This generous disc of sonatas with obbligato harpsichord and AN Other reacquaints us with two of the viola da gamba sonatas, a flute sonata movement (one that we can be certain is genuine Bach) and two sonatas from the collection of six which Bach probably finished revising in Leipzig around 1725. If all these pieces are really trio sonatas on a certain structural level, the players must attempt – like all serious chamber musicians – to set up their collaborative stall and discover where Bach places the non-harpsichordist in the fabric of the argument.

Too often here I sense that the main consideration is to project a safe and rather neutral conceit in the name of decorum. My attention span was cut short by the genial and tedious homogeneity of the Andante from the B minor Flute Sonata, the poignant character of which is decidedly absent. Rather the opposite is the case in Jay Bernfeld’s reading of the G minor Sonata, BWV1029 which is a veritable anthology of period-performance ticks and bulges at their least convincing.

Even Jeanne Lamon, the admirable leader of Tafelmusik, appears perfunctory and pushed in the G major Violin Sonata. Rather more sweetly gauged and sympathetically nuanced is the playing of Chantal Remillard in the A major Violin Sonata (admittedly a better piece overall) and this is the most effective playing by far on the disc. Geneviève Soly is an accomplished harpsichordist and performs with consistency and flair, but there is too little in these performances to recommend them, collectively, as serious contenders in the field.