These aren't just 'authentic' performances, they're also outstandingly musical ones. There's happy animation in the flanking movements – bows are lifted from or stopped on the strings to ensure the cleanest of textures – and a warmth of expression in the slow ones which comes from a deeper source than mere academic study.
The admirable soloist in the A minor and E major concertos, Ryo Terakado, and his partner in the Double Concerto, Natsumi Wakamatsu, both studied with Sigiswald Kuijken in The Hague and served with various Baroque ensembles in Europe before returning to Japan.
It shows in the beautifully 'vocalised' shaping of their lines. Not once do they or their ripieno colleagues jar the ear with acidic sounds, and in JS Bach Orchestral the Andante of the A minor Concerto Terakado achieves a pianissimo that's near-miraculous in its quality. Marcel Ponseele, the only European on parade, has a comparably distinguished pedigree.
In the reconstructed Concerto BWV1060 his fluency, rounded tone and clean articulation are second to none, and he makes the Adagio one of the serenely lovely high spots of the entire programme. As for the ripieno, you couldn't ask for better, and they're recorded in excellent balance with the soloists. Suzuki directs the whole with sure hands.