Bach is thought of as a musical conservative of the best kind, but he had a certain radical side that is examined on this album of his sonatas for violin and obbligato harpsichord. The combination of violin and harpsichord, as opposed to violin and continuo group, was novel when Bach composed these works, probably in the early 1720s, and although they're not conventionally considered top-rank Bach, the composer continued to tinker with them for several occasions up until the end of his life. They receive persuasive advocacy ...
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Bach is thought of as a musical conservative of the best kind, but he had a certain radical side that is examined on this album of his sonatas for violin and obbligato harpsichord. The combination of violin and harpsichord, as opposed to violin and continuo group, was novel when Bach composed these works, probably in the early 1720s, and although they're not conventionally considered top-rank Bach, the composer continued to tinker with them for several occasions up until the end of his life. They receive persuasive advocacy here as works that are both dense and brilliantly virtuosic. German violinist Isabelle Faust and South African keyboardist Kristian Bezuidenhout tie the work to a powerful large harpsichord available to Bach at the Cöthen court (Bezuidenhout uses a similar instrument here), and Faust brings to the game an equally brilliant instrument, strong yet with a highly emotional quality, that can stand up to it. The result is one of those historical-instrument recordings with an almost...
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