Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
Performer: Masaaki Suzuki, Masato Suzuki
Orchestra: Bach Collegium Japan
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: BIS
Catalogue: BIS2051
Release: 2014
Size: 444 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Concerto for Two Keyboards in C minor, BWV1062
01. I. (Allegro)
02. II. Andante e piano
03. III. Allegro assai
Concerto for Two Keyboards in C major, BWV1061
04. I. [Allegro]
05. II. Adagio
06. III. Fuga
Orchestral Suite No. 1 in C major, BWV1066
07. I. Overture
08. II. Courante
09. III. Gavotte I-II
10. IV. Forlane
11. V. Menuet I-II
12. VI. Bourree I-II
13. VII. Passepied I-II
Concerto for Two Keyboards in C minor, BWV1060
14. I. Allegro
15. II. Adagio
16. III. Allegro
Three double concertos for harpsichord by Bach survive, all dating from around 1736, and all arrangements of earlier compositions. BWV 1060 is thought to have originated as a now lost double concerto for oboe and violin, while BWV 1062 is a reworking of the well-loved concerto for two violins. Unlike these two works, BWV 1061 was composed for two harpsichords from the outset, but probably started out as a concerto without orchestral accompaniment – this will have been added later. Performing these works, with a quintet of string players from the Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki is joined by his son Masato. For the present disc Masato Suzuki has also taken a page from Bach’s own book, in arranging the composer’s Orchestral Suite No.1 for two unaccompanied harpsichords.
This is an enjoyable, somehow spontaneous recording of several of Bach’s works for a pair of harpsichords, with the great Japanese Bach conductor Masaaki Suzuki joined by his son Masato. The high spirits of the elder Suzuki here could be chalked up to any combination of several factors. One might be freedom from the rigors of his complete Bach cantata cycle, just recently completed when this album appeared in 2014. Another could be the unusual chance for Suzuki to show his considerable powers as a keyboardist, or again the presence of a family member generating an especially relaxed performance. In any event, although the music-making with the two Suzukis and a quintet of strings from Masaaki Suzuki’s Bach Collegium Japan is basically the same precise species as was heard in the cantata recordings, there’s a new inventive spirit evident in, among other things, the arrangement for two harpsichords of the Orchestral Suite No. 1 in C major, BWV 1066, by Masaaki Suzuki himself. The model for the arrangement is the Italian Concerto, BWV 971, a concerto without the strings. Although no such manuscript exists, the possibility that a French suite counterpart to the Italian Concerto is not far-fetched. Suzuki appears to have converted to the one-instrument-per-part philosphy, something that will be a disincentive for many listeners inasmuch as the Italian models for the kind of concerto represented here were demonstrably performed by large groups. But BIS’ engineering work at Japan’s Saitama Arts Theater is absolutely superlative, and buyers will be glad to have this somewhat personal Bach document from the Japanese master.