Customer Reviews

Bach: Sonatas for Viola da gamba und Cembalo

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Savall and Koopman first recorded the three gamba sonatas over twenty years ago, so this new version was already up against stiff competition from the same pair of musicians. But what a revelation! While the two work together splendidly, the contrast between their approaches is what makes the collaboration so perfect. And, as one might expect, the added experience both have beind them make for a more relaxed, though hardly less engaging, performance. Savall's dynamic subtleties are matched by Koopman's strongly rhetorical approach and tighty controlled ornamentation. As an added bonus, one of the six trio sonatas (originally for organ) is added to fill out the disc. While there are plenty of recordings of these works in the catalogue, including excellent modern instrument performances by the likes of Kim Kashkashian on viola and many 'cellists, these should easily be THE performances to have, and not just for period-performance buffs.

This has to be considered the definitive recording of the Bach gamba sonatas. Savall and Koopman are arguably the finest gamba and harpsichord players, respectively, in the world. The balance is slightly more harpsichord-heavy than is typically heard, but it allows both hands of the keyboard a chance at equality. Rather than be a viol accompanied by two keyboard lines, this is three individual lines of music, and Koopman is skilled enough to make it work. Listen for a few painfully long resolutions on half-cadences at the end of slow movements. It's the nice kind of pain. The addition of an arrangement of an organ sonata as a sort of fourth viola da gamba sonata is a pleasant treat.

For those of you who don't know these works, this is essential listening. The three gamba sonatas are among the last great pieces written for the instrument, which subsequently went out of style until relatively recently.

Delicious. Despite the remarkable artistry that has come into the historical performance world in the past several decades, we've had to wait for this to hear the first truly remarkable recording of the gamba sonatas (although the Bylsma/van Asperen experiment impresses too). These little gems are fantastic-- much larger in scope and depth than the humble (to those who have not heard it) instrumentation would suggest. And, Koopman and Savall have thrown in a reworking of the similarily structured C-major trio sonata for organ to the CD's tremendous advantage.

Let me preface this review by saying that I am a HUGE fan of Savall's work. I collect his recordings compulsively. I have given tickets to his concert as a birthday gift, etc. etc.

That said, this recording is very difficult for me to listen to for more than a few minutes. I agree with the reviewer from Madrid, Koopman's cembalo is FAR to 'wet' sounding. Furthermore, Savall's viola is FAR too murky-- even dingy sounding. The end result is a tiresome contrast.

There is another recording from 2007 by Bruno Procopio/Emmanuelle Guigues which is excellent-- lively, balanced and clear. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, you can only get it as a mp3 download here on Amazon (as of 01/2009), although I am sure it's not to difficult to find a CD.

There is a large number of recordings of these pieces available today, but I would say this ranks as one of the finest, if not THE finest, available. Jordi Savall has a wonderful way of making the viola da gamba sound as well as it can all the time, and even in the most virtuosic passages of these pieces there isn't any "scratchy" playing like you will find in recordings by lesser gambists. Also present is the great sense of musicianship and sensitivity one would expect from Savall.

Ton Koopman is among the most famous harpsichordists and Baroque conductors in the world today, and he certainly does justice to the keyboard parts, which unlike most contemporary Baroque sonatas, are far more than mere accompaniment or continuo parts. Bach wrote a true trio texture here, and while I would wish that some of the harpsichord lines could come out more, others have written that the harpsichord is more present than in other recordings, so perhaps as a harpsichordist myself(and gambist) I am just being picky!

I own hundreds of dollars worth of Savall CDs and I would recommend this one just as heartily as the others. A great treat is the arrangement of the C major organ tio sonata for alto viol and harpsichord: perhaps the only "alto viola da gamba" sonata recording you can find. The now-rare instrument sounds beautiful and has a singing tone with lots of resonance in the lower range...a little like a viola but with a more transparent and clear tone.

Throughout much of its period of popularity, the viola da gamba was not a professional musician's instrument. It was the dilettante's pleasure, the instrument for cultured recreational music. Such it has become again in modern times, with the "early music" movement. There are summer workshop "dude ranches" for amateur gambists all over America. Much of the music written for gambas even by the greatest composers of the late Renaissance and Baroque was written for gentlemen/patrons of perhaps limited virtuosity. Bach's gamba sonatas, for example, are less challenging in every way, including listening, than his solo cello suites.

Nonetheless, the Bach gamba sonatas are thrillingly beautiful, and Jordi Savall has lived with them until he understands them better than anyone but Bach himself. I have listened to Jordi's older recording of them so many times that I can recognize each from one random bar of music. Consequently, my first reaction to this newer performance was quizzical. Why's he playing it that way? But I've come to respect the new as much as the old. Now there are two master performances to choose from.

If you enjoy the sound of the gamba, you will be delighted to discover that Savall has a long catalogue of performances by the great French Baroque composers for his instrument: Marais, St. Colombe, Fourqueray, and others, all ravishing. No one since that era of French geniuses has made the gamba a more persuasive virtuoso's instrument than Jordi Savall.

This is the most boring record I've ever heard of Jordi Savall. In fact is more irritating than boring and for my ears it's all due to the "crispy" work of Ton Koopman over the cembalo. How I wished that these sonatas were recorded in a full stereo! If so we could have had one speaker for each instrument and then have the chance to "miss" Koopman and left Savall alone. That wouldn't be the sonatas, but at least it would have been pleasent music.