These are expanded arrangements of some of Bach’s trio sonatas, configured for the whimsically named Rare Fruits Council: two violins (one player also performs on viola) and cello, with harpsichord and organ providing a double continuo line. The resulting density is to Bach’s detriment, as the counterpoint gets lost in the thick texture. But my issues with this recording aren’t limited to that set of choices: there are aesthetics to consider, too. They’re eager players, and much of the time they mistake ugliness for evidence of intensity. The Vivace of the D minor sonata in particular suffers terribly because of that: it’s simply a mess of strings scrubbing away.
At least I’m interpreting their roughness as overeagerness, but there is a strange statement in the annotation, written by the ensemble’s first violinist and director Manfredo Kraemer, that seems a bit less innocuous: “How delightful it would be to throw the spanner in the works and prove that Johann Sebastian was not quite so perfect, that he did not compose only masterpieces, nothing but masterpieces.” (I can only picture Kraemer chortling and twirling a movie-villain mustache as he says that.) Could the flubs and scrubs be a conscious attempt to somehow demystify, de-sanctify Bach? I doubt it, but still. . . Although this group won the Diapason d’Or award for a recording of Biber suites, this current project definitely went awry somewhere. The superb sound makes all the scrabbling and scratching that much easier to hear. I can’t recommend it.
