Johann Sebastian BACH (1685 - 1750)
Concertos for Solo Harpsichord, BWV 972-887
Prelude and fugue in a minor (BWV 894)
see end of review for track listing
Elizabeth Farr (harpsichord)
rec. August 2008, Ploger Hall, Manchester, MI, USA. DDD
NAXOS 8.572006-07 [76:26 + 74:09]
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685 - 1750)
Six Concertos after Vivaldi:
Concerto in C (BWV 976) [9:28]
Concerto in F (BWV 978) [7:10]
Concerto in D (BWV 972) [7:45]
Concerto in G (BWV 980) [9:22]
Concerto in g minor (BWV 975) [7:29]
Concerto in G (BWV 973) [6:45]
Italian Concerto in F (BWV 971) [12:26]
Olivier Baumont (harpsichord)
rec. 1999. DDD
ERATO 2564 68966-5 [60:40]
Comparison: Pieter Dirksen (Brilliant Classics)
Bach's harpsichord transcriptions of concertos by - mostly Italian - contemporaries
don't belong to the most popular part of his oeuvre. The list
of recordings shows that individual pieces have been recorded quite often,
but that the number of recordings of the complete set is rather limited. Some
of these are probably not available anymore. Two of them were part of a Bach
Edition at the occasion of the Bach year 2000: Peter Watchorn (Hänssler)
and Pieter Dirksen (Brilliant Classics). The former I have not heard, the
latter I have used as a comparison in this review.
There are five - not six, as Elizabeth Farr writes in her liner-notes - for
organ and 16 for harpsichord. Make that 17, if you also count the Concerto
BWV 592a, which is an arrangement of the organ transcription BWV 592.
It is omitted in Ms Farr's recording (and Watchorn's), but is included in
Dirksen's. These transcriptions all date from the years 1713/14 when Bach
worked as organist at the court of the Duke of Sachsen-Weimar. It is not known
for sure why Bach made them. It is often suggested that this was his way of
becoming more acquainted with the style of the Italian concerto and developing
his own skills as a composer. That doesn't explain, though, why he also transcribed
pieces by Johann Ernst von Sachsen-Weimar, half-brother of his employer, who
composed concertos in imitation of the Italian concertos which he had brought
along when he returned from his study period in the Netherlands. Also notable
is that Bach transcribed a concerto by Telemann, and scholars suggest that
the concertos whose original versions are unknown, may have been written by
other German composers. Lastly, we know that Bach was especially interested
in the Vivaldian concerto style. However, in this set we also find the transcription
of a concerto by Giuseppe Torelli which is of a pre-Vivaldian structure in
six movements. This piece is late example of the 17th-century concerto which
reflects the stylus phantasticus with its sequence of contrasting sections.
Some other concertos are in four movements, following the model of the Corellian
sonata da chiesa, like the Concerto in c minor (BWV 981), a
transcription of a composition by Benedetto Marcello.
Six concertos of the set are transcriptions of concertos by Vivaldi; those
Olivier Baumont has selected for his recording. Three are taken from the op.
3 which was published in Amsterdam in 1711 under the title of L'Estro Armonico.
There can be little doubt that these were among the concertos Johann Ernst
took along when he returned to Weimar. The other three are from Vivaldi's
op. 4 (La Stravaganza) and op. 7 which were published in 1716 and 1720
respectively. It is likely that they were circulating in manuscript - sometimes
in early versions - and they could have been part of the repertoire of the
Weimar court orchestra. After all, Bach's employer was a great lover of Italian
music and must have expected his orchestra to play the latest fruits of the
Italian concerto style.
The 12 Concerti a 5 op. 1 by Benedetto Marcello, published in Venice
in 1708, could have been among these fruits. The Concerto BWV 981 which
I have already mentioned is based on the second concerto from this set. Bach
also transcribed concertos by Johann Ernst von Sachsen-Weimar: two for organ
(BWV 592 and 595) and three for harpsichord (BWV 982, 984 and 987). Two of
these, BWV 982 and 987, are based on concertos from the Prince's set of six
concertos op. 1 which were published by Georg Philipp Telemann in 1718. The
Prince had already died three years before, at the age of just 19. According
to his music teacher, Johann Gottfried Walther, Bach's cousin and town organist
of Weimar, the Prince had written 19 compositions in total. The six of his
op. 1 are the only pieces which have survived. The other transcriptions are
based on concertos which have been lost.
