Bach: Concertos (2013)

Adventurous Russian player Viktoria Mullova is one of the mainstream violinists who has engaged most persistently with the historical performance movement. She has recorded Bach before, but this release of Bach concertos with Ottavio Dantone and his Accademia Bizantina ensemble might be called state of the art. Mullova uses Baroque bows and gut strings, and, most importantly, Dantone approaches the status of full collaborator. He contributes arrangements of the Concerto for harpsichord and orchestra in E major, BWV 1053, ... Read More

Adventurous Russian player Viktoria Mullova is one of the mainstream violinists who has engaged most persistently with the historical performance movement. She has recorded Bach before, but this release of Bach concertos with Ottavio Dantone and his Accademia Bizantina ensemble might be called state of the art. Mullova uses Baroque bows and gut strings, and, most importantly, Dantone approaches the status of full collaborator. He contributes arrangements of the Concerto for harpsichord and orchestra in E major, BWV 1053, and Concerto for two harpsichords and orchestra in C minor, BWV 1060, into a violin concerto and a violin-and-harpsichord concerto, respectively, and these are valuable additions to the repertory that Bach himself would in all likelihood have sanctioned. The violin is beautifully deployed in the new versions, and the interplay of Mullova and Dantone in the slow movement of BWV 1060 is magical. Mullova has a straightforward approach with a rich, one might say patrician tone, and the... Read Less