This Hyperion Dyad is a welcome re-release of the two CD set
reviewed
by Kirk McElhearn way back in 2002. I agree with almost all
of his perceptive comments, in particular the mildly recessed
harpsichord sound which makes the recording a little less incisive
and the harmonies less well defined than ideal, and the reduction
in clarity due to a perceived distance from the performers,
which allows the acoustic to colour the picture a trifle overmuch
at times. I would posit however that Bach didn’t ‘think less
highly’ of the flute as much as recognise its limitations. Even
the shiny modern ‘power’ flutes one hears these days have less
volume of sound than reed or brass instruments, and blowing
across a tube of any kind is more often than not challenged
by strings when it comes to expressive range. This is all in
the nature of the beast, and the miracle is the amount of resonance,
colour and expression that a player of Lisa Beznosiuk’s can
obtain from a wooden pipe with a few holes cut into it.
I have to admit an interest here, having had a few lessons in
transverse flute from Lisa when at the Royal Academy of Music
in the late 1980s. She was in the vanguard of authentic music
performing at the time, something which had been absent from
RAM flute teaching until then. I dived in enthusiastically,
and from the RAM cellars was lent a chunky black flute with
the weight and resonant charm of a police truncheon and bits
of chewing gum in some of the finger-holes; someone’s attempt
to get the thing in tune. I’m afraid I was soon beaten by the
challenge of manipulating an instrument in the same position
as a modern Boehm flute but with entirely different fingerings,
but always remember Lisa Beznosiuk’s patient attempts despite
my lack of discipline, and have remained a fan ever since.
These are all excellent performances of Bach’s flute sonatas.
You only have to listen to the solo Partita in A minor to
hear how expert Beznosiuk is with the lower lines of the counterpoint,
gently pointing out the harmonic rhythm while the melodic lines
are carried above. The chamber works are played with expression,
but more ‘straight’ than Jed Wentz on Challenge Classics CC72030,
who is more exciting but also more flashy, pulling the music
around in ways which may not always be preferable. I enjoy and
admire his prowess, but find he stretches ‘making a point’ just
a bit too far to make this an ideal set. Another fine recording
is that by Barthold Kuijken on the Accent label, ACC22150, though
if anything this errs a little far in favour of the harpsichord
as far as the balance goes. I’m also less keen on the dryness
of some of Ewald Demeyere’s accompaniments, the pointillist
Andante of the Sonata in E minor BWV 1034 being
a case in point. This doesn’t really help the brittle impression
many will have of the harpsichord, and the team of Paul Nicholson
and Richard Tunnicliffe create a gentler, more rounded impression
which is certainly less fatiguing.
Lisa Beznosiuk doesn’t go in for much extra ornamentation, and
the technical mastery of these pieces she projects is relatively
unassuming. I appreciate this lack of over-complication however,
and could listen to her warmly expressive and beautifully elliptical
sound all day. The demanding first movement of the Sonata
in B minor BWV 1030 is highly toothsome, though the dialogue
between flute and harpsichord is again mildly hampered by the
rather vague and distant general sound, which favours the flute
over the accompaniment Despite moans about the balance, the
harpsichord sound is very fine in its own right, with nicely
resonant lower octaves. Intonation between the instruments is
always perfect, and Bach’s tender slow movements in this sonata
and all of the others are always touching and sensitive beyond
criticism. The Sonata in E minor BWV 1035 is done with
cello and archlute rather than harpsichord which makes for a
nice contrast, though the spread chords and filling-in from
the plucked instrument makes the accompaniment busier than ideal
to my mind. Moving on though, just listen to the Adagio of
the Sonata in C major BWV 1033 and having heard it, ask
yourself if you can live without it with equanimity.
To sum up, this isn’t a perfect set of Bach’s flute sonatas,
but only for the mild misgivings with regard to the overall
balance of the recording. I’d happily take Lisa Beznosiuk as
my guide in these works as equal and better to most of the transverse
flute alternatives around, and as I find listening to these
pieces on wobbly modern flute for any length of time well nigh
impossible these days that makes her as close to a first choice
as makes little difference.
Dominy Clements
Lisa Beznosiuk (flute)
