Bach - Double & Triple Concertos

The program’s other works follow in the same manner. The period string instruments–most of them originals or modern copies of 18th-century models.

Producing a rich, vibrant ensemble timbre, and the performers. Some of the world’s finest Baroque specialists–embracing, owning, and, yes, selling this music as if it were today’s latest big thing Brought to us with the same meticulous attention to sound that Channel Classics has maintained since its founding in 1990.

Rachel Podger, Brecon Baroque, and Channel Classics don’t give us anything earth-shaking or ground-breaking here. That’s not the point. This is simply terrific period-music performance for modern ears that promises nothing less than a solid hour of pleasurable listening–truly the Joy of Bach.

The works featured here are well known and exceedingly well-performed. (...)We also get a first rate performance of the Concerto for Violin and Oboe in C Minor which Bach adapted from a Concerto for Two Harpsichords. Once again, the recording is crisp, with all instruments clearly defined.(...) this is another superb production by Channel Classics.

On this album, English violinist Rachel Podger plays Bach's double and triple concertos with her own ensemble, Brecon Baroque, an early-music ensemble named after the town in Wales where she lives. The famous D-minor Concerto BWV 1043 opens the recording with plenty of gusto, warmth and transparency. The Concerto for Harpsichord, Flute and Violin in A minor is features some fine playing from members of the ensemble, as does the Concerto for Violin and Oboe in C minor, with its plaintive oboe part. The Concerto for Three Violins caps the album with a rousing D major flourish.

Rachel Podger and Brecon Baroque (Channel Classics). The violinist Rachel Podger leads Brecon Baroque, the ensemble she founded in 2007, in beautifully wrought renditions of Bach concertos for multiple instruments, including the Concerto for Violin and Oboe (BWV 1060R) and Concerto for Two Violins (BWV 1043).

Dankzij de klein gehouden bezetting mogen we genieten van de daaruit resulterende helderheid en definitie, waar overigens ook de opname stevig aan bijdraagt: we kijken als het ware dwars door het ensemble heen, zonder daarbij het overzicht op het geheel te verliezen.

Spielerische Präzision, klangliche Transparenz, eine ausgezeichnete Korrespondenz der Spieler untereinander sowie eine einnehmend natürlich wirkende Klangschönheit. Das alles kommt so vollkommen unangestrengt und ungekünstelt daher, als sei Bach zu spielen die einfachste Sache der Welt. (...)

ls convainquent par la purité de leur jeu et leurs fines gradations dynamiques. (…)
Classica - Choc du Mois

The resulting transparency of sound and unanimity of ensemble is apparent in every bar of these performances. (…) Competition from rival versions on record in this repertoire is intense, but the vivacity and depth of musical utterance of these performances - allied to a state-of-the-art recording - makes this an irresistible disc and one to be unreservedly recommended. (...)
SA-CD.net

Rachel Podger, who made such an impressive Toronto début with Tafelmusik at the start of this past season, brings her special light and grace to Bach’s well-loved double and triple concertos. One of the things that makes this album special is how the ripieno parts (the members of the orchestra backing up the soloists) are also played by single instruments, giving the sound a beguiling lightness and transparency.(...)

she manages to achieve a flow that never feels pushed. (…) Podger’s Bach has always been something special: this is indispensable.
BBC Music – 5 stars