Bach: Brandenburg Concertos (CD review)

Rinaldo Alessandrini, Concerto Italiano. Naive OP 30412.

Music, like most other art, affects different people in different ways. We wouldn't want it otherwise. My guess is that a majority of listeners will adore this lively, period set of Bach's six Brandenburg Concertos. I didn't. It's what makes ball games.

In the first place, the small group of performers playing in Rinaldo Alessandrini's ensemble does not always sound to my ears letter perfect. Not that we would always want it that way; I would take gusto and enthusiasm over absolute precision any day. But in Concerto No. 1 the sound of the period instruments can seem positively Raggedy Annie. In No. 2 the trumpet appears distant and rough. Moreover, Alessandrini plays every fast movement as such a breakneck speed, one can hardly appreciate what's happening. Other listeners, as I say, will interpret the quick tempos as exhilarating and exciting and possibly fitting with the Italian style that influenced Bach; I simply found everything too fast.

Then, there's the sound, recorded in the Palazzo Farnese, Rome, in 2005. This would seem an ideal setting because of its appropriate resonance, but the result is sound less than transparent and conveying very little depth. Not that the ensemble needs much depth when there are only six or eight players involved, but still, judging from the bonus DVD that comes with the earlier CD set, the players appear distanced front-to-back by at least a few feet. On the compact disc, however, they sound as though the leader had arranged them in a perfectly straight line across the stage.

For the record, so to speak, I thought Nos. 3, 4, and 5 come off best, where the quick pacing doesn't sound too rushed. But that big ensemble piece, No. 1, just sounds pretty loose to me, No. 2 seems harsh and over decorated, and No. 6 appears a touch dull. By comparison, both of Trevor Pinnock's period recordings (DG and Avie) sound just as lively as Alessandrini's yet far more refined, elegant, and, again for me, entertaining.

Incidentally, apparently the earlier Naive set I reviewed came with the aforementioned bonus DVD, which contains a brief, thirty-minute or so film of Alessandrini and his group rehearsing and playing, with commentary from Alessandrini (subtitles in English) and extended excerpts from several of the Concertos.

JJP