Bach's Coffeehouse

by Apollo's Fire

Overview

The image of Bach writing works for Gottfried Zimmermann's coffeehouse in Leipzig has exerted a strong fascination ever since coffeehouses once again became sites of musical creativity, and one can hardly blame conductor Jeannette Sorrell for gathering a group of diverse performances with her Baroque group, Apollo's Fire, under a Bach's Coffeehouse rubric, even if someone should have edited the "Starbuck's" in her enthusiastic note to remove its apostrophe. Although not Italian, this conductor from the U.S. Midwest has effectively developed a punchy style in Baroque orchestral music that resembles that cultivated by contemporary Italian conductors, with big contrasts and vivid orchestral effects. It is deployed to its best advantage here in Telemann's Burlesque de Don Quichotte, TWV 55 ("Don Quixote Suite"), which delights audiences today with its depictions of junctures in the novel just as much as it must have in its own day. These performances were made at different places and times, and it is not clear whether the Bach's Coffeehouse rubric works for all of them. Sorrell's sweeping arrangement for orchestra of the "La Folia" movement of a Vivaldi trio sonata is certainly thrilling in itself and offers a good example of this remarkable conductor's style, but it seems too large in scale for a coffeehouse. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 4, BWV 1049, however, works beautifully, with Sorrell keeping a good balance among the various instrumental parts even as the whole is strongly propulsive. The sound -- recorded at various churches around the Cleveland, Ohio, area -- is a major disincentive here; it is not idiomatic to the music at all, and it harshly clashes with the intimate, warm coffeehouse scenario Sorrell sketches out in her notes. Nevertheless, Sorrell's brisk readings, in themselves, are compelling, and this is another strong outing from this major early music ensemble from a part of the world where such things are not so common. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	10/18/2024
Label:	AVIE
UPC:	0822252252026

Tracks

1. Brandenburg Concerto no. 4 in G Major, BWV 1049~Allegro
2. Brandenburg Concerto no. 4 in G Major, BWV 1049~Andante
3. Brandenburg Concerto no. 4 in G Major, BWV 1049~Presto
4. Burlesque de Don Quixotte (Don Quixote Suite), TWV55~Ouverture
5. Burlesque de Don Quixotte (Don Quixote Suite), TWV55~Don Quixote awakens
6. Burlesque de Don Quixotte (Don Quixote Suite), TWV55~His attack on the windmills
7. Burlesque de Don Quixotte (Don Quixote Suite), TWV55~Sighs of love for Princess Dulcinea
8. Burlesque de Don Quixotte (Don Quixote Suite), TWV55~Sancho Panza tossed in a blanket
9. Burlesque de Don Quixotte (Don Quixote Suite), TWV55~The galloping of Rosinante, and that of Sancho's mule
10. Burlesque de Don Quixotte (Don Quixote Suite), TWV55~Quixote asleep
11. Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068~Air
12. Concerto for Oboe & Violin, BWV 1060~Allegro
13. Concerto for Oboe & Violin, BWV 1060~Adagio
14. Concerto for Oboe & Violin, BWV 1060~Allegro
15. La Folia (Madness): Concerto grosso, after the Sonata Op. 1, no. 12

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Jeannette Sorrell   Primary Artist,Conductor,Harpsichord
Apollo's Fire   Primary Artist,Ensemble
Johanna Novom   Violin
Daphna Mor   Recorder
Alan Choo   Violin
Debra Nagy   Oboe
Kathie Stewart   Recorder
Francisco Fullana   Violin

Technical Credits

Erica Brenner   Producer,Editing
Antonio Vivaldi   Composer
Jeannette Sorrell   Arranger,Liner Notes
Georg Philipp Telemann   Composer
Thomas Knab   Engineer
Johann Sebastian Bach   Composer
Daniel Shores   Engineer,Mastering Engineer