No one could claim that this recording of Bach harpsichord concertos by keyboardist Francesco Corti and the historical-instrument group Il Pomo d'Oro is derivative of past attempts, and this is a recording that will inspire distinctively individual reactions. Corti, playing a copy of a 1738 harpsichord by the Christian Vater, has a powerful sound and virtuoso chops, and he tops off the whole presentation with an unscored cadenza in the final movement of the Triple Concerto in A minor, BWV 1044; for some, it will be a ...
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No one could claim that this recording of Bach harpsichord concertos by keyboardist Francesco Corti and the historical-instrument group Il Pomo d'Oro is derivative of past attempts, and this is a recording that will inspire distinctively individual reactions. Corti, playing a copy of a 1738 harpsichord by the Christian Vater, has a powerful sound and virtuoso chops, and he tops off the whole presentation with an unscored cadenza in the final movement of the Triple Concerto in A minor, BWV 1044; for some, it will be a welcome break with mechanical Bach readings, while for others, it may be over the top. So it is, too, with the sound from the Villa San Fermo in Lonigo, Italy, a former monastery with hyper-live acoustics that, depending on one's taste, either displays Corti's skills with maximum brilliance or puts the music into a harsh environment little resembling the smaller, crowded rooms where Bach would have played. This is Corti's second album of Bach harpsichord concertos; the first used a small...
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