Each of the four recordings of these Suites covered in my review last month (page 1138) occupies two discs; here, for the first time, we have a recording on a single CD. So how is it done—Rolla sets faster tempos? Well, in many instances he is neck-and-neck with the swiftest of the rest but in many he watches others pass the winning post ahead of him. He wields the axe on repeats? The only ones to be sacrificed are those of the second sections of the Ouvertures, an economy exercised also by Kuijken (Deutsche Harmonia Mundi/EMI)—whose overall time is still too long for one disc, had the others done likewise they too would have missed the single-disc boat by various margins. Rolla's success is thus due to his excision of those repeats, together with a gain on the 'roundabouts and swings' of tempo. What is ironic, is that had they also avoided the second-section repeats, the others could, even without change to their tempos, have been accommodated on a single present-day LP—Harnoncourt (Teldec/ASV), albeit, with a squeeze. Sic transit gloria something or other.
So much for quantity; how about quality: are the performances as unstylish as the instruments are 'unauthentic', or are some of Rolla's tempos too fast? The answer to both questions is, no. There is little embellishment beyond that shown in, or implied by, the score (the flautist, Erika Sebok, adds a modicum to the repeats of Bourree II in Suite No. 2) but in every respect these performances are as stylish as you could wish for, and the players employ their modern tools with taste and intelligence. Even when Rolla calls for faster tempos than Hogwood (L'Oiseau-Lyre) or Gardiner (Erato/RCA), which is rarely, they sound brisk rather than hurried—thanks, in the case of Suite No. 4, to the easier manageability of the modern woodwind instruments, and the dance movements are truly 'dance-like'. The accurate and incisive sound of the trumpets (led by the redoubtable Edward Tarr) adds a regal air to Suites Nos. 3 and 4. Only the most resistant purist, fingernails dug into the fully authentic wallpaper, could fail to enjoy these excellently recorded performances, by far the best to date on non-period instruments and sure-fire winners. The final thought must be: are those second-half repeats in the Ouvertures important enough to you to justify the price of a second disc?'