Masaaki Suzuki’s Bach Collegium Japan has become a very respectable period band, and it faces some tough competition in this repertoire. Ryo Terakado, violin soloist for these concertos (and lead part in the Double Concerto) displays an above-the-ordinary level of musicality and handles the spotlight well. There is some excellent ensemble playing here, and the instruments resonate nicely with the exemplary BIS engineering. However, it’s all just a bit too fastidious. As much as everyone sounds good and does everything properly, Jaap Schröder and the Academy of Ancient Music (all of Bach’s violin concertos on L’Oiseau Lyre) have more spark, and Christopher Hirons is a great second violin in the Double Concerto. Andrew Manze, also with the Academy of Ancient Music (on Harmonia Mundi) also is at the top of the list in all the concertos, and he has a terrific partner in the Double Concerto in Rachel Podger.
For the Violin & Oboe Concerto, I would turn to violinist Fabio Biondi and Europa Galante on Virgin Veritas. It’s basically a toss-up when comparing the soloists, but Biondi and oboist Alfredo Bernardini have slightly sweeter tones than Terakado and Marcel Ponseele on this BIS disc, and their interpretation has a bit more swing, especially in the last movement. The “placed” cadences in the BIS version don’t feel natural, but instead sound studied and heavy-footed. The Virgin recording features chamber organ in the continuo of the Adagio movement, which always makes for a nice contrast.
This is great music, and there already are so many good performances in the catalog that a new version would have to be truly wonderful to warrant a solid recommendation. Terakado plays very well, with fine intonation and tasteful phrasing, but he doesn’t shine. And Suzuki’s over-academic gestures keep the music from flowing as well as the Academy of Ancient Music on either of the above-mentioned recordings.
