Johann Sebastian Bach Sonata in G Major Bwv 1027 a Viola da Gamba et Cembalo Obligato i) Adagio Performer: Andrea De Carlo. Fineline Classics.

That said, Anner Bylsma's disc gets a great deal more playing time. The timbre of the piccolo cello is ideally matched with the organ. While purists may balk at such unusual instrumentation, I cannot help but think such an experiment is quite in keeping with the spirit of Baroque era practices. In general, I try not to judge the success of a recording by a preconceived idea of what a musical elite would or would not approve of.

That said, Anner Bylsma's disc gets a great deal more playing time. The timbre of the piccolo cello is ideally matched with the organ. While purists may balk at such unusual instrumentation, I cannot help but think such an experiment is quite in keeping with the spirit of Baroque era practices. In general, I try not to judge the success of a recording by a preconceived idea of what a musical elite would or would not approve of.

The first thing to strike the listener about these 2006 Avie recordings of Bach's Sonata for viola da gamba and harpsichord will be how loud they are. While neither instrument is noted for its power to project, the instruments are recorded so closely here as to be gargantuan in these recordings by Jonathan Manson and Trevor Pinnock. After adjusting the volume, the second thing to strike the listener will be how brilliantly played they are.

Playing together while retaining each other’s individuality: this could be the motto of Margaux Blanchard and Diego Ares, who have produced a renewed interpretation of an iconic repertoire for viola da gamba and harpsichord. Three sonatas that crown Johann Sebastian Bach’s affection for these two instruments.

It is perhaps a truism that virtually all so-called great composers had a special preference for the viola as da braccio (on the arm, i.e. the modern instrument) or da gamba , a versatile instrument of the viol family that was a particular focus of Baroque composers. Indeed, the Sixth Brandenburg features pairs of both instruments, da braccio and da gamba, and what would the passions be without the solo work Bach includes for each? This may have been due to the fact that one of his employers, Duke Leopold of Saxony-Anhalt-Cöthen, liked to play it, but more likely Bach liked the instrument’s versatility and distinctive timbre.

Bach aficionados will be delighted to find again Wieland Kuijken in this reference album coupling the Cello Suites and Gamba Sonatas (with his son Piet), originally released in 2004 and shortly afterwards out of print. As Wieland Kuijken confesses in his interesting text, he laboured over the Cello Suites with his instrument (credited to Andrea Amati) for 30 years before eventually deciding that his interpretation was ready for this compelling recording: ‘Today more than ever, I think it is a whole lifetime that one puts into these works, regardless of whatever one might say, whatever one might know.’

Sergei Istomin and Viviana Sofronitsky made an accurate and unconventional choice of instruments for this recording of Bach’s Sonatas for Viola da gamba: a brilliant and resonant viol built by Jacob Stainer in 1655 and a Paul McNulty copy of a 1749 Silbermann fortepiano. The result is a unique, invigorating and captivating blend of tonal colours that conjure up a unique sound which emphasizes the melodic qualities of these famous works.