Outil de traduction (Très approximatif)
Translator tool (Very approximate)
Reviewer: Lindsay Kemp
Anyone miffed that Zefiro’s recent Bach Orchestral Suites (4/17) didn’t contain
the famous B minor work for flute and strings will doubtless be even more
irritated to find that now that it has arrived, it has come coupled with all
the Brandenburg Concertos. Well all right, perhaps they won’t. In fact, they
ought to be delighted that Alfredo Bernardini’s ebullient ensemble has so
quickly followed that well-thought-of release with similarly joyous recordings
of these great masterpieces of Baroque orchestral music. What makes them so
joyous is the sense that the players have come together in music they surely
know backwards and emerged with a thoroughly spontaneous-sounding expression of
their own personalities and collective enjoyment. Bernardini is in charge, of
course, and presumably lies behind many of the interpretative decisions
concerning tempos, balance and the timing of important moments. Yet none of
these is the attention-grabbing sort designed to advertise his presence. Some
movements (mainly in Concertos Nos 1 and 2) may seem a little fast, though
hardly as quick as certain rivals; and others may seem a little slow, but again
not much. Most impressive is how Bernardini shapes paragraphs with intensifying
crescendos, draws lines out of the contrapuntal dialogues that are not always
heard (helped here by a clear and present recording), finds a different but
always convincing way to end each movement, or surprises and delights at corners
such as at 2'44" in the first movement of No 5, when he slows the music
momentarily to set up a change of atmosphere as it slips into F sharp minor.
He has much to
say, then, and clearly inspires much energy in his players. The abiding
impression, however, is that his talented soloists have been allowed to find
their own answers and truly express themselves as individuals. It shows itself
in the relish with which Cecilia Bernardini tugs expansively at the tempo and
boldly spreads the violin chords in the outer movements of No 4, how the violas
poke at each other in the canonic first movement of No 6, the freedom (but also
good taste) with which so many of the players ornament their lines, or perhaps
best of all how Francesco Corti turns the mad harpsichord solo of No 5 from
knitting-machine music into something flexible and human, and then charmingly
allows the exuberance to spill over into his continuo-playing in the next
ritornello. Such delights as these are also to be encountered in the Orchestral
Suite, which benefits from firm playing by flute soloist Marcello Gatti and some
well-chosen tempos, including a not-too-slow Rondeaux and a not-too-fast
Badinerie.
It has to be
said that the sheer enthusiasm of the playing on this disc leads at times to a
bit of murky ensemble and maybe a little coarseness of sound, but really it is
all too much fun to be worrying about that.
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