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David Russell   : Air on a G String: CD

chrisdumigan


BACH: Partita in Am BWV 1013 1) Allemande 2) Courante 3) Sarabande 4) Bourree Anglaise; Adagio/Arioso (Sinfonia From The Cantata No. 156) ;  Pastorale In F Major, Movement III, BWV 590 ; Air On The G String From The Suite No. 3 In D Major, BWV 1068 : WEISS: Fantasia In C Minor (Sm. 83) ; Prelude (Sm. 32, From The Sonata No. 5 In G Major) ; Allemande (Sm. 114, From The Sonata No. 19 In F Major) ; Courente Royale (Sm. 31) ; Tombeau Sur La Mort De M. Comte D'Logy (Sm. 210) ; Allegro (Sm. 141, From The Sonata No. 22 In G Major) : SAINT – LUC : Suite In D Major, "La Prise De Gaeta": 1) Allemande 2) Courante 3) Sarabande 4) Gigue A La Maniere Anglaise 5) Minuet 6) Passepied 7) Rigaudon Pour Les Trompettes 8) Caprice En Passacaille: COUPERIN : Les Silvains (Ordre 1, No. 8) ; Les Tours De Passe-Passe (Ordre 22, No. 8) ; Les Barricades Misterieuses (Ordre 6, No. 5).

David RussellTelarc : CD-80693

 

Here is a Baroque collection from one of our greatest players, with a hefty amount of the two very best composers from that era, Bach and Weiss.

Of course you realise that with J.S. Bach you will never be disappointed, as his instrumental music for solo instruments (violin, cello, or flute for example) are exemplary pieces that never disappoint. This partita in Am, was originally for flute solo and so any chords etc, are added by David in his superb arrangement. The recording is immediately very true to life, very close and yet wonderfully captured. After the Allemande which is a dance that is never too fast, comes the Courante, which is entirely the opposite, and it never stops, not that that is a problem for David, because it isn’t. The Sarabande is slow and emotive, with some wonderful harmonies and beautiful playing. The final Bourree Anglaise really moves and is an exciting close to this superb work. The Adagio/Arioso (Sinfonia From The Cantata No. 156) is a famous piece with a well – known melody, and again is beautifully played, in a great arrangement. Then comes Bach’s friend and to my mind, the next best composer from this era Silvius Leopold Weiss, whose Baroque Lute works (and there are hundreds) are every bit as musically involving as Bach’s. The six works that David plays here are superbly done, and fit really well onto our guitar, which can be a surprise considering how many extra low strings the Baroque has, that is way beyond the range of our guitar! The most familiar to most guitarists is Tombeau Sur La Mort De M. Comte D'Logy (Sm. 210), which David gives a fine performance of.

Less familiar is Jacques – Alexandre Saint – Luc who was a Lutenist and composer, born 8 June 1663 in Brussels. Here we get his Suite In D Major, "La Prise De Gaeta", the eight movements of which are quite different in character to the previous pieces, but still enjoyable, and noticeably have more decorations in a number of places too.

Couperin of course was a keyboard composer and so these are arrangements, but they work really well, and the three pieces here are a fine example of the sort of music that he wrote.

The final work on this album is the title piece, Bach’s Air on a G String, which has to be one of his most loved and famous works. It works really well in David’s arrangement and sounds like it was written for the guitar!

This is a really superb album full of great pieces from the Baroque period none of which were actually written for our guitar, but believe me when I say that nowhere on this album do you feel that the music as played here sounds second – rate on the guitar, because it really is a wonderful set of performances and would delight any lover of this period of music.

 

Chris Dumigan  

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