Sonatas for Viola da Gamba & Harpsichord BWV 1027-1029
Vittorio Ghielmi (Viola da gamba) & Lorenzo Ghielmi (Fortepiano)
Ghielmi Bach

Jim Morrison wrote (April 16, 2002):
For the past couple of days I've been bringing up a recent shipment from Berkshire. Also included was the Vittorio and Lorenzo Ghielmi (relatives?) Bach viola da gamba set, which was brought a few weeks ago as being one of the few Bach recordings with a fortepiano as the keyboard instrument. Good disc from what I can tell so far, though the viola da Gamba is definitely the star of the show. The recording has Vittorio quite often overpowering the fortepiano, more so than in many of the harpsichord/cello/da Gamba recordings I have of these works. The fortepiano however does get to play by itself on the preludes and fugues BWV 893, BWV 874 and BWV 871 which are put inbetween the sonatas.

The liner notes claim that the fortepiano, built by Restelli in 1996, is as close to an exact copy of the 1749 Gottfried Silbermann piano in the Nurnberg German National Museum that Restelli could make, one of the few such exact, playable copies in the world, the notes say.

Worth having, I think, esp at the Berkshire price. Some very lively, relatively loud playing from the gamba.

Feedback to the Review

Riccardo Nughes wrote (April 16, 2002):
< Jim Morrison wrote: Vittorio and Lorenzo Ghielmi (relatives?) >
Yes, they're brothers. Lorenzo is the older one, he played organ & harpsichord in the first recordings of the "Il Giardino Armonico". Vittorio is younger, he plays viola da gamba, look out for the wonderful "Preludi ai corali" from the ensemble "Quartetto Italiano di Viole da Gamba" that he directs (Winter & Winter). They're from Milan.

Riccardo (who is from Milan too :)

Joost wrote (April 17, 2002):
Riccardo Nughes wrote:
< [snip] look out for the wonderful "Preludi ai corali" from the ensemble "Quartetto