Bach, J S: Viola da Gamba Sonata No. 2 in D major, BWV1028 (or cello)

Fifteen years after his recording of Bach’s three Sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord (on hm, with Rinaldo Alessandrini), Paolo Pandolfo returns to this repertoire a new approach: the fruit of active and concentrated years of consideration, study and research into the inherent possibilities of his instrument. Given the basic differing natures of these two instruments, the performance of these works very often turns – in Pandolfo’s words – into a “musical argument”, rather than what is demanded by the music’s essential nature: a “musical conversation” in which the score achieves “transparency and eloquence”.

For this exercise in interpretative discourse Paolo Pandolfo has found a suitably-engaged musical mind in harpsichordist Markus Hünninger, a friend for many years and a teacher, like Pandolfo, at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. The resulting disc has a very personal flavour to it, reiterating the uncompromising sense of quality in all that the Roman gamba player does. Following on from his essential recordings of music by Forqueray, Hume, Marais, Sainte Colombe and Abel, he is now rounding off on Glossa his own particular vision of Bach, which he commenced in 2000 with the recording of the now-legendary Six Suites.

To complete the disc there are two vocal arias with obbligato viola da gamba drawn from two of Bach’s Passions, in which Pandolfo is joined by two leading early music singers of recent times, the countertenor Michael Chance and the bass Harry van der Kamp.

Voluptuousness of sound, the pleasure of a curved line, in its most carnal, most sensitive and most gentle essence of human expression, because Bach the man loved the voice passionately.

Da Costa specialises in performance on historical keyboard instruments from the 17th -19th centuries and is the founder of Florigeum. Daniel Yeadon was a member of this renowned ensemble and both musicians have now relocated to Australia where they have added a new dynamism to the early music movement.