January 4: Harpsichord Concertos BWV 1052-1058 (Andreas Staier & Freibergur Barockorchester)
The piano can do so much more than the harpsichord, we’re spoiled. Dynamics, harmonics, depth of tone, it’s a totally different game. Harpsichord can sound dinky (maybe cheesy?) to modern ears, but there are contemporary harpsichordists who have lots to say about these old pieces. Today I’m writing about Bach’s seven harpsichord concertos and the recording that features Andreas Staier released on the Harmonia Mundi label in 2015. (This week, the NYTimes profiled Staier and his struggles with a rare blood cancer, and how the disease has shaped his approach to practice and performance.)
Staier and the orchestra are sonically well balanced throughout this recording. The harpsichord doesn’t belong out in front of the orchestra in the way you’d want to a piano in one of Beethoven or Rachmaninoff’s concertos. This a great sounding record, good work everyone.
A few big surprises for me in this set:
I had no idea that Bach did cover versions of his own music! When Concerto #7 in G Minor began, I recognized one of my all-time favorite pieces of music, except it was completely off:
It’s sort of this, the very famous Violin Concerto in A Minor (this version by Hillary Hahn and conductor Jeff Kahane):
What? I clicked and learned that Bach adapted many of his pieces for other instruments, and there will be more to come throughout my listening project. I was surpised that the change in key from A minor to G minor in this piece was almost as weird to me as the re-instrumentation. I’m too used to A minor, which is either great taste or bad habit, who’s to say? (Bach’s other violin concerto is also transcribed and transposed for harpsichord in this collection, too.)
Concerto #1 is a minor key jam — note how well the harpsichord is articulated without overpowering the orchestra, it’s just a member of the band:
Concerto #6 gets really zippy. It takes a talented player and a sensitive conductor to not turn this to mush:
Doesn’t Concerto #5’s second movement sound suspiciously like Air on a G String? Worth a listen either way: