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Johann Sebastian
BACH (1685-1750)
Concerto C-Dur BWV 594 [18:28]
Concerto a-Moll BWV 593 [12:58]
Concerto G-Dur BWV 592 [7:44]
Concerto C-Dur BWV 595 [10:28]
Concerto d-Moll BWV 596 [10:42]
Concerto F-Dur nach Italiaenischem Gusto BWV 971 [13:56]
Christoph
Bossert (organ)
rec. Evangelische Stadtkirche, Bad Wimpfen, Germany.No
date given. DDD ORGANUM CLASSICS
OGM251129 [75:00]
It's
good to have another recording of the concertos so soon after
Alessio Corti’s release on Concerto (see review).
The
present recording by Christoph Bossert isn’t really a complete
recording of the transcriptions; neither the trios of Fasch
or Telemann, nor the Aria of Couperin feature here. On the
other hand the remaining movements of the C major Ernst Concerto
BWV 595 are included in an organ arrangement by the performer
based on Bach’s harpsichord transcription of the work. The
disc also features Bach’s own ‘Italian’ concerto, seldom
played on the organ of course, but there’s no reason why
it should be limited to performance on the harpsichord, and
I like the result. In general then, Bossert wins points for
originality.
For
me, his ‘originality’ goes too far though. Bossert’s playing
is typically characterised by a slightly eccentric approach
to rhythmic expression – something which is lacking in the
majority of performances of baroque music on the organ, I
readily admit, but when applied as an integral, and ultimately
personal means of expression, the beat hierarchy, or, equally
importantly, the rhetorical gesture being expressed must
be clear. The dramatic accent in other words is only dramatic
if it contradicts a well articulated pattern of grammatical
accents. Bossert’s mannered approach to tempo for me upsets
the balance too much. What does happen at the beginning of
BWV 592 for example? I can’t even analyse it. His basic tempi
also seem sometimes bizarre, extremely slow in BWV593/ii,
excessively quick in BWV 596/i.
The
organ is also a curious choice. It must be said that it is
a beautiful instrument, built in 1748 by one Johann Adam
Ehrlich and provides an interesting example of Southern German
organ building but with Thuringian elements. The first movement
of BWV 594 reveals its idiosyncrasies from the outset. The
chief problem lies with the mixtures. That on the Hauptwerk
contains a 3, 1/5 tierce, despite the lack of any 16’manual
stop on the whole instrument. Bossert explains it thus “The
16’third is chiefly based, logically, on the 16’Trombone
pedal stop, resulting in a tremendously decisive and acoustically
fascinating integration of the highest and lowest sounds
of the whole organ” which may indeed be true when accompanying
congregational singing, but less so one feels when used for
the ripieno of the Vivaldi Grosso Mogul. However the confusion
doesn’t end there. Bossert respects, quite correctly, the
pitch relationship between orchestral and soloist of Vivaldi’s
original score, by playing the concertino sections at 4’.
In the third movement however he also takes the mixture of
the Hinterwerk, which contains a normal tierce. The highest
octave in particular sounds strange without the 8’ stop to
say the least. The result is therefore a 16’ chorus without
a 16’, played against an 8’ chorus without the 8’. The result
is to my ear more than a little unsettling. Not because the
organ lacks quality, far from it, but simply because its
qualities have been, to my mind, mis-applied. I refer again
to Pieter van Dijk’s recording (Hänssler edition CD 92.095),
not because he was my teacher, but because his solution of
using only the principal stops here provides a far more tellingly
musical solution.
There
are interesting elements here, but this is too eccentric
to make it really recommendable.
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