Il Giardino Armonico ($29.98) No. 1 [18'09"] No. 2 [10'58"] No. 3 [10'44"] No. 4 [15'06"] No. 5 [20'45"] No. 6 [16'30"] Online scores: BWV 1046-1051 Bach, Brandenburg Concertos / Four Orchestral Suites, Dover Orchestral Scores |
Fine solo performances come from Antonini himself, with virtuoso turns on recorder in nos. 2 and 4, as well as the sparkling traverso in no. 5. Other standouts come from harpsichordist Michele Barchi, who livens many of the quieter moments with very inventive continuo realization: the keyboard cadenza of no. 5 is not quite as unhinged as that of Pierre Hantaï on the Savall recording but comes a close second. I love the addition of the lute to no. 6 (and at least no. 1, too) -- played here by Luca Pianca, who helped Antonini found the ensemble -- even if it was not likely to have been found in Bach's ensemble at Köthen. (Richard Egarr did the same thing in his new recording with the Academy of Ancient Music.) However, if you are looking for a refined, red-velvet kind of Brandenburg set, this is not for you. Such listeners beginning at the beginning with no. 1 will likely be especially put off by the brashness of the Baroque horns, which sound like the proverbial bulls in the China shop they were intended to be, visitors from the hunting party traipsing into the noble salon with their muddy boots.
Academy of Ancient Music (Christopher Hogwood) ($17.98) No. 1 [13'36"] No. 2 [11'18"] No. 3 [10'37"] No. 4 [14'51"] No. 5 [18'24"] No. 6 [16'31"] |
Some of the concertos sound so different in these versions that it will alter the way you understand each of them, while some have only minor differences. No. 1, for example, is found without the third movement and the Polacca of the dance movement, which were both added by Bach when he put together the Brandenburg manuscript. Furthermore, the original version of the dance movement's second trio pairs the two horns with a much jauntier line for the violins in unison instead of the rather different one Bach wrote later for the three oboes. For no. 5 Hogwood chose the copy made by Bach's student Altnickol, which makes it quite clear that the piece was conceived for only six players: Hogwood goes so far as to suggest that the version Bach created for the Brandenburg manuscript -- one cannot help but miss the extended keyboard "cadenza" in the Brandenburg version, written by Bach in a way that seems to call for an instrument with a pedal-board -- is "an abnormal text created for some specific purpose." The shorter version played by Hogwood has its own charms.
Bach made numerous slight changes from the original versions in the Brandenburg manuscript, minor differences of rhythm and pitch (some of which, it could be argued, are scribal errors) that stand out to a listener familiar with the pieces in their later form. Not surprisingly, for recordings made in the 1980s -- the heady halcyon days of the HIP movement -- the horns and trumpet could be more accurate, the strings less strident, and the tempi crisper (after listening to Alessandrini and Antonini, some of the fast movements seems positively staid). Interestingly, the other sources tell us nothing further about the two chords that serve as the "middle movement" of no. 3: Hogwood sees them only as "a momentary break in the momentum" and adds only a slight improvisation in the violin.
Another, complimentary take on Egarr / Alessandrini / Pinnock II: "Egarr's Brandenburg Concertos" (WETA).
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