The background to the suites is uncertain. Some believe Bach wrote them to assuage his grief at the death of his wife Maria Barbara in July 1720. It has even been suggested that the Prelude of Suite No 1 is an instrumental setting of the Credo from the Ordinary of the Mass. Antonio Meneses has no truck with this. He doesn’t attempt word painting and offers a straight- forward account. Yet what dynamic contrast and flexibility in the shaping of lines there is, is masked by audible breathing and a high transfer level. You are advised to cut the volume to appreciate what he is trying to say.

What he says is a touch detached to begin with, but there is no questioning his technical mastery or his judgements about tempi and accentuation. As he progresses, though, a lack of tonal variety begins to impinge on other- wise good interpretations. One example is the Sarabande of No 3 where there is minimal colouring and shading of dynamics, a mildly heavy tread adding to an impression of lugubriousness. The claustrophobic miking seems to create a uniformity of sound that in turn introduces monotony even though the playing is rhythmically very fine.

Pieter Wispelwey, on period instruments, also suffers from a similarly insensitive recording; but in his singular scanning of phrases, subtle changes of pulse to prevent inertia and greater transparency of texture, he offers a unique experience. Unlike Meneses, he switches to a five-stringed instrument in No 6, this one a violoncello piccolo whose slightly nasal timbre gives the music an unusual range and tension.