One might be forgiven for thinking: "meh, a thousandth recording of Bach's harpsichord concertos". And you wouldn't be wrong, necessarily, but some soloists have the intelligence to offer people a good reason to pay attention to the new version. Fabio Bonizzoni's reason is the harpsichord he is using: a contemporary copy of an extraordinary harpsichord by Ioannes Couchet, an Antwerp instrument from the period 1640-1650. A sound that even the harpsichord's most fervent detractors would surely find intriguing, rich, ferocious, and both wooden and metallic: a great success, including on the part of the copyist. Bonizzoni and the ensemble La Risonanza have also done a job of musicology, returning to the earlier manuscripts, knowing that the majority of Bach's harpsichord concertos are in fact transcription (by the Cantor himself, of course) of earlier concertos for violin, oboe or other melodic instruments, which naturally entails a number of differences in the ornaments and the discourse for the soloist. We are eagerly and impatiently awaiting the second volume. © SM/Qobuz