More Bach, Please!
Concerto Italiano; Rinaldo Alessandrini
Naïve OP8454 (arkivmusic.com/products/more-bach-please)
Over the years, composers and performers as diverse as Anton Webern, Procol Harem and the Modern Jazz Quartet have all drawn inspiration from the music of J.S Bach. The Rome-based Baroque ensemble Concerto Italiano directed by Rinaldo Alessandri is the latest ensemble to refashion the music of the Leipzig cantor in this intriguing Naïve label recording titled More Bach, Please!. The aim of the endeavour was to create three new works based upon pre-existing material by Bach with Alessandrini drawing from a number of sources.
The Ouverture in the French Style BWV831 for solo keyboard was originally published in 1735 as the second half of the Clavier-Übung (paired with the Italian Concerto). Here, the appeal is three-fold. Not only are Alessandrini’s arrangements meticulously constructed but the movements were thoughtfully chosen. Furthermore, the playing itself is stylish and elegant with the ten-member ensemble producing a warmly cohesive sound in which violinist Boris Begelman and violist Ettore Belli deliver particularly polished performances.
The Partita for flute, strings and continuo and the eight-movement Ouverture in G Major for strings and continuo utilize various sources including those from the Violin Sonata BWV1016, the keyboard Partitas BWV825 and 828 and the Ouverture BWV820. Again, the ensemble performs with a solid conviction with flutist Laura Pontecorvo’s sensitive and controlled tone melding perfectly with the string ensemble.
How could Bach not have approved of these arrangements? He himself frequently transcribed and reused his own music (and that of others). With modern technology AI can undoubtedly produce a competent refashioning of a composer’s work, but there is still ample room for the human touch and creativity, as this recording so admirably demonstrates.
