Phantasm - J.S. Bach: The Well-Tempered Consort – II - BBC Radio 3 ‘Record Review’

It's a revelation. For years you keyboard players have struggled to tease out the separate strands of Bach's complex keyboard fugues and now suddenly here they all are, laid bare by the viols. It's thrillingly clear. But it's not just about clarifying Bach's fugal textures there's also some - well what shall we call it? -  some Pinocchio magic at work here, where the single lines of Bach's originals are separated out, somehow when this happens they come alive and grow and new things seem to emerge from the music. It’s as if we’ve peeled back the layers to reveal Bach’s pure fugal masterplan. They are effortless, ethereal and so revealing, these performances. Can’t get enough of them.