With the combined forces of the two leading period-instrument ensembles of the 1960s numbering Messrs Bruggen, Bylsma and Harnoncourt among their ranks, this latest return to the Das Alte Werk catalogue is something of a document. What is more, it emerges from exposure to the scrutinies of CD transfer very well indeed; the sound is bright, there are fewer glaring edits than you sometimes hear on such reissues, and most importantly, the playing is of a standard you might not at first have expected from 1967. It is true that the overall orchestral sound is not as tightly shaped as it tends to be in today’s performances, but that is not necessarily a bad thing, and the sheer open-hearted exuberance of what was then the still unfamiliar phenomenon of a period-instrument classical orchestra certainly shines through.
The solo contributions are neat and crisply executed, though I cannot help feeling that in the C. P. E. Bach a little more might have been made of the fortepiano’s forte/piano capabilities, since this was presumably the point of the piece in the first place. These elegant concertos are not profound, but there is enough about both them and their performances to charm many a listener.'