Sharon Bezaly - Barocking Together
Bezaly opts for ‘modern’ Baroque and there’s a real zing in her playing
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Genre:
Chamber
Label: BIS
Magazine Review Date: 10/2008
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
Stereo
Catalogue Number: BIS-CD1689

Author: David Vickers
BBC Radio 3 New Generation artist Sharon Bezaly has several fascinating discs under her belt, particularly contemporary works written for her and some refreshing yet unconventional Mozart concertos. Here she teams up with the continuo team of BIS stablemates London Baroque, although she plays a modern Japanese flute. Handel only composed two sonatas specifically for “transverse” flute (when he wrote “flauto” on his scores he meant recorder), so it is a shame that neither of them was chosen for inclusion here. Instead, HWV367b is a transposition of a sonata that was probably written for recorder. However, it is an impressive seven-movement sonata that tests the versatility and proficiency of the soloist. The third movement is a dizzying mad dash, with remarkable dexterity from all concerned. Charles Medlam’s bass viol-playing is tasteful and unobtrusive. Terence Charlston’s harpsichord playing is crisp; I particularly liked his judicious use of a lute stop for the slow movement in BWV1034, and he is also responsible for the reconstruction of BWV1032. There is no doubting the zestiness and technical mastery of Bezaly’s playing. Her modern instrument does not always possess the softness and lyricism of an expertly played wooden Baroque flute in slower music (for example, the Siciliano in BWV1035) but in general she plays this repertoire idiomatically. The most convincing performances tend to be of the faster movements, and the disc concludes with a lightly articulated performance of a joyful Telemann sonata.
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