The complete series of
Bach
's keyboard music undertaken on the
Harmonia Mundi
label by
Benjamin Alard
has many strengths, and this
ninth volume
demonstrates several of them. Thus, it represents a good place to start for those who want to sample the series. One strength is that
Alard
has consistenly picked distinctive keyboard instruments, and here, he has outdone himself with a 1740 triple-manual harpsichord by the Hamburg maker
Hieronymus Albrecht Haas
. Annotator
Alan Rubin
calls it "the most complex stringed instrument of its period that has survived to the present day," and it is brilliant in addition to being complex.
writes of planning to record the opening
Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor, BWV 903
, on a clavichord but being unable to resist using the present harpsichord, and one can be glad he made the choice he did; this virtuoso work has rarely sounded so various in sonority (and all the richness is nicely captured by
in a French museum space). Another attraction of
's series is his completist ambition; he includes not only pure keyboard pieces but works in which the keyboard plays a major role. Here there are two: the
Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major, BWV 1050
, with its famed harpsichord cadenza, and a rarity, the secular cantata
Amore traditore, BWV 203
, for bass and harpsichord. This work is a true oddity in which
's densely contrapuntal accompaniment seems to clash with the Italian vocal line. There is also a
transcription of a violin concerto by
Prince Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar
. The
Brandenburg Concerto No. 5
is probably the weakest of the lot here, with its wan one-instrument-per-part performance highlighting intonational problems on its Baroque flute. However,
, as a solo player in the two so-called English Suites, is marvelous, lively, and muscular. Sample the opening Prelude of the
English Suite No. 6 in D minor, BWV 811
.
's big series is an exciting thing, and this release should keep drawing new listeners; it made classical best-seller lists in the spring of 2024. ~ James Manheim