COMPOSERS: Johann Sebastian Bach
LABELS: Champs Hill Records
ALBUM TITLE: JS Bach Flute Works
WORKS: Flute Works
PERFORMER: Daniel Pailthorpe (flute), Julian Milford (piano), London Conchord Ensemble
CATALOGUE NO: CHRCD031
The London Conchord Ensemble is a modern instrument group which has taken on board certain aspects of the period instrument revival, heard, for instance, in its phrasing, choice of one-to-a-part instrumentation for the B minor Suite for flute and strings, as well as the ensemble’s ornaments and tightly controlled vibrato. Daniel Pailthorpe is an eloquent flautist who plays a wooden flute by Rudall Carte. His fine account of the A minor Partita, BWV 1013, reveals its warm and rounded character particularly well. The keyboard continuo is strangely absent throughout the Suite since the Ensemble has not engaged a harpsichord player. Otherwise, the work fares well, with pleasing tempos and a lightly swung rhythm proving effective in the second movement Rondeau. The Suite recording was first issued in 2006 on a two-disc set of Bach, on the Quartz label.
JS Bach’s two Sonatas for flute with keyboard obbligato, BWV 1030 and BWV 1032, and the Partita for unaccompanied flutel, provide Pailthorpe with multiple challenges which he meets with aplomb. The A major Sonata, whose incomplete first movement has been reconstructed by Alfred Dürr, comes over particularly well with the responsive playing of pianist Julian Milford. Sometimes I felt that Pailthorpe’s decorative flourishes were overdone, but this is lively and affectionate Bach.
Nicholas Anderson