There probably isn't a recording anywhere of Johann Sebastian Bach's six Brandenburg Concertos that can match the breakneck speeds of the performances by early music specialist Marek Stryncl and his virtuoso period ensemble Musica Florea. In cases where a jaunty Allegro or Allegro moderato can be assumed, Stryncl opts for Presto, or even Prestissimo, apparently with sound scholarship to back up his choices. This may be a legitimate Baroque practice (lay listeners could not know otherwise, without access to Stryncl's ...
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There probably isn't a recording anywhere of Johann Sebastian Bach's six Brandenburg Concertos that can match the breakneck speeds of the performances by early music specialist Marek Stryncl and his virtuoso period ensemble Musica Florea. In cases where a jaunty Allegro or Allegro moderato can be assumed, Stryncl opts for Presto, or even Prestissimo, apparently with sound scholarship to back up his choices. This may be a legitimate Baroque practice (lay listeners could not know otherwise, without access to Stryncl's research), but there is a point where the rapid tempos will seem unduly hasty and become irritating to anyone who wants to linger over such niceties as instrumental color, articulation, harmony, and counterpoint. The rat-a-rat delivery often makes the fast movements seem mechanical and relentlessly uniform in effect, and subtleties of expression are frequently lost in the headlong race to the double bar. Slow movements are somewhat easier to appreciate, though the walking tempo Stryncl...
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