Gidon Kremer Mieczyslaw Weinberg’s Sonatas For Violin Solo (ecm Ns)(2022)

Rachel Podger's growing reputation among early-music enthusiasts is buttressed by this set of Bach's sonatas for violin and continuo. Her intonation is always on target, her tone sweet but not cloying…

Few violinists can move between a modern instrument and a period one with such ease—not to mention with such an idiomatic approach to so many styles of music—as Isabelle Faust. Following her award-winning set of the Mozart violin concertos, the German is joined by the ever-stylish keyboard player Kristian Bezuidenhout for Bach’s sonatas for violin and harpsichord. Both instruments sound magnificent, and these two great players bring breathtaking invention and imagination to the six sonatas. The humanity and warmth of Bach’s music is extraordinary, especially when played with the passion and flair encountered here.

In October 1774, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach sent Johann Nikolaus Forkel, who was slowly gathering material for a biography of J. S. Bach, a parcel of his father's music. It contained eleven "Trii," some organ pieces with a pedal part, the variations on "Vom Himmel hoch" and a covering note. "The six Clavier trios—[violin sonatas, but notice Emanuel's choice of words]—are among my departed father's best works. They still sound splendid and give me much pleasure, although they were written more than fifty years ago. Some of their slow movements ("Adagii") could not be set more lyrically even today. I beg you, as the scores are very tattered, to take good care of them.” The other five "trios" were presumably the two for flute in B minor and A major (BWV 1030) The word "trio" was a normal eighteenth century description for a three-voice piece with the second melody line taken by the keyboard right hand—“violin sonata" would imply a solo violin with harpsichord continuo.

Period-instrument performances of Beethoven's violin sonatas aren't too common; they pose thorny problems of balance even beyond the question of whether Beethoven wouldn't have preferred modern instruments if he could have had them. But this superbly musical set by violinist Midori Seiler, playing an Italian Baroque violin of unknown manufacture, and fortepianist Jos van Immerseel, on a copy of an entirely appropriate Viennese Walter piano, may well redefine the standard for these works.

Purists may object and traditionalists may blanch, but for Bach fans with an open mind, this disc of harpsichord transcriptions of four of his solo violin works will be more fun than a barrel full of fugues. Although skillfully and soulfully performed by Dutch harpsichordist Bob van Asperen, the works themselves will take some getting used to. After all, where did the rolled chords, lush arpeggios, and additional counterpoints come from and what exactly are they doing in Bach's already wonderfully clean textures? But if the listener can get past any initial preconceptions and any aural memory of the originals, these performances can be tremendously enjoyable.

Purists may object and traditionalists may blanch, but for Bach fans with an open mind, this disc of harpsichord transcriptions of four of his solo violin works will be more fun than a barrel full of fugues. Although skillfully and soulfully performed by Dutch harpsichordist Bob van Asperen, the works themselves will take some getting used to. After all, where did the rolled chords, lush arpeggios, and additional counterpoints come from and what exactly are they doing in Bach's already wonderfully clean textures? But if the listener can get past any initial preconceptions and any aural memory of the originals, these performances can be tremendously enjoyable.

At the time of writing, this CD has been on the market for 22 years, and it must be said from the outset that its technical side does not and cannot match up with the standard of later high-bit recordings, nor indeed, to be honest, with the 80's recordings made, for example, by Andreas Glatt for the Accent label in Belgium: the instruments can, indeed, be clearly heard, but there would have been a good deal of room for more spacious use of stereo technology, and possibly the microphones could have been just that little bit nearer to the musicians.

The violin was one of Bach’s favourite instruments and inspired his most lyrical outpourings. We know he was greatly influenced by the Italian masters whose work he discovered during his Weimar years – by the power of Frescobaldi, the melodic flexibility of Corelli, the sunny grace of Vivaldi – but he developed his own wonderful artistry in writing music of polyphonic density for the violin and “playing” with its sound palette. His deep understanding of the instrument clearly enabled him to exploit its full potential and to write as well as perform music of the utmost virtuosity.