Nicholas Kenyon 

Bach: Concertos – review

Viktoria Mullova offers a thrilling account of Bach's solo violin concertos – and rewrites others, says Nicholas Kenyon
  
  


Bach's glorious concertos exist in many different forms and here are some new hypothetical reconstructions. Viktoria Mullova and Ottavio Dantone offer the C minor BWV 1060 in a lively version for harpsichord and violin. Mullova then rewrites the E major harpsichord concerto for violin and adds the two famous solo violin concertos in thrilling, robustly profiled accounts. They contrast strongly with a release from Rachel Podger and Brecon Baroque (Channel Classics). Podger's playing is gentler, more nuanced, though the immortal two-violin concerto sounds rushed. Mullova scores higher for sheer passion; Podger's Concerto for three violins in D (from the three-harpsichord concerto) is, however, a sheer delight.

 

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