Search - Johann Sebastian Bach, Luc Beausejour :: Bach: Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord Vol. 1

A Most Excellent Rendering

G. Price | Va.Beach, VA United States | 09/03/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I usually prefer Baroque and Classical music more on piano than harpsichord. (Harpsichords, because of their dynamic being of a monotone nature - depend entirely on agogic/time related accentuations for musical and expressive effect. This usually becomes very tiresome to my ear . . . but this recording somehow manages to be an exception. In this recording the harpsichord ensembles with the violin making a very ambient and colorful portrayal of Bach's sonatas. In a word: Ehnes and Beausejour do a wonderful job in capturing the spirit of the first four of the sonatas Bach penned. I also have the BBC recording of Andrew Manze on violin with Richard Egarr (harpsichord) and Jaap ter Linden on viola da gamba playing the 2nd Sonata BWV 1015 in A major along with the BWV 1021 and BWV 1024 Sonatas - and though the viola da gamba adds a nice additional dimension in the bass register on those renderings, I can't honestly say that I prefer either that recording or this one . . . the pieces just take on a different flavor and character in the hands of one set of instrumentalists over the other. I also still love my Hungaraton CD of Peter Csaba (violin) and Zoltan Kocsis (piano) playing all six of the sonatas (but I think this recording is currently out of print). The Ehnes and Beausejour renderings of these pieces are to be highly recommended, and I'm seriously considering getting Vol. 2 that would complete their set. Their playing has an inner energy of line that provides a lovely rhythmic flexibility to the contours of the music so as to prevent it from coming off "square" - and yet there is still the drive of a steady and on-going pulse."