Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
Orchestral Suites Nos. 1-4, BWV1066-1069
Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 1-6 BWV1046-1051 (complete)
Concerto for Three Keyboards in D minor, BWV1063
Keyboard Concerto No. 5 in F minor, BWV1056
Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, BWV1043
Concerto for Oboe and Violin in C minor, BWV1060
Keyboard Concerto No. 1 in D minor, BWV1052
Oboe d'amore Concerto in A major, BWV1055
Violin Concerto No. 2 in E major, BWV1042
Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, BWV1041
Concerto for Two Keyboards in C major, BMV1061
Concerto for Flute, Violin and Harpsichord in A minor, BWV1044
Oboe Concerto in F major, BWV1053
Concerto for Three Keyboards in C major, BWV1064
Keyboard Concerto No. 2 in E major, BWV1053
Concerto for Four Keyboards in A minor (after Vivaldi), BWV1065
Café Zimmermann (David Plantier, Andoni Mercero, Gudalupe Del Moral, Mauro
Lopes Ferreira, Maria Gomis (violins); Antoine Torunczyk (oboe d’amore); Patricia
Gagnon, Diane Chmela (violas); Petr Skalka, Robin Michael (cellos); Emmanuel
Laporte, Jasu Moisio (oboes); Carles Valles (bassoon); Ludek Brany, Devid
Sinclair, Kate Aldridge (double basses); Hennes Rux, Helen Barsby, Ute Rothkirch
(trumpets); Daniele Schaebe (timbales);
Celine Frisch (clavecin))/Pablo Valetti (violin; konzertmeister)
rec. Paris, Metz, 2000-2010
ALPHA 811 [6 CDs: 68:14 + 66:26 + 71:37 + 61:05 + 62:35 + 59:27]
The ensemble Cafe Zimmermann is named after the institution on St Catherine
Street in Leipzig where Bach would have conducted an ensemble of willing musicians
after 1729. Conducting the Collegium Musicum, as they were known, gave Bach
an outlet for his secular cantatas and his instrumental music. This would
have come as a welcome break from his more sacred duties in the main Leipzig
churches. The modern-day ensemble, in conjunction with the enterprising French
label Alpha, have been following in their footsteps and recording some of
the “concertos” that Bach wrote for more than one instrument. Volume 1 began
recording in 2000 and Volume 6 was completed in 2010, and they now come packaged
together as a set.
There’s a tremendous amount to enjoy here. For a start, the music on offer
is fantastic, and it’s helped that Cafe Zimmermann’s definition of a “concerto”
stretches to include the four Ouvertures BWV 1066-1069. The ensemble’s
approach to the music is informed by scholarship and tends towards the small-scale
in approach, often featuring just one instrument to a line. The close recorded
sound means that this seldom translates as a loss, however. In fact, the acoustic
is so brilliantly captured that the listener often gets the impression that
he is sitting in the midst of the musicians as they create music around him.
This is often thrilling and is reason enough to endorse the set.
The Six Brandenburg Concertos are a good way in, though your reaction to the
first movement of No. 1 might put you off going further. The horn playing
is prominent to the point of being raucous: from the third bar onwards the
horns seem to bray and show off in a way that those who have a taste for more
refined recordings would shudder to hear. Even Gardiner’s recent recording,
with its rather mischievous horns, doesn’t take it to this extreme and I found
it a little off-putting, as well as unnecessary. Happily, this isn’t an indication
of how the rest of their performance goes. Indeed, the size of the ensemble
and the sense of collective musicianship makes this to a great degree an unusually
cooperative set of Brandenburgs. Tempi are on the fast side, though not uniformly
so; the slow movement of No. 6, for example, is expansive and relaxed and
is all the more beautiful for it. On the other hand, No. 3 is breathtaking,
especially in the zippy final fugue. The size of the band means that No. 2
comes across as delicate rather than triumphalist, pert instead of showy.
The element of cooperation, of sharing in the enterprise, is at its most delectable
in No. 6 where the different string groups sound absolutely as though they
are responding to one another in the atmosphere of the moment.
After all this exuberance the Ouvertures sound rather restrained
at first hearing. No. 1, in particular, puts the emphasis on the courtly so
that the busy-ness of the Forlane and the Bourrée comes
across as rather surprising in the overall context. The Second is a little
more energetic, though I would still have liked a bit more, particularly in
the later movements. The flute in this suite is very much a first-among-equals,
by the way, with no spotlighting to make it stand out from the overall texture;
individual taste will dictate whether that’s something you’ll enjoy. With
the ceremonious arrival of trumpets and drums the mood of the Suites improves,
and the Third and Fourth are overall much more successful. The more festive
mood seems to lift every aspect of the music-making and the smaller ensemble
makes the transparency of the celebration all the more enjoyable. In particular,
the Gavottes and Gigue of the Third Suite sound absolutely
fantastic.
Elsewhere there is plenty to enjoy too. The double violin concerto benefits
enormously from the sense of give-and-take that Cafe Zimmermann have made
their own. The outer movements are especially successful, combining zesty
energy - especially in the finale - with vigorous argument. The slow movement
takes a few bars to find its lyrical flow, but when it does it’s well worth
the wait. Even the solo concertos, which one might think out of place in a
set like this, are brought alive with playing that is unfailingly stylish.
The E major violin concerto maintains its forward momentum with just the right
amount of bounce. The same is true of the outer movements of the A minor concerto,
but the players make a virtue of the stillness of the slow movement, creating
something surprisingly lovely at the heart of the work. The oboe/violin concerto,
BWV 1060, has a rather mundane start, but it comes alive for its very attractive
slow movement. The reconstructed oboe d’amore concerto BWV 1053 has seen the
light of day many times, not least as the Sinfonia that opens Cantata 169.
The first movement works particularly well, the pungent solo sound offsetting
the string backdrop very effectively. The playing of the oboe d’amore in BWV
1055 oozes character with just the right amount of luxury.
The only place where the set is less than convincing is with the harpsichord
concertos. The collective nature of the music-making, so refreshing in the
rest of the set, doesn’t serve these pieces well as the harpsichords tend
to get drowned in the general acoustic soundscape, even when there are three
of them! Delightful as is much of this music, especially BWV 1055, the solo
instrument isn’t sufficiently delineated from the rest of the ensemble. In
fact, I noticed my ear tuning into the orchestra rather than the harpsichord
and feeling even a little annoyed when the ensemble drops out and the solo
harpsichord takes centre-stage.
That’s a pity, but it’s a consequence of the otherwise very successful philosophy
that permeates Cafe Zimmermann’s approach. It works so well elsewhere that
it seems churlish to complain about it here. I may have reservations, but
they’re so heavily outweighed by the positives that they lose significance
in my eyes. I’ll be coming back to this warmly admirable set time and time
again.
Simon Thompson
I’ll be coming back to this warmly admirable set time and time again.