Considering the relative small number of complete recordings which are available
one would like to welcome the Naxos set. There are two reasons which make
me hesitate to do so, though. First of all, the choice of harpsichord. Ms
Farr plays an instrument by Keith Hill, which is based on a harpsichord by
Ruckers from the 17th century. To this Hill has added a 16' stop. He rightly
refers to the German 18th-century builder Hass from whom an instrument with
a 16' stop has survived. But adding this to an instrument after Ruckers results
in a fantasy instrument which has no historical foundation. It has little
to do with historical performance practice. It would have been better to use
a copy of a Hass, such as Andreas Staier has used in several recordings. That
said, very few instruments with a 16' stop have survived, and it is very hard
to establish how widespread such instruments were in the 18th century. From
a musical point of view I find this choice of instrument largely unsatisfying.
There is a clear contrast between solo and tutti in these concertos. Ms Farr
conveys them by mostly using the 16' stop for the tutti. In the early 18th
century instrumental ensembles were mostly rather small. Performing with one
voice per part was probably the rule and using two or more per part the exception.
Because of that the contrast in volume between solo and tutti wasn't that
large. That should be taken into account when performing these transcriptions.
By using a 16' stop for the tutti the contrast with the solo passages is exaggerated.
Pieter Dirksen and Olivier Baumont show that one doesn't need a 16' stop to
realise this contrast. Those movements where Ms Farr omits the 16' stop are
the best of her recording (for instance allegro from BWV 975 and andante
from BWV 979).
One may think that the use of a 16' stop makes the performances more dramatic.
That is not the case, and that brings me to the second reservation regarding
the Naxos set: Ms Farr's interpretations. Despite the lack of a 16' stop Baumont's
performances are certainly not devoid of drama, but he realises it in a generally
more convincing way. Part of the tension within these concertos is the result
of the contrasts in tempo between the movements. Ms Farr's tempi are more
or less middle-of-the-road, whereas Baumont's fast movements are considerably
faster. His slow movements could have been slower, such as in Dirksen's recording;
there the tempo contrasts are most satisfying. Ms Farr rather varies the tempo
within movements: she consistently slows down and speeds up the tempo. Basically
I am all in favour of differentiating the tempo within a movement, for dramatic
reasons, but here it has no dramatic effect. It has turned into a mannerism
just like the frequent desynchronisation of right and left hand. Very odd
is the second adagio from the Concerto BWV 981, which begins with a
sequence of chords. Ms Farr changes manuals from one chord to the other.
In the six Vivaldi concertos I prefer Baumont, although not all is well here
too. I have already mentioned the tempi of the slow movements which I find
a shade too fast. He also plays staccato now and then, like in the opening
allegro of the Concerto BWV 976 and the closing movement from the Concerto
BWV 972. It is at odds with the hierarchy of the notes. The hammering
chords in the closing allegro from the Concerto BWV 976, without any
differentation, isn't very nice to listen to.
The choice of additional music is different in both recordings. Ms Farr has
opted for the Prelude and fugue in a minor (BWV 894) which dates from
the same period as the transcriptions. It contains material which Bach would
use later in his Triple Concerto BWV 1044. Ms Farr again makes frequent
use of the 16' stop. Baumont has chosen the well-known Italian Concerto
which is of a much later date, but is modelled after the Italian concertos
which are also the subject of Bach's transcriptions. In both cases the choice
of the additional material makes sense. Baumont gives a good account of the
Italian Concerto.
On balance I have reservations in regard to both recordings. From a historical
and musical point of view I prefer Baumont, but he offers only six of the
16 (or 17) concertos. All in all Pieter Dirksen's recording satisfies me most:
it is complete - he has recorded all 17 -, he uses a copy of a Ruckers harpsichord
and delivers musically convincing performances in which the contrasts in tempo
and between solo and tutti are well conveyed.
Johan van Veen
http://www.musica-dei-donum.org
https://twitter.com/johanvanveen
Both recordings have shortcomings, but Baumont's - although not complete -
is to be preferred.
see also review of the Naxos recording by Brian Wilson
Track listing - Farr/Naxos
CD 1
Concerto in D (BWV 972) [8:10]
Concerto in G (BWV 973) [7:58]
Concerto in g minor (BWV 975) [8:56]
Concerto in C (BWV 976) [10:53]
Concerto in F (BWV 978) [7:31]
Concerto in G (BWV 980) [9:53]
Concerto in C (BWV 977) [7:19]
Concerto in g minor (BWV 983) [8:58]
Concerto in G (BWV 986) [6:20]
CD 2
Concerto in b minor (BWV 979) [12:13]
Concerto in d minor (BWV 974) [8:44]
Concerto in c minor (BWV 981) [8:55]
Concerto in B flat (BWV 982) [8:42]
Concerto in C (BWV 984) [8:27]
Concerto in d minor (BWV 987) [7:05]
Concerto in g minor (BWV 985) [7:28]
Prelude and fugue in a minor (BWV 894) [12:08]