2022 NativeDSD Album of the Year Nominee – Chamber Music
Bach’s Six Sonata cycle for violin and harpsichord ranks among the best examples of the Baroque Trio Sonata repertoire. Unlike common practice, both instruments participate equally in the unfolding of the thematic-motivic material and the keyboard part is almost entirely specified by Bach.
Violinist Andoni Mercero, a former member of the Cuarteto Casals, proves the point that you do not have to be world famous to make a reference recording: His warm and silvery timbre on an 18th Century Violin shines while Alfonso Sebastián’s skillful playing on a 1984 William Dowd, after a 1700 Mietke harpsichord manages to bring superb ensemble playing, both highlighting the majesty of these works.
Eudora Records’ audiophile engineering and the warm and immersive acoustics of the San Miguel Church, in Daroca (Zaragoza, Spain), allow the textures to blossom with its exquisite sound. This is a Stereo and 5 Channel Surround Sound Pure DSD 256 recording. It is available in Pure DSD exclusively at Native DSD – both in the recorded Stereo and 5 Channel DSD 256 bit rates and in other DSD bit rates created in the DSD Domain using the Signalyst HQ Player 4 Pro mastering tools by NativeDSD Mastering Engineer Tom Caulfield.
Andoni Mercero – Violin
Alfonso Sebastián – Harpsichord
Tracklist
Please note that the below previews are loaded as 44.1 kHz / 16 bit.Total time: 01:32:35
Additional information
| Label | |
|---|---|
| SKU | EUDDR2205 |
| Qualities | DSD 512 fs, DSD 256 fs, DSD 128 fs, DSD 64 fs, FLAC 192 kHz, FLAC 96 kHz |
| Channels | 2ch Stereo, 5 Channel Surround Sound, 2ch Stereo & 5ch Surround |
| Artists | |
| Composers | |
| Genres | |
| Analog to Digital Converter | Horus, Merging Technologies at DSD 256 |
| Harpsichord | 1984 William Dowd, after a 1700 Mietke harpsichord |
| Harpsichord Technician | Raúl Martín Sevillano |
| Microphone Preamp | Horus, Merging Technologies |
| Microphones | Gefell M296 (Rens Heijnis modified), Sonodore RCM-402, Neumann U89 (Rens Heijnis modified) & Schoeps |
| Musical Assistance | Alicia Amo |
| Instruments | |
| Original Recording Format | |
| Producer | Gonzalo Noque |
| Recording Engineer | Gonzalo Noque |
| Recording Location | Iglesia de San Miguel, Daroca in Zaragoza, Spain on August 28-30 & October 9-11, 2020 |
| Violin | 18th Century, Anonymous |
| Release Date | September 9, 2022 |
Press reviews
Positive Feedback
This is a truly remarkable album…I think it may be the best sounding recording of multiple instruments that I have yet heard from Gonzalo Noqué. And he has created many superb recordings. This recording superbly balances the violin and harpsichord in the acoustic space. It is completely transparent, capturing every nuance of timbre, texture, resonance, and attack. The acoustic environment in which this is recorded…
Andoni Mercero’s violin is similarly lovely to hear. It is a seventeenth century instrument by an unknown maker, yet just listen to it and you will know why me plays it. It has a full, sweet tone. And Mercero plays it will with loving attention to pulling out all of the sweetness and rich harmonic overtones that this instrument delivers. His playing is fluid, rhythmically varied, nuanced. He plays with a joy that is infectious.
The shared joy of these two performers in the playing of the various sonatas on this album makes the program fly by. This is not treadle-pumping Bach. This is joyous Bach–full of life, full of invention, ever flowing with ideas.
CD Choice
It’s hard to imagine these imperishable pieces given more persuasive advocacy than by Mercero and Sebastian, who find every nuance in the music, greatly aided by the sympathetic Surround Sound DSD recording granted them by the Eudora label. Even those resistant to the pieces may find themselves converted by this album.
2 reviews for The Violin and Harpsichord Sonatas [Double Album] [Pure DSD]
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A beautiful album with amazing Pure DSD sound thanks to Gonzalo Noqué. When you move from Teacher to Producer you can help more people enjoy music.
Georges Haymoz (verified owner) –
I knew that this would be exceptional. As soon as I heard the entry of the violin at the beginning of the first sonata – it should appear rising from nothing. It does.
These sonatas pay full attention to Bach without either self-effacement of the players (that sense of a false/inappropriate worship of the composer) or the opposite – self-promotion.
In other words, Sebastián and Mercero have struck the ideal balance. The sound, of course, is astonishing. It leaves nothing to desire.
The violin and harpsichord are recorded sounding exactly as live violin and harpsichord. That’s the maximum that can be achieved.
Kim Alainen (verified owner) –