Germany's Isabelle Faust is among the hot Baroque violinists right now, and this collection of Bach works seems destined to repeat the success of her earlier Bach releases. There are many attractive features here. Some of the pieces are familiar and established works, while some are reconstructions from works in other media; these work well, and it's notable that they were devised by Faust and the musicians of the Akademie für alte Musik Berlin, working together. Faust is capable of blistering speed without losing ...
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Germany's Isabelle Faust is among the hot Baroque violinists right now, and this collection of Bach works seems destined to repeat the success of her earlier Bach releases. There are many attractive features here. Some of the pieces are familiar and established works, while some are reconstructions from works in other media; these work well, and it's notable that they were devised by Faust and the musicians of the Akademie für alte Musik Berlin, working together. Faust is capable of blistering speed without losing musicality, and there's a mounting excitement in the outer movements of, say, the Trio Sonata for two violins and basso continuo, BWV 529. Faust's 1658 Stainer violin has a unique wiry sound that complements her playing beautifully. And she is matched by other remarkable players, notably Baroque oboist Xenia Löffler, principal oboist of the Akademie für alte Musik, who also takes a splendid turn on the recorder. The Teldex studio sound in Berlin reveals many small polyphonic details of the...
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