First up was an astonishing performance of a soprano aria from Handel's Atalanta. It was thought to have been a castrato role originally. Here it was sung by male soprano Samuel Mariño a native of Venezuela but resident in Paris. He'll give M. Phillipe Jaroussky a run for his money! (Is there something in the water in Paris?)
Two items later was an extract from Trevor Pinnock's first ever CD of Bach's 48...well Book 1 anyway. I was strcuk by the clarity of the bass-line; so much so I even wondered if a discreet gamba or cello was doubling it, but of course it wasn't as I realised on listening again on better equipment.
This from Classical News possibly explains it:
For his recording Trevor Pinnock chose a trusted companion – a copy of a harpsichord by the Franco-German builder Henri Hemsch tuned to the low pitch prevalent in Köthen during Bach’s time there and which, Pinnock says, “has a unique voice which combines a singing quality with enough clarity to allow Bach’s part-writing to shine.”
Pinnock (from what I heard) opts for the more exact and metronomic approach to tempo...thank goodness!
Two items later was an extract from Trevor Pinnock's first ever CD of Bach's 48...well Book 1 anyway. I was strcuk by the clarity of the bass-line; so much so I even wondered if a discreet gamba or cello was doubling it, but of course it wasn't as I realised on listening again on better equipment.
This from Classical News possibly explains it:
For his recording Trevor Pinnock chose a trusted companion – a copy of a harpsichord by the Franco-German builder Henri Hemsch tuned to the low pitch prevalent in Köthen during Bach’s time there and which, Pinnock says, “has a unique voice which combines a singing quality with enough clarity to allow Bach’s part-writing to shine.”
Pinnock (from what I heard) opts for the more exact and metronomic approach to tempo...thank goodness!
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