If I was to think of performers I would choose to play my favourite pieces of music, then I would not readily think of the Oregon Bach Festival Chamber Orchestra. But a friend of mine who played in the orchestra tipped me off that this was a good one. So I got hold of the CD, opened a bottle of red and sat back with an open mind.
Surprise surprise, it's good. Enthusiastic playing for sure, with plenty of joie de vivre. The typical American attention to detail slightly grates with my British sense of spontaneity, but the flawless phrasing, breathing (and no doubt bowing too) and dynamics work in the overall performances because of the lack of indulgence in the tempi. Bach can all too easily sound like a mathematical exercise written out in notes, but there is a lightness and deftness of touch here in the conducting that lifts this out of the mundane into the enjoyable.
For those of you who like details, well here goes:
This is 1 CD containing 3 Concertos for Two Harpsichords and Strings, BWV1060-62 by J. S. Bach (1685 - 1750)
Date Recorded: 1999
Conductor: Helmuth Rilling
Orchestra / Ensemble: Oregon Bach Festival Chamber Orchestra
