Search - Johann Sebastian Bach, Concerto Copenhagen, Lars Ulrik Mortensen :: Bach: Harpsichord Concertos, Vol. 2

Elegantly Played Bach Harpsichord Concertos

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 03/28/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was very pleased with Volume One Bach: Harpsichord Concertos, Vol. 1 in this series and now we have Volume Two. And it's just as elegantly and sensitively played as the first issue was. Lars Ulrik Mortensen is a fine harpsichordist and conductor. His long experience playing with renowned baroque groups certainly tells in this and the previous CD. Another thing I really like about this recording is that the sound of the harpsichord is not swallowed up in the body of the orchestral sound, as is so often the case, and yet the sound of the instrument does is not obviously amplified or recorded too closely. And the tonal quality of Mortensen's instrument is lovely -- none of that jangly sound one hears much to often in harpsichord recordings.



As for the works presented here we have four of Bach's concerti of which two are certainly among the most popular -- BWV 1056 in F Minor -- originally a violin concerto and with that absolutely gorgeous Largo movement which could almost be a soprano aria with its pure long melodic line and the gentle pizzicato string accompaniment -- and BWV 1057 -- better known in its version as the Fourth Brandenburg Concerto; here it is transposed down a full step and the Brandenburg's violin solo is here replaced by the harpsichord.



Concerto Copenhagen (or 'CoCo' as it is often called) is a group of young Danish baroque instrumentalists for whom Mortensen is the artistic director. They play elegantly and with real élan; this group does not play Bach in that too-familiar dead-baroque-composer style we hear too much of. This is living music played with brio.



Volume Two gets an enthusiastic recommendation.



Scott Morrison



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