Search - Johann Sebastian Bach, Christiane Jaccottet :: Bach: English Suite No. 1; Toccatas

You Can't Lose!

09/19/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this CD for reasons I usually don't consider when making an entertainment purchase. First, while Bach's Toccatas aren't among his most celebrated compositions, the one in D major BWV 912 has always been one of my favorite Bach keyboard works. I wanted it in a competent performance and in a format that wouldn't break the bank. Knowing that Christiane Jaccotet has a pretty good reputation among harpsichordists, and finding that this CD was rock-bottom cheap, I asked myself what I had to lose by going for it.What I got was a tremendous bargain. In the first place, the performances of all the works on the CD are exemplary. Jaccotet's playing is virtuosic, effortlessly adept of course, and her style of performance is just what I admire: She lets the music make its own points, playing with great forthrightness and fidelity to the score. Then there is the music. In Jaccotet's hands at least, all the Toccatas emerge as little gems, lesser ones though they may be. Plus, Bach's First English Suite is a marvelous bonus; some recordings offer nothing beyond the Toccatas. Last, the recording is as immaculate as the playing. Though conspicuously lacking in hall sound, it is clean, clear, immediate. You are there. As I say, quite a bargain!"