I first heard Bach's (reconstructed)
concerto for oboe and violin BWV 1060 on a 7 inch 33 rpm disc in the
1950s (Karl Ristenpart). Even to my teenage ears, it did not sound
too successful, since the piercing oboe dominates all and the violin
might just as well be played by 12-year old John Smith (or 15-year
old Harry Collier). Fast forward to 2019, and it does not sound any
better even with Isabelle Faust playing the violin part. The
main difference is: speed. In the 1950s, had I heard this, my
immediate reaction would have been to check whether I was playing the
33 rpm disc at 45 rpm. Why are Ms Faust and her companions in such a
hurry? Don't they wish to revel in Bach's music? Or did the financial
controller warn them to ensure the session lasted no more than 18
minutes in case they ran into punishing overtime payments? Whatever;
like almost everything on this two-CD set featuring Isabelle Faust
and the Akademie für Alte Musik, Berlin: it's all too bloody
fast!
I sort of give up with Bach's concertos
featuring solo violin. The old classics featured a full symphony
orchestra, which was demonstrably wrong and anachronistic. The modern
“with-it” recordings feature anodyne violin playing with a
demonstrable lack of affection. Even Alina Ibragimova was let
down by a bizarre band accompaniment directed by Jonathan Cohen, with
a plucking lute dominating the proceedings in the slow movements,
ensuring the recording went on to a far back shelf in my collection
and affection. I am not much interested in historical reconstructions
as to what the music may have sounded like in 1720, or whenever. I
want the music played by someone who loves it, who cherishes it, and
who plays with a small group of aficionados who also love the music.
Exceptional violin technique is not necessary; there are no
harmonics, passages in harmonics, passages of tricky double-stopping,
or passages of ricochet bowing. Well over 90,000 modern violinists
could probably play the music to the same standard as Ms Faust, which
is frustrating for top-notch violin soloists.
Isabelle Faust is a superb violinist
who, in the past, did some really good things; I remember, in
particular, the Beethoven violin concerto, plus violin & piano
sonatas, and some excellent Schubert and Bartok. But in recent years
she seems to have gone down the less challenging path of ye olde
violine playing. One cannot blame her, since churning out pseudo 1720
violin playing is a lot less challenging than tackling the Brahms or
Sibelius violin concertos. The problem is: not many people can play
the Brahms or Sibelius violin concertos successfully, whereas almost
every violinist and his or her dog can play the Bach concerti. The
secret lies in the art of playing the violin, and having excellent
colleagues to back you up. Lovers of ye olde violine playing remind
me of lovers of old, 1950s and 60s cars that, compared with modern
cars, are hopelessly unreliable, inefficient, and expensive to run
and maintain.
I have never understood the rationale
for playing a violin senza vibrato. I'm sorry, but a violin
played with subtle and varied vibrato sounds so much more
attractive than a violin played without vibrato, especially in the
slow movements where Ms Faust's vibrato-less violin sounds as if it
is whining. I know they didn't do vibrato in 1720 (it is claimed).
But things have moved on a little since 1720 in terms of violin (and
keyboard) playing. There is some nice music on these two CDs, with a
mixture of concertos, sinfonias and trio sonatas. The sound overall
is a bit “spiky”, though I am not sure whether this is down to
the recording, or to the violin playing that lacks warmth. I seem to
have 20-30 recordings of each of the main Bach violin concertos —
the A minor, E major, and D minor double. Not one finds much favour
with me; I can't take symphony orchestras playing the band part of
these concertos. Nor can I take the non-vibrato, brittle and brusque
playing of the baroqueux in these works, particularly in the
slow movements that sound as if the players are worried about missing
the last tram or train home after the session. We do not know, of
course, what Bach would have expected when he marked vivace,
or andante. But the lovely largo ma non tanto of the D
minor double concerto does not sound largo in the hands of Isabelle Faust and Bernhard Forck, by any stretch of
the imagination. "Warum so schnell?" Bach might have asked. Two more CDs for the shelves.
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