Search - Martin Feinstein :: Bach: The Flute Sonatas

This record includes one work for flute alone, two for flute and harpsichord with the keyboard part fully written out, and two for flute and continuo, with a cello supporting the bass line. These five sonatas are unquestionably Bach's own; there are several others whose authenticity has been doubted. The Partita for solo flute is essentially a suite of contrasting French dances not unlike those Bach wrote for string and keyboard instruments. This seems to have led him to disregard the flutist's need to breathe: the first movement consists of an uninterrupted line of fast notes. Feinstein, a splendid player with a strikingly rich, full tone, succeeds in using the ends of phrases for the necessary breaks, but the breathing is disturbingly audible, probably due to excessively close miking. This is even more unfortunate in the duo sonatas: the harpsichord sounds so distant that, except in her solo passages, Maggie Cole might be playing in another room. This is too bad; she is clearly a superb player and partner and the performances are excellent. And, of course, the music is wonderful. The Sonatas are completely different in mood, texture, and character: from the sunny, humorous E major and A major; the dark, somber E minor; to the great B minor, with its sweeping grandeur, its extraordinary rhythmic and contrapuntal complexity, its melodic inspiration, and its depth and variety of expression. --Edith Eisler