Bach: Flute Sonatas, Viola da Gamba Sonatas

"The Complete Flute Sonatas" says the sleeve—an overstatement; these discs offer Bachs genuine flute Sonatas plus two he didnt write, the C major and the E flat, and one, the G minor, which seems to be neither his nor for the flute. The only source says it was for the violin. It does not follow that the interlopers will waste your time. The C major may be poor, but the E flat is a charming work, very well written for the instruments, and much more interesting than, say, the genuine sonata for solo flute which may well be worth playing but it is hardly worth hearing. The best works are the splendid B minor which has a written-out harpsichord part and the E minor, one of three with continuo accompaniment. Some may think that Rafael Puyana realizes these continuo accompaniments with too much invention and personality, but I admired his skill and he has very ably supplied the missing passage in the first movement of the A major, a goodish sonata of which the old Bach Gesellschaft edition published only the three completed movements. Maxence Larrieu has a nice full tone (reinforced by a rather close balance) and remarkable breath control. Towards the end of the second movement of the E minor he adds a cadenza for which there is no musical justification, but it may be that only so could he make an opportunity for refilling his lungs. One listens amazed both to his virtuosity—he plays some movements very fast indeed—and to his apparent ability to stay alive without breathing. In 1968 1 felt he did not play slow movements with quite enough expression, but I think this no longer. Expressiveness is not so fashionable as it was. Nor are the frequent changes of registration we hear from the harpsichord. The balance is excellent. – Gramophone [9/1982], reviewing an earlier release