Bach Dynastie

Jean Rondeau records concertos by members of the Bach family in a new release on Erato.

Pieces:

• Concerto BWV 1052 by Johann Sebastian Bach
• Concerto in F minor by Johann Christian or CPE Bach
• Sonata FK 7 by Wilhelm Friedemann Bach
• Concerto BWV 1056 by Johann Sebastian Bach
• Concerto Wq 23 by CPE Bach

Looking at the works of Bachs as a “family dynasty” is an interesting approach for a concert; I think it can work too for a recording. The sons of Bach, we might imagine, are just as apt to have been keyboard players as their father. We might imagine those afternoons at the Zimmerman Coffee House, with JSB playing a new concerto for the keyboard; and sons playing along, perhaps, in his versions for two, three, and four keyboards. By the time Bach’s sons died, the keyboard concerto had firmly taken off “as a thing.” These pieces may never have lived together as they do on this recording, heard all at once by the folks responsible for their writing. Comparing them is interesting for the modern listener, but they are also good enough to be savored on their own. Bachs of any generation wrote good music.

The two concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach are well-known and oft-recorded. Rondeau’s recording is clean and crisp, unlike his wild hairstyle (captured on the cover). His colleagues have formed a very small chamber ensemble as the backup band. I think it fits the character of the music for the JSB pieces, keeping in check the balance required because of the timbre and sound output of a harpsichord.

My favorite recording of BWV 1052 is the arrangement Fabio Biondi made with Europa Galante. I think his musicality expressed through the solo with a violin is remarkably fancy. That said, Rondeau’s recording on the instrument asked for in the score might be a close second. He does not take on the fanciful expressivity of Biondi, but his solo instrument and part are so easily heard in the mixture. The tempos chosen seem perfect, and the sound quality of the ensemble—and here I’m paying special attention to stereo separation—is good.

The gem of the recording however is the second concerto—the one in “F minor.” What’s confusing is the listing of the concerto by Johann Christian Bach in this recording and by CPE Bach in another recording with Il Giardino Armonico. It’s a really fun, dramatic piece. Although the style is far-removed from Johann Sebastian’s pen, it carries such a high quality that you’re not surprised, I think, to learn it was composed by a “Bach.” It’s a mystery, however, why it’s being attributed to two different sons. It’s no matter.

Comparing the F-minor with the one by Il Giardino Armonico reveals less dynamic contrast in the Rondeau recording. The same could be said in my earlier comparison of the recording by Fabio Biondi. The dynamic contrasts under control of the “band” are flatter with Rondeau’s recording. It’s not really a trade-off, but the benefit of Rondeau’s recording is the clarity with using a small ensemble. Adding bassoon to the basso continuo in this concerto is a brilliant touch; it adds some flavor to the ensemble’s sound. IGA’s third movement is played faster and far more frantically than Rondeau’s version, and I think that works. But the slower tempo Rondeau adopts isn’t a negative. It’s a different take; it’s one that allows the ends of phrases with the ornamentation to really stand out.

The success of the WF Bach piece rests more with the ensemble than it does the keyboard player. I think it’s worth asking what the more appropriate instrument is. The piece takes on a number of dynamic twists that really cannot be echoed in the keyboard part in the way they could be with a piano. Sophie Gent makes a nice contribution on first violin.

The second JSB concerto is not driven as hard as the first. And just as with the third movement of the F-minor piece, it allows for high precision at turns of phrase where a lot of fast notes come together. It also exposes some phrasing by Rondeau that is lost in other recordings where an overall faster tempo is taken.

The middle movement is a piece with which I am very familiar. The balance seems off to me; the harpsichord is very loud compared to the pizzicato strings and the lead melody seems to come across more quiet than the left-hand bass part. Something with this balance is off (is it the coupled keyboard playing the bass line and a single-string configuration used for the melody on the other keyboard? or is it something to do with ensemble/keyboard balance?). I will continue to audition this track on different equipment. For this review, I listened critically using headphones.

For the third movement, I’d like to have had the tempo pushed harder.

The CPE concerto is another gem. It might have been even more dramatic with a larger string ensemble. Given the small ensemble, however, they do, I think, the best they can. The balance once the solo part takes over by Rondeau I think works better. In comparing Rondeau to the Collegium Aureum under Gustav Leonhardt, I hear the benefit of using a larger ensemble, but like the interpretation by Rondeau is many times over better.

Conclusion

I am having a difficult time putting my finger on Rondeau, to try and characterize his style. Part of his flavor as an instrumentalist is revealed when watching him perform. He doesn’t “overdo” anything to any great degree. I think he’s smart; he’s making a lot of wise decisions about how to present the music without adopting any particular manner in his playing. For that, we have to look, perhaps, at his hair and beard. There’s more “manner” coming out of the ensemble than from Rondeau and his keyboard. It's not a criticism that he's less "dynamic" a player than two musicians I've already compared in this review, Giovanni Antonini and Fabio Biondi.

Musicianmanship all around on this recording is very high. Setting-aside my preferences for tempo, the recording is nearly flawless. Given the opportunity to employ additional musicians, I believe the pieces by the Bach sons would have been helped by a slightly larger ensemble for the strings. The balance issue in the middle movement of the BWV 1056 concerto is curious to me. And the piece by Wilhelm Friedemann would be interesting to hear with a fortepiano.

What the album does very well is to show-off the similarities and differences among the Bach clan’s male keyboard composers. And that's a good rationale for not changing ensemble size or keyboard instrument: it allows comparisons using the same tools. All the Bachs represented, I think, succeeded at writing dynamic, energizing music. They each choose interesting themes. And the sons have well-continued their father’s tradition by mixing what was good from the “old” examples with the new stylistic conventions, elongating phrases, and developing themes in continually interesting ways.

Here’s hoping there’s commercial success to the recording. I could see a Dynastie II, III, and IV follow using the same formula.