Performing on a restored (1977) clavecin of Jean-Henri Hemsch, 1761 (rec. 21-23 December 2005) at the Music City Amphitheater, Kenneth Weiss offers a rich tapestry of Bach klavier works mostly familiar to the connoisseur. The richness of his instrument’s sound will remind collectors of Igor Kipnis, but the Weiss approach is more sec, definitely in the French taste. Articulation on the early keyboard is quite crisp, and Bach ornaments fly in the last movement of the Italian Concerto and in the opening of the Chromatic Fantasy. For my money, no harpsichord performance of the latter piece has ever equaled what Fernando Valenti achieved for CBS LP (ML 5916), yet to be restored to the CD catalogue. This is not to say the Weiss rendition is not compelling; it has the passion of Bach’s numbers and a beguiling tautness in the arched phrases.. The virtuosic fugue manages to retain a dance-like character, a rather hopping gait.
The two large works are the A Minor French Overture in eight parts and the Sonata based on a model of Reinken, his “Musical Garden” of 1687. The B Minor Overture testifies to Bach’s assimilation of international musical styles, the so-called Concert of Nations. After the expected opening in dotted rhythms, the ensuing Allegro of the overture proper exploits dexterously the timbres of the two manuals of the keyboard. For all the beauty of the ensuing suite of dances, I find the limpid execution handsome but slightly pedantic; perhaps the listening on this disc must be taken in smaller doses. Even the gavottes seem stiff in the knees to my taste. The two passepieds enjoy more abandon, the second in a style reminiscent of Couperin. The Sarabande reminds us that the harpsichord evolved from a lutenist tradition. The Bourees are lightly fluent, the Gigue an attractive canter in canon. The final movement, Echo, has a heavy beat, although texturally its scales trip into the thin upper register of the light-action instrument.
Bach transcribed a trio sonata for two violins, viola, and bass continuo by the Hamburg composer Adam Reinken; then Bach added his own ornaments and polyphonic textures according to his own, inspired lights. Some of the repeated figures in the opening Fuga (Allegro) reverberate with echoes of the Toccata, Adagio and Fugue, BWV 564. Dense, rich fioritura and polyphonic color rules here. A huge trill, an Adagio, then a burst to the Presto section conclude the florid opening movement. The succeeding four movements are standard: stately Allemande; elegant, chromatically emotional Courante; sweetly melting Sarabande; peppy Gigue. Academic but not anemic, this disc will satisfy original instrument and Bach cognoscenti both.
— Gary Lemco
