hurt if he amped up the changes even more, for better contrast.

The second track, Largo, is delightful, if not too slow. But here’s where taking things slow allows Montanari (and Rousset to a degree) to shine through their own aesthetic additions of rubato and ornaments. The next Allegro, for solo harpsichord, is confident, cocky even, played by Rousset with authority at what I would deem an ideal tempo. In the repeat, I yearned for some more fanciful fingerwork, hoping Rousset would lay on a little sass. Instead, it’s another clean reading, perhaps with just a hair of the opening energy missing.

The next track, an adagio that brings back the violin seems like one of Bach’s experiments. The contrapuntal element is there, but the movement lacks the compositional polish of the earlier largo.

The next Allegro has such a sound to it I wager this was recorded on another day; the entire recording has more energy, even more volume, when it comes to Montanari’s line on violin. Tempo is good, energy is welcome, but I’m not sure they pull off the little licks that tease each other as well as it could be done… but they’re approaching an interesting, if not jovial solution.

The penultimate movement is another slow one, but here pushed somewhat, in the major mode. I like this approach a lot. The music, not to mention the interpretation, brings a warm smile to the listener. The last track, a cantabile is less successful, and here I blame Bach somewhat… what he wrote isn’t a piece of cake for any duo. One version of the sonata is to end with the opening Allegro in repeat; here our friends didn’t bother to record that, instead, you have to program your player to go back and repeat that which we’ve already heard.

Despite my nitpicking with BWV 1019, there is still a lot to admire in this release. BWV 1015 sparkles, both with energy, rollicking tempos, and confidence from both players. WIth a love for these works, and no really “outstanding” single release, I enjoy collecting a variety. There’s just enough inventiveness here from Montanari (more so over Rousset) to admire this one despite even more recent releases.

I knew this iconic museum in New York had celebrated the artistic nature of a number of products over the ages, from the Movado watch to the iPod.

But to turn the corner on the “design” floor and see not one, but six example’s of Jerry Manock’s designs sitting there, was a little surreal.

It’s affecting because you knew when you first saw the Lisa and then the original 128KB Macintosh at the store in 1984 that… well… what was before you was the future, and the future was cool. It was cute, it was graphical, adn damn, it had a mouse.

It was excellent design. And you knew it when you saw the original iPod and it’s click wheel.

I am not sure how I feel about seeing a computer, a tool, in an art museum. But it is a nod to the vision of Mr. Jobs. Some art is meant to be used as tool, as fashion. And yes – we may like some of these tools for their aesthetic nature, even if they’re mass-produced. It’s the design that’s on parade, not the tool.

It’s worth viewing this one full size to appreciate the detail.

This building sits across Park Avenue, and you get to drive through it, if you want, which is kind of cool.

Tilt-shift is a type of lens which can be used to mimic a psychological effect when looking at photos; in this case, I used Snapseed to add a digital effect. If you think you’re looking at a miniature city, that’s the effect.

I took this with the 100-400 mm zoom from atop the Empire State building. I am not sure it’s entirely successful, but it was fun and the view from up there was limited by my endurance of cold wind.

One of my goals this time to NY was to visit more than one Apple Store. I brought my Canon with me to the Grand Central Station to capture Apple’s newest store, the one seen above.

Heavy processing was done with Snapseed, just because I was having fun. I wanted to give the photo some edge with a dated-feel. I hope you enjoy.

We’re not sure how they “close” the store, since there is no official front door.

Close to the Eataly food emporium and Monroe Square Park stands one of New York’s iconic buildings, the Flatiron.

I captured this one with the Sigma wide-angle and the lens flare is natural. I did some post processing in Snapseed; their “drama” filter adds too much of a fake “HDR” halo around the building to my liking, but I love the color effect it produces, so it stayed.

I’ve often admired this building, it was fun to try to capture it with full sun off to the left around 10:30 AM.

Perhaps one of the iconic images we have of NYC at Christmastime is skaters under a light snow at Rockefeller Center. No snow, and way too many people. I photographed this on Christmas evening (just past 5 PM) using my Sigma 12-24mm wide angle zoom lens.

Post-processing again was done in Snapseed. I am not sure about the cropping with heads; I wanted people to know the atmosphere was intense with a crowd, but I wanted the focus not to be on the people but instead the magical ambiance.

This photo lacks the depth and detail of the other shots; it too was (heavily) edited in Snapseed. But the remarkable thing is that the original photo was not taken with the 5D, but with the iPhone 4S.

I used the finger-hold-down trick (locks focus and metering) and got what I think were outstanding results from the camera.

I tweaked color and blur (on the edges) with the iPad app for editing. The editing also lost contrast.

Macy’s — didn’t see it in person — but captured this shot from the Empire State Building using the 400mm (full zoom) setting of the new lens.

The perception of detail is pretty good; I did some mild editing in Snapseed.

The original size (22 megapixels from my 5D mark II) shows over-sharpening again (due to my editing in Snapseed).

On the iPad’s 1024×768 display, judging the sharpening is a little difficult with files so large.

Luckily, at web-friendly sizes, the effect isn’t overdone and looks fine. You can almost read the subway sign below the “bag” (left) when fully zoomed-in.