These are the trio sonatas commonly (and probably, exclusively) played on the pipe organ. Trio Lézard (clarinet, English horn, and bassoon) doesn’t pretend to any degree of authenticity in these recordings, but their liner notes make clear that there is a large degree of authenticity in the spirit of the performances. I would have to agree. Bach has been subjected to almost every talented and terrible torment imaginable these days, sometimes arrangements proving exemplary in their degree of enlightenment and other times dismally darkening of his true intents.
Bach may have intended these works for son W.F.—we can’t be sure—but we do know that their relative brevity leads to a lot of performances, then and now. The SACD sound given here is quite delightful, and that means a lot as it is a known fact that woodwind instruments seem notoriously difficult to record under any circumstance. This is a close recording, but the space around the players allows them to disavow suffocation, and the tonal qualities, which are considerable, present themselves well.
Yet I must confess that after going back and listening to one of my organ favorites, Lionel Rogg on Harmonia Mundi, I was somewhat let down when I returned to these. It’s not the players fault, nor the recording, nor even the stars; what I miss is the sense of—strange though it may sound—intimacy afforded by the organ. I am not sure these works were meant for a group effort. Be that as it may, the record still gives pleasure, and will some more than others I’m sure. That being said, recommended, but with the caveat that three may be a crowd in this music.
— Steven Ritter
