The set of six Brandenburg Concertos contained on these two separately available mid-price discs is Nikolaus Harnoncourt's later recording, made in 1981/82. While never having succeeded in displacing the older (1967) version in my affections, the present one does have several strong points, not least among them the extraordinarily high quality of the recording itself. This was an early product of Teldec's excellent Direct Metal Mastering technique upon which I commented very positively when I first reviewed the set (8/82); so it seems highly appropriate that it should now be included in their recently launched Digital Experience series. It is not often that I am drawn in to discussion about such matters, preferring to leave them to colleagues of mine who know a great deal more about recording techniques than I do. But the sound clearly must have impressed me a decade ago and so some modest accolade seems quite in order.
Where this set perhaps scores over the older one is in respect of the brass and woodwind playing. Great advances were made between the 1960s and the 1980s in rediscovering and developing techniques required to bring period horns, trumpets, oboes and flutes to life in a convincing way. But what is gained in this quarter is perhaps diminished by what seems to my ears to be too self-conscious mannerisms in projecting points of style. Too many gestures are exaggerated, even at times misplaced, though I must emphasize that the playing at its best is very good indeed. Such is the case with Alice Harnoncourt's solo violin playing in the Fourth Concerto of the set which, both from a technical and an interpretative viewpoint, is an outstanding feature of the set as a whole. Having commented favourably on the sound, however, I do question the merit of the balance in this concerto which favours the two concertante recorders at the expense of the violin. A similarly distorted view of Bach's textures occurs in sections of the first movement of the Fifth Concerto where the solo harpsichord has to contend with ripieno strands being given more prominence than is justified. The two string concertos (Nos. 3 and 6) come over well, but in the Sixth Concerto I found myself longing for the more spontaneous, and effortlessly articulated version which may well be considered the crowning glory of the earlier set. Indeed, for me that performance remains unrivalled.
In summary, there is much to enjoy in this re-release and nothing that is remotely dull. The level of execution is consistently high and the recorded sound all that one could wish for. Well worth becoming acquainted with.'