Bach: Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord BWV 1014-1019

The deliberation of the piano playing at the opening of the Sonata in B minor, BWV1014, and the way both piano and violin negotiate a little extra space between phrases, like time taken to ensure a manoeuvre is safely executed, tell a lot about Makarski and Jarrett's approach to Bach. This is playing with its i's dotted and t's crossed in ways that will sound dutiful and old-fashioned to many ears, in spite of Makarski's spareness of vibrato. The playing is clean, diligent, well-mannered. But it doesn't quite gell. The sound of piano in combination with violin can be problematic in Bach in ways the piano alone is not, and, for all the skills on display, this new set doesn't fully surmount those problems. url.ie/7ebo