JS Bach: Inventionen & Sinfonien - Kenneth Gilbert

Johann Sebastian Bach
Inventionen & Sinfonien
Kenneth Gilbert
Archiv 415 112-2

Even allowing for a proud father's ambitions for his first-born, Carl Philipp Emanuel must have been a quite exceptional nine-year-old to have tackled the Inventions his father composed for his instruction - particularly the three-part pieces (originally termed Fantasias, but later, Sinfonias), with their often complicated part-writing. They now form a staple item in the diet of much older pianists (ride any self-respecting exam syllabus), who could derive considerable benefit from studying the present two recordings on the harpsichord - far more reliable guides, stylistically, than either of the piano versions in the current catalogues - though from a commercial point of view it is unfortunate that these rival CDs should appear simultaneously, since both are highly recommendable.

Given that they feature two of today's most admired harpsichordists, choice must be largely a matter of taste; and so I will outline the differences between them. The most obvious one is that the instrument used by Dreyfus (henceforth D) is tuned to modern (A= 440) pitch, whereas that of Gilbert (G) sounds a whole tone lower at A = 392. G's Couchet, enlarged by Blanchet and Taskin, has a fine mellow, rich tone, and is recorded in rather resonant surroundings (sometimes causing a slightly thick sonority, as in the Sinfonias in F and A): D's Hemsch has a lighter, crisper sound, just occasionally verging on the tinny (in the D major Sinfonia). In general, G adopts a rhythmically more regular approach, while D opts for greater flexibility, making numerous subtle tenutos to shape the phrases (particularly in both C major pieces and in the D minor, E minor and B flat Sinfonias). She makes more use of staccato touch (e.g. in the G major two-part Invention, which G plays legato, or in the E flat and the sparkling G major Sinfonias) , though the roles are artists, and his E major Sinfonia is more giguelike; but oddly enough, in minor-key Sinfonias his interpretations are often the slower and more intense.

This is, I realize, very much an 'on the one hand, while on the other. . .' review; but I can only echo Macheath's words in declaring "How happy could I be with either".

L.S., Gramohphone Magazine 1986