Purcell - Complete Ayres for the Theatre - Parley of Instruments/Goodman

Rating: 5/5

Review:
Terrific Purcell

This is a wonderful, very welcome budget re-issue of the original, widely-admired recordings. It contains all of Purcell's hugely enjoyable music for the theatre (including the famous Rondeau from Abdelazer on which Britten based his Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra). The music is typical of Purcell - full of melody and harmonic invention, making it hugely enjoyable while not being in any way superficial or trivial - and the musicianship of the Parley of Instruments is simply brilliant. The players include Crispian Steele-Perkins, Pavlo Beznosiuk and Mark Caudle and these stars of the Baroque produce something really special. The dances really dance and the more reflective pieces shine with beauty and depth. It's a delight from start to finish.

The recording quality is of Hyperion's normal excellent standard, giving a fabulous lustre particularly to the bass viol and theorbo and a real sparkle to Steele-Perkins's natural trumpet, and the overall sound is truly seductive. I return to this set again and again with enormous pleasure. At this price for three excellent CDs you've very little to lose and I recommend it extremely warmly.

Bach - Cello Suites - Narroway

Rating: 4/5

Review:
A good interpretation

I like Richard Narroway's interpretation of the Cello Suites, although I'm not sure it really stands out among the many fine recordings of these works. 

Narroway is a very fine cellist with a lovely tone and excellent technique.  He does bring his own personality to the music (as he should), but he allows Bach to speak without overlaying the music with a lot of unnecessary tricks and quirks.  It's a fine, solid and very listenable performance.

My minor reservations are largely personal feelings: perhaps the Courante of Suite No.1 is a little too halting in its rhythm; those magnificent wide arpeggios in the Prelude to Suite No.3 are taken too fast and lightly to really ring out; the Sarabande of Suite No.5 lacks the monumental weight and depth that it can sometimes have…that sort of thing. 

Others may disagree, and overall this is a good interpretation.  The recorded sound is good (although there's some rather intrusive breathing at times) and I don't think anyone would be disappointed in Narroway's interpretation.  For me, it's not up there with Watkin, Isserlis, Fournier and a couple of others which I regard as truly great, nor with the delightful individuality of Anne Gastinel, but Narroway holds his own in a crowded field and I can recommend it.

Bach - Works for Flute - Hazelzet, Ogg

Rating: 5/5

Review: 
A terrific set

I think  this is a terrific set.  Wilbert Hazelzet is a very fine flautist indeed and he has made some excellent transcriptions here.

Needless to say, the A minor flute partita is beautifully played, and the transcriptions of the organ music work very well indeed – as such transcriptions so often do.  Bach's organ music lends itself so well to being played on groups of other instruments that it sounds here as though it had been written specifically for flute and harpsichord.  I was a little dubious about the idea of the Cello Suites played on the flute, but in fact they sound great.  Some of the sonorities are lost, of course, and there is the odd slightly disconcerting moment where the flute can't reach a deep bass note which is played an octave above, but the overall effect is a pleasure to listen to.  Much of the intellectual and spiritual depth of the music is preserved, and the lovely sound of Hazelzet's baroque flute adds its own charm and beauty.  I was surprised by how much I like these transcriptions.

The recorded sound is excellent and the whole set is a pleasure – and quite a bargain at this price, I think.  Warmly recommended.

Bach - Keyboard Concertos Nos 1,2 & 4 - Perahia/ASMF

Rating: 4/5

Review:
Very good piano interpretations

I should say at the outset that the only reason this is not a five-star disc for me is personal taste: although I love to hear Bach's solo works well played on a piano (including Murray Perahia's fabulous recordings) I can't really get on with the concertos on the piano.  I don't know why, there's no real sense in it, but they just don't sound right to me unless they're on a harpsichord.

That said, these recordings are the best I've heard on the piano.  There is a lovely fluency and depth here which even the great Angela Hewitt doesn't match for me – and that's really saying something.  Perahia's magnificent touch and apparently instinctive understanding of Bach shine through and his direction brings similar sensibility from the always excellent Academy of Saint-Martin-In-The Fields.  There's a delightful dancing feel to the outer movements (as there should be) and the slow movements are very beautiful – the Larghetto from the A major Concerto, especially.

So, if you're looking for a piano interpretation of Bach's keyboard concertos, I don't think you can do better than this.  If this is your thing, then ignore my slight, very personal caveats and snap this up.  Even if you're not keen on Bach on the piano, this may well be worth investigating; it's the closest I've come to really enjoying the concertos played on the piano and it may possibly convert me yet.  Recommended.

Bach - Goldberg Variations - La Compagnie Pochette

Rating: 3/5

Review:
Not really for me

I'm afraid I can't really see the point in this recording.  It's OK in its way and I'm pretty sure there hasn't been a recording with violin, viola and violoncello da spalla…but I'm not sure we really needed one.

The arrangement is good, and the three musicians play well enough, but there seems to be little in the way of new insight here.  They are quite rhythmically free, tending toward more Romantic gestures, which isn't an approach I like in Bach and for me this wonderful, monumental work often just sounds a little dull – certainly when compared to the fabulous recording by the Leopold String Trio.

I'm afraid I can't really recommend this.  It's a worthy attempt, but not one which I really enjoy.  Others may like this more than I do – there's nothing actively wrong with it, after all – but I'll be sticking to my treasured Leopolds recording for the Goldbergs played by a string trio.

Bach - French Suites (lute transcriptions) - Beier

Rating: 4/5

Review:
Good, but not flawless

I think this is a creditable achievement but it's not a disc I can wholeheartedly enjoy throughout.

Bach's French Suites were written for keyboard, so transcribing them for the lute is a significant challenge.  I think these transcriptions are well done, in that they capture much of the spirit and musical structure of the originals, which are quite magnificent works.  Paul Beier plays them well, but I do find that there is quite often a lack of the sense of ease and flow which, say, Nigel North or Paul O'Dette achieve in their Bach recordings.  There's a slightly halting feel which does impede the flow of Bach's rhythm; it's not a major problem, but I do find it's enough to intrude on my enjoyment more than I would like.

The recording quality is very good, with a fine, mellow sound to Beier's lute.  However, there is some intrusive breathing; again it's not terrible, but it's quite annoying at times.

So, a good disc but with some flaws to my ears.  Nonetheless, as a lover of the lute I think it's good to have such transcriptions available and I can still recommend this disc, with some minor reservations.

Sheppard - Media vita etc - Westminster Cathedral Choir/Baker

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A fabulous disc

I love this disc.  Purely as a matter of personal taste, I haven't always got on well with Westminster's recordings, generally preferring the smaller ensembles to this choir's larger, more churchy sound.  However, this is simply stunning.

The music here is truly wonderful.  Media Vita, in particular, is one of the true gems of English Tudor polyphony, and Gaude, gaude, gaude Maria and the Missa Cantate are both also very fine works.  Westminster Cathedral's choir has been a world-class ensemble for many years, of course, and for me this music suits them magnificently.  There is something about the English structure and cadences here which they catch perfectly, so the whole thing just glows with beauty.  They manage to preserve the clarity of individual lines while blending into a truly lovely whole, and there is s real sense of spirituality and engagement with the text they are singing.  It's an exemplary performance, I think.

I already own and love the superb recordings of Media Vita by The Tallis Scholars and Stile Antico.  This is just as good.  The presentation and recorded sound are up to Hyperion's usual excellent standard and it's a fabulous disc all round.  Very warmly recommended.