JS BACH Six Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord, BWV1014 1019
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Johann Sebastian Bach
Genre:
Chamber
Label: Arcana
Magazine Review Date: 05/2017
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 95
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: A426
![A426. JS BACH Six Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord, BWV1014 1019](https://reviews.azureedge.net/gramophone/media-thumbnails/bach_violin_and_harpsichord_sons.jpg)
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
(6) Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Chiara Zanisi, Violin Giulia Nuti, Harpsichord Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer |
Author: Charlotte Gardner
This is indeed very beautiful, too. Their starting point has been the belief that Bach’s music has both an aura of magic and an almost divine form, and the translation of that into performance has yielded warmly fluid readings, and a clear-toned sound from Zanisi (on a 1761 Gagliano) that carries a beguiling twin quality of strength and etherealness. Her technique and shaping are equally lovely; elegant ornamentations, perfectly judged ebb and swell to sustained notes, and faster passagework sounding so at ease that its true complexity often washes over you.
One little quibble is that sometimes Nuti and her harpsichord slightly lose out to the violin in the overall balance, for instance in No 2’s Allegro assai, where you really have to listen in if you’re to appreciate the very real dialogue going on. However, this isn’t a universal issue across the recording, as is demonstrated by the opening movement of No 5. Here, Nuti’s gently sombre reading really is given the space to shine, and not simply because of the violin’s husky mute and Zanisi’s sensitive duetting.
One final aspect worth commenting upon is the acoustic itself, which is a warm, relatively soft-focus one. And all this adds up, for those readers actively in the market for a recent recording of these sonatas, to a contrasting and equally valid alternative to consider alongside Leila Schayegh’s more brightly textured offering from last year, which was so well received in these pages.
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