instruments, which means that today we must take our pick. Two recordings of these chamber works have come out simultaneously, with one presenting the cembalo part on a tangent piano, and the other, more conventionally, on the harpsichord. And though Miklos Spanyi's tangent piano is interesting, it doesn't have the beauty and sweetness of Ton Koopman's harpsichord. Koopman and Jordi Savall are two of Baroque music's celebrities, and to get them together is a coup. Moreover, Savall's viola da gamba speaks with a velvety richness that does wonders for these gracefully spare works. Playing on three instruments in turn--the oldest going back to 1550--he shows how different it is from the cello, with which it is often wrongly compared; it's possible that Bach originally wrote these sonatas for flute, but with this combination they work gorgeously. Highly recommended. --Michael Church
instruments, which means that today we must take our pick. Two recordings of these chamber works have come out simultaneously, with one presenting the cembalo part on a tangent piano, and the other, more conventionally, on the harpsichord. And though Miklos Spanyi's tangent piano is interesting, it doesn't have the beauty and sweetness of Ton Koopman's harpsichord. Koopman and Jordi Savall are two of Baroque music's celebrities, and to get them together is a coup. Moreover, Savall's viola da gamba speaks with a velvety richness that does wonders for these gracefully spare works. Playing on three instruments in turn--the oldest going back to 1550--he shows how different it is from the cello, with which it is often wrongly compared; it's possible that Bach originally wrote these sonatas for flute, but with this combination they work gorgeously. Highly recommended. --Michael Church