Bach: Drei Sonaten für Viola da Gamba und Cembalo

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Sonatas for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord have been recorded to great effect on those instruments (of special note are Paolo Pandolfo and Rinaldo Alessandrini’s renditions on harmonia mundi). Here, Keith Jarrett holds fast to the harpsichord while violist Kim Kashkashian stands in for the larger cousin. The transposition of notes required to accommodate the viola’s higher register yields a spritely atmosphere that turns even the most lullabied slow movements into daylit anthems. The program’s tour de force is its concluding G-minor sonata, which highlights the duo’s tessellated approach to the fullest effect.