Bach's Violin Concertos
Bach's Violin Concertos
The Gramophone Choice
Violin Concertos – BWV1041-42. Double Concertos – BWV1043; BWV1060 (arr Fischer)
Ryo Terakado, Natsumi Wakamatsu vns Marcel Ponseele ob Bach Collegium Japan / Masaaki Suzuki
BIS BIS-CD961 (59' · DDD) Buy from Amazon
These aren’t just ‘authentic’ performances, they’re also outstandingly musical ones. There’s happy animation in the flanking movements – bows are lifted from or stopped on the strings to ensure the cleanest of textures – and a warmth of expression in the slow ones which comes from a deeper source than mere academic study.
The admirable soloist in the A minor and E major concertos, Ryo Terakado, and his partner in the Double Concerto, Natsumi Wakamatsu, both studied with Sigiswald Kuijken in The Hague and served with various Baroque ensembles in Europe before returning to Japan. It shows in the beautifully ‘vocalised’ shaping of their lines. Not once do they or their ripieno colleagues jar the ear with acidic sounds, and in the Andante of the A minor Concerto Terakado achieves a pianissimo that’s near-miraculous in its quality. Marcel Ponseele, the only European on parade, has a comparably distinguished pedigree. In the reconstructed Concerto BWV1060 his fluency, rounded tone and clean articulation are second to none, and he makes the Adagio one of the serenely lovely high spots of the entire programme. As for the ripieno, you couldn’t ask for better, and they’re recorded in excellent balance with the soloists. Suzuki directs the whole with sure hands.
Additional Recommendation
Violin Concertos – BWV1041-42. Double Concerto, BWV1043. Brandenburg Concerto No 5.
Daniel Hope vn with Jaime Martin fl Marieke Blankestijn vn Kristian Bezuidenhout hpd/org Chamber Orchestra of Europe
Warner Classics 2564 62545-2 (64’ · DDD) Buy from Amazon
First impressions suggest a high-energy, tightly accented approach, ‘period’-schooled while retaining an element of modern-instrument intensity, mostly in the slow movements. Daniel Hope sees to it that the bass-line is firm and prominent, which tends to underline the sense of urgency. The Double Concerto’s Largo focuses two well-matched players responding to, rather than mirroring, each other, invariably with one using more vibrato than the other. Outer movements are fast and buoyant (the A minor’s gigue-allegro really whizzes along) and in the E major, Hope whirls into the first movement’s second idea like a dervish possessed. Embellishment is legion, both along the solo line and in the discreetly balanced but lavishly stated continuo. The results approximate, more than usual with this music, dance models of the day, yet Hope always allows the slower music to breathe.
Plenty of air around the notes in the Fifth Brandenburg Concerto, too. Again the spirit of the dance is all-pervasive, but come the solo harpsichord cadenza, although Kristian Bezuidenhout plays brilliantly, the intrusive bending of tempo isn’t entirely convincing. This sort of approach has become fairly popular: Rinaldo Alessandrini’s set of Brandenburgs is similarly individualistic. In most other respects this is a refreshing, often enlightening programme, very well recorded.
