Bach: Ich hatte viel Bekummernis

When I was about 12, a friend of my dad’s gave me Christopher Hogwood’s recordingof Bach’sBrandenburgConcertos; though I hear spotty intonation when I listen now, the bright sound and fresh playing won me completely, and I’ve been hooked on classical music ever since. Only a few times since has a Baroque disc come along that’s rejuvenated and charmed me so—and this one has, even despite its title (“I Was Much Beset with Care”). The C Minor Concerto is the Double Concerto with violin; the others are reconstructions (the A Major is most often performed on harpsichord). The D Minor uses the famous Arioso as the middle movement, and the ornaments especially are winsome. There’s also Alessandro Marcello’s D Minor Concerto, and three sinfonias from Bach’s cantatas interspersed throughout. The phrasing is expressive but not maudlin, and the tempos are judiciously chosen. The first movement of the Marcello gets a little bogged down, but Camerata Bern’s playing in the second is smoother, not stilted like I Musici’s in the earlier Holliger recording. The sound is almost cheerful in and of itself.