Phantasm - J.S. Bach: The Well-Tempered Consort – II - Early Music

More Bach comes from Phantasm with their second traversal of his keyboard music. Johann Sebastian Bach: The well-tempered consort-II (Linn CKD657, rec. 2021). Their 2020 CD The well-tempered consort-I arranged Bach from several different collections: here they concentrate on Das wohltemperierte Klavier. …. Laurence Dreyfus here describes how the individual lines echo Bach’s Passions and instrumental works– sometimes the viols had to become a wind or brass instrument, sometimes the players ‘sang vocal parts… with imaginary words.’ Thus, on first hearing, their performance of the F minor fugue, BWV 857, immediately took me to the opening chorus of the St. Matthew Passion; the lament of the C# minor fugue, BWV 849, similarly evokes the darker moments of a Passion narrative. This recording shines an x-ray through Bach’s keyboard writing and reveals all sorts of details that might escape the casual ear, but there is also a wide range of expression from the signified dancing of the G minor fugue BWV 885 to the pastoral grace of the A major prelude BWV888. These works are not played in their original order, a decision entirely justified by the energetic playing of the D major prelude BWV874 which ends the disc with cheerful optimism.