Johann Sebastian BACH (1685 -1750)
Keyboard Concerto No. 1 in D minor, BWV 1052 [20:48]
Keyboard Concerto No. 4 in A major, BWV 1055 [13:21]
Keyboard Concerto No. 3 in D major, BWV 1054 [15:27]
Warren Mailley-Smith (piano)
The Piccadilly Sinfonietta
rec. 5 & 6 October 2021, St George’s Headstone, Harrow, London
SLEEVELESS RECORDS SLV1033 [49:39]
There are seven Bach keyboard concertos, probably first written for other instruments but then arranged for a single harpsichord and they are now often played on a modern piano, as per here. This new recording of three of those is a debut release from the Piccadilly Sinfonietta issued jointly with their version of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, which I have also favourably reviewed. I do not know if they plan to record any more, but on this showing, that is a welcome prospect.
My comparisons are with the sets of the keyboard concertos played on piano by Glenn Gould, recorded between 1957 and 1969, No. 1 being in mono and without No. 6, BWV 1057, and Murray Perahia, who recorded all seven written for single harpsichord, BWV 1052-1058. I have to say that I love all three. The timings across them are fairly similar – this is music which somehow dictates its own momentum – although Gould surprisingly takes considerably more time over both the Adagio and the Allegro finale of No. 1, giving them a statelier feeling. It is also true that Gould creates a more clangourous, percussive sound on his instrument perhaps in homage to the original instrument for which the concertos were written and both he and his collaborator, Bernstein, maintain a weightier manner (we’ll pass over the trademark Gould vocalisation, only faintly audible here). Perahia is all quicksilver fleetness and the ASMF are fleeter and more discreet. The manner of the soloist in this new recording, Warren Mailley-Smith, lies somewhere in-between, the risk there being that he is as characterful as neither and sometimes just a tad anonymous but certainly respectful of how we now expect Bach to sound. His small accompanying band similarly adopt period good manners, eschewing vibrato and sounding just a little recessed and under-powered in comparison with the ASMF but probably more acceptable to modern sensibilities educated by and habituated to historical performance practice than Bernstein’s Columbia Symphony Orchestra, which is decidedly ploggy and bass-heavy.
By contrast, the Piccadilly Sinfonietta is lean and light, and Mailley-Smith is similar to Perahia in his own lightness of touch and his judicious application of delightful little ornamental runs and trills; his dexterity towards the end of the opening movement in this recital is little short of astounding and sets the tone for the whole album. There is a rightness to his judgement which runs through it; to pick up randomly on high-points, the spring and drive of the Allegro conclusion to No. 1 are compelling and there is a moto perpetuo energy and a propulsion about the opening of No. 3 which is most seductive - and I do like the way Mailley-Smith uses rallentando and a pause before the reprise of the opening theme at 4:50.
This is such joyful, uplifting music, eternally youthful and cheering but punctuated with moments of calm and repose, such as in the central movement of the A major concerto. If my own preference remains with Perahia, that is no reflection upon the desirability of this new release – but it is complete and, as with the Piccadilly’s release of the Four Seasons, which is of only 39 minutes’ duration without any pairing, I have to observe that 50 minutes for a CD is still short measure these days
(when it costs in excess of £12).
Ralph Moore
