Bach, J.S. Suites / Concertos (Johann Sebastian Bach)

Album review

The Montreal Baroque orchestra Arion has honed its skills and broadened its reach along with the rest of Montreal's vigorous early music scene, and it has attracted European soloists and conductors. Here the direction is by veteran Dutch gamba player Jaap ter Linden. He forges a rather cool but very finely detailed orchestral sound, with a really exquisite blend within and among the moderate-sized string sections. There isn't a strong accent to be found, and even the big cadenza at the end of the first movement of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major, BWV 1050, receives a drama-free interpretation at the hands of harpsichordist Hank Knox. The balance among the soloists in the two multi-instrument concertos, and among the instruments in the genuinely orchestral Suite No. 1 in C major, BWV 1066, is carefully and expertly controlled. Except in the hands of a few adventurous soloists, the programs mounted by ensembles from Canada tend to be of the greatest-hits variety, and this one exemplifies the trend. The juxtaposition of these four much-played Bach orchestral works will tell those who've heard them before little new about them. As an introduction to Bach's instrumental music, however, this could make a solid choice. The booklet notes are in French and English, with the word "harpsichord" consistently misspelled in the tracklist.
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