A Survey of Bach Recordings (2001)
Another biberfan.com archives post.
a Survey of Bach Sonatas
Monica Huggett, violin performs the Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin BWV 1001-1006
For solo violin, Bach wrote three sonatas, BWV 1001 (g), 1003 (a), and 1005 (C). I was anxious to get this set, as it was one of the first, in a long time, to offer these important works performed by a Baroque specialist. Previously, I had bought Wallfisch's version on Hyperion.
Monica Huggett uses her early-1600s Amati violin, and speaks so highly of it, along with her fashion photos in the booklet, you get prepped for something that just "has to be good." She warns us, though, "I have tried to dwell less on the virtuosic aspects in favor of a more purely musical interpretation." Huggett also tells us she's concerned with Bach's sound world and that her violin suits Bach because of it's 17th--century Italian sound. Composers like Corelli, she reminds us, served as the models for Bach's music.
It is perhaps all her thinking that doomed this performance. While Italian forms and music were in vogue at Bach's time in Germany, we cannot forget the long tradition of German violin composition and construction. Bach owned a Stainer violin, not an Amati.
Many of the tempos Huggett takes, especially for her very dry and close-up acoustic, are far too slow. While the way she accents certain notes is entertaining, it's sometimes awful hard on the ears.
The treatment of the G-minor fugue is just horrible. The way in some movements, take the G-minor Presto, how she starts slow and then accelerandos, is very strange. I don't recall ever reading or hearing others talk about this phenomenon of performance practice. Perhaps she's just marking-off phrases this way, but it's too exaggerated.
The A-minor sonata fares better with sound quality, sounds as if she's in a different room completely. But the booklet says it's the same place. Odd. her whole approach is different in this sonata, but not enough so that I can say she made a great recording.
Among the sonatas, the C-Major fugue fares best. This is tough to play, and in this case her odd sense of giving certain phrases different treatment helps the fugue. I'm anxious to hear the Rachel Podger set for comparison.
The Rare Fruits Council: Bach Trio Sonatas BWV 527, 1030, 1037, 1029, 530
Here's a CD of arranged trio sonatas by Bach, some from the Organ sonatas, others for viola da gamba, and 1037 for 2 violins that was probably not by Bach at all, but by J. Goldberg. This group plays on mostly original instruments, and while the string sound at times can be thin and astringent, nothing comes across more noticeably than the loud harpsichord and cello.
Is that bad? Not at all. This is by far, due in part to the Bach selections, and to the performances, the best CD on this page. The recording quality, not real close, is still good, and captures a lot of the dynamic between the performers and the space.
This is German zest. Fiery playing by Manfredo Kraemer and Pablo Valetti. The masterpiece is the reworking of BWV 1029 for violin and viola instead of viola d'gamba and harpsichord. Genius! The playing is so well done, so together, and so vibrant.
I'm not sure Bach would have heard these sonatas played so... well. But you'll have fun listening to this music which exposes the genius of these performers and more so the genius of the composer.
Le Concert Français: Sonate a Flauto, Violno e Basso BWV 529, 525, 528, 598, 530, 1008
I was not familiar with all the pieces on this CD, here performed with a volley of recorders, violin, and the usual B.C. For the most part these are pretty straight readings of Bach sonatas arranged from other sources, the primary source being the trio sonatas for organ (BWV 525-530). The last offering is titled by Bach a suite, for solo cello, and is here transcribed for recorder, much in the same way Marion Verbruggen has done on a dedicated CD of the cello suites. I'm all for this rearranging, because it's great music, and I don't deny that these may actually at some point existed as regular chamber pieces. They work well, in that way, at least.
There's not enough going on in terms on spontaneous excitement in these readings, however. Throw in an ornament here or there, gosh darn it! The music is good, and that's what keeps this otherwise somewhat dull recording alive. Don't get me wrong, these guys can play, but it could just be more exciting.
The pieces featuring solo recorder are the worst on the CD, not to say they are horrible, but of all, they disappoint the most. People didn't write for the recorder in this way. It does not sound idiomatic for the instrument, although at times it can be rather beautiful in the acoustic. Playing organ pieces or solo cello music on a recorder is stretching the whole "I can rearrange Bach on original instruments idea" too far.
The King's Consort: Six Trio Sonatas BWV 525-530
This was my first introduction into Bach's trio sonatas for organ. But here are arrangements for oboe, violin, viola, and harpsichord and cello, much in the same vein as the recording to the left. If you don't know the CDs by the Kings Consort, some are better than others... Robert King, the group's leader, plays harpsichord and organ and likes to do vocal works. Nevertheless, this is by far the best CD this ensemble, here in Chamber-mode, has ever put out. While not as spicy or zesty as some other ensembles (Il Giardino Armonico), whose playing I adore, this is straight Bach with a very intelligent approach.
I in fact, around 1996 when this CD came out in the US, used it as one of the 2 CDs I auditioned loudspeakers with when purchasing a stereo, as a test CD. Wow. Details I never heard in the music before popped-out, like clicks and clacks of the baroque oboe keys, or subtle nuances in the baroque string sound. While some passages go quite quickly, these players take their time and milk the slower passages for all their glory. If you only get one rearrangement of the Bach organ sonatas, this would be the one to get.
JS Bach: Trio Sonatas The Palladian Ensemble
BWV 530, 802, 803, 525, 527, 804, 805, 529, 1087 Wow, nine works on one CD, with 5 minutes left empty on a CD, quite an accomplishment. This group has changed members a couple of times, but here uses gambist Susanna Heinrich. This is the famous Palladian Ensemble, a mildly successful group of young Brits who here examine the Bach trio sonatas with some additions.
For the most part, a very well done recording. The Bach trio sonatas are well done. Not as well as the King's Consort above, who performs some of the same works, but well done. The sound I don't care for a lot is the recorder. Thorby does a good job at playing the instruments, but I'm not sure it works as well in the Bach sonata texture. And the entire ensemble, as a whole, doesn't have any semblance to a "typical Bach sound." They have their own sound, perhaps even rough on the edges in some respects (violin and recorder). These are never zestily played, but there is a fair amount of push to the style that pleases.
The gems on the CD, in my opinion, are the organ Duettos and the concluding BWV 1087: the fourteen Goldberg Canons. There's a fair amount of arranging here but the performance is first rate and hearing this many times neglected music is quite a treat. In a final listen in writing this review, I have to say, as a suggestion, Thorby needs to play oboe in a few tracks to avoid the low range of the recorder in some tracks. It's just too soft. Even two stringed instruments would probably offer a better solution, but then we'd be in the territory of the Rare Fruits above, and well, having an alternative maybe isn't such a bad thing.
It's funny that I've warmed up to the Huggett recording after all these years, although I still think Podger's is more everyone's style. My writing about Huggett's playing isn't kind at all. Embarrassing, as I was under the impression only a few friends might ever read this.
But it might already be out there. We all start somewhere. The only changes I made to this was to correct spelling.
