Keith Jarrett, Michala Petri - J.S. Bach: Sonatas (1993) CD-Rip

If you have any doubt that the fipple flute is an acceptable substitute for the specified transverse one in these works, this recording could allay it. What is lost is the warm, intimate, breathy, pitch-bending sound of the minimally-keyed wooden instrument, but what is gained is the luculent clarity and (in Petri's hands) spot-on accuracy of the recorder. Instruments at period pitch (which for her own good reasons Petri does not use) would restore some of the warmth, but rarely can you have everything—and here you have so much to be grateful for. Her RCA recording of Handel sonatas (9/91) unveiled a 'new-born' Petri, with immediate rather than programmed responses, the consequence of her partnership with Jarrett, to whose jazz-musical alter ego such things are second nature, and the sea change is equally apparent here.

The performances are free from distracting mannerisms, flowing as naturally as speech and with recorded balance that supports the players' view that even BWV1033-5 are genuine partnerships. The few octave transpositions in the flute/recorder lines, whether enforced or judicious should disturb no one. Though many tempos are on the brisk side, the focused sound of the recorders and Petri's fluency prevent them from seeming hurried. Both players add a good deal of embellishment, but do not 'parrot' one another mechanically, and know when to leave a good tune to speak for itself, thus Menuetto II in BWV1033 is treated to a delicious, free-running variant that touches the original tangentially in the right places, but the Siciliano in BWV1031 is given with affecting simplicity, good taste is invariably the order of the day.

The Petri/Jarrett partnership was made through social pleasure, not in heaven, but it is one to be celebrated; their fresh-faced account of these sonatas merits a place in any collection, whatever others may already be there. -- John Duarte