JS & CPE Bach: Sonatas for Viola da gamba
Daniel Müller-Schott (cello) & Angela Hewitt (piano)
Awards:
-
Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2007, Editor's Choice
Angela Hewitt joins the equally period-sensitive Daniel Müller-Schott in performances which lead the field for performances on cello and piano.
JS & CPE Bach: Sonatas for Viola da gamba
Daniel Müller-Schott (cello) & Angela Hewitt (piano)
Purchase product
Awards:
-
Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2007, Editor's Choice
Angela Hewitt joins the equally period-sensitive Daniel Müller-Schott in performances which lead the field for performances on cello and piano.
About
Contents and tracklist
Awards and reviews
-
Gramophone MagazineAwards Issue 2007Editor's Choice
August 2007
Angela Hewitt joins the equally period-sensitive Daniel Müller-Schott in performances which lead the field for performances on cello and piano.
2010
From the moment the cello starts its suave tread over the piano's gently rising bass and sustained right-hand trill at the beginning of the G major Sonata, you know this is going to be a disc to sit back and enjoy. Daniel Müller-Schott and Angela Hewitt may have substituted modern instruments for the viola da gamba and harpsichord Bach had in mind but nothing in this superb music's original character has been lost – this is as clear-textured and as vividly articulated a performance as you could hope to hear.
Indeed, it has gained much by the sheer musical feeling and intelligence that these two players have put into it, aided by extra warmth from Müller-Schott's cello (achieved without resorting to excessive vibrato) and from the delicate dynamic subtleties of Hewitt's piano-playing.
There are some memorable moments here.
Architecturally, too, they consistently get things just right. With a perfect balance between instruments, this is playing which gives nothing but a glow of pleasure, that not even what sounds like some weary tuning at the piano's top end can dispel.
All Bach gamba sonata discs need a filler, and the choice here is a sonata by CPE Bach, rather more romantically drawn by Müller-Schott and with a continuo accompaniment less well suited to the piano. But then this disc is worth your money for the JS alone.
With a perfect balance between instruments, this is playing which gives nothing but a glow of pleasure
