Listening to wind pieces on original instruments often can be a teeth-grating experience, as we struggle to hear the music in the face of approximate intonation and expressionless “Urtext” phrasing. Happily this new CD of Bach flute sonatas does not subject us to that plight. Lisa Beznosiuk actually makes us look forward to hearing these sonatas, whose prevalence on disc is threatening to make recordings of the Goldberg Variations seem like a rarity. Possessed of complete command of her early 18th century one-keyed wood flute, Beznosiuk produces a dark, rounded, full sound, and while there is no trace of vibrato (Bach and other baroque composers surely must have hated vibrato), the rich sonority itself is all the beauty it needs.
In virtually every way–flute playing, sonics, and accompaniment–this new original-instrument version of the Sonatas bests my former original-instrument reference recording of the complete set by Stephen Preston, Trevor Pinnock, and Jordi Savall. Beznosiuk, a former pupil of Preston’s, benefits from a better acoustic setting, and as a result you just hear more. Compare the two performances of the E minor sonata, for instance: Preston and his group play the entire first movement (really, the whole piece) at the same piano dynamic level in a miniaturized soundstage, whereas with Beznosiuk you get her deep sound, elegant phrasing, and a realistic recording level.
Beznosiuk and her accompanists really feel this music as well. Notice how they all hold back subtly in some of the 16th-note passages in the fourth movement Allegro of the E minor sonata. Similarly, the flutist tastefully caresses the opening Andante movement of the C major sonata as a sort of introductory cadenza, preparing the way for the moto perptetuo Allegro. In the E major sonata an archlute substitutes for the harpsichord to striking effect, and in the lovely Siciliano movement of the E-flat major sonata, harpsichordist Paul Nicholson changes the stops to intone a more guitar-like plucking. Finally, for musicological curiosity seekers, listen to Beznosiuk’s characterful completion of the Vivace movement of the A major sonata, prepared based on her own performance sensibilities, not research.
