The Galant Bassoon

06/08/2009
Jean-Jacques Millo (English trans.)
Opus Haute Définition (France)

The bassoon takes centre stage in this recording. Bassoon expert Anthony Baines states that ‘the oldest examples we have today are the German bassoons made by Denner, the inventor of the clarinet. The reproductions of these instruments (and those of their smaller cousins from the 18thCentury) are now the standard ones played and are used alongside the original instruments in the performance of music from that period.’ The program presented here is essentially comprised of transcriptions, notably the BWV 1030 and BWV 1034 Sonatas of Johann Sebastian Bach, the Sonata Wq.132 of C.P.E. Bach as well as the TWV41a6 and TWV41e5 Sonatas of Telemann. Only the latter’s Sonata TWV 41f1 was composed for bassoon. Matthew Wilkie and his instrument present here a simultaneously luminous and profound style, bringing an ideal balance to the aforementioned works. Accompanied discretely and precisely by the harpsichord of Neal Peres Da Costa and the double bass of Kees Boersma, Matthew Wilkie honours the grace and lightness of these well-known scores. So far as the sound is concerned, the tones of the instruments are remarkably highlighted by the DSD technology and so the listening pleasure is greater still.