JS Bach – Dialoge

JS Bach – Dialoge
Sonatas, Suites and Concertos arranged for lute and recorder
Dorothee Oberlinger (recorder), Edin Karamazov (lute)
DHM 19439875862   68:12 mins

This is a disc of arrangements and transpositions accommodating various sizes and tunings of recorders. It is the sort of thing which the Bach family might have got up to and, by-and-large the adjustments work well. If on occasion greater enjoyment probably would derive from playing some of the arrangements, as opposed to just listening to them, it is not intended as a slight. Dorothee Oberlinger is an accomplished recorder player who furthermore has contributed a thoughtful essay, which neither skates over nor obfuscates issues concerned with her treatment of the music. Edin Karamazov offers a sympathetic and judicious partnership, in addition to his lute solo arrangement of the G major Prelude of Bach’s Suite No. 1 for unaccompanied cello, BWV 1007.

There is plenty of food for thought, and readers will have their own ideas as to what works well and what perhaps does not. The highlight for my ears is the E minor – here G minor – Sonata for flute and continuo, BWV 1034. The melodic contours of the opening movement are noble and satisfying, while the two faster movements require virtuosity. Oberlinger shows form throughout while the almost uninterrupted quaver accompaniment of the lyrical Andante is well suited to the lute.

Nicholas Anderson