Jordi Savall, Ton Koopman - Bach: Viola da Gamba Sonatas, BWV 1027-1029 (2009)

The recording of Bach's sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord issued in the year 2000 on Jordi Savall's Alia Vox label is one of the standards of the Baroque instrumental sonata catalog. This one by the same performers was recorded in 1977 in Britain, and only competition from the later disc keeps it out of the top rank in its own right. This was a first-generation recording in the modern historical performance movement, and, while there are certainly differences between the two Savall/Koopman recordings, what's remarkable is how recognizable Savall's voice was at this point, near the beginning of his career. His deliberate playing, highly expressive in the slow movements, is instantly identifiable. The later recording makes that voice more evident in the fast movements, which have a more expansive quality, and it features more intricate ornamentation from Koopman. But the two interpretations aren't different in kind, and this release, of LP length at just shy of 44 minutes, should find customers among those in search of distinctive budget-priced Bach releases as well as among Savall fans. There's a tendency toward love-hate reactions to Savall's warm, quintessentially southern approach toward Bach, so sample broadly, but don't miss the exquisite way the pair has of shaping cadences and their approaches; Savall's beautifully delicate trills in the last minute of the slow movement of the Sonata No. 2 for viola da gamba and harpsichord, BWV 1028 (track 7) make up a good example. The transfer from LP is adequate, but the sound is a bit brittle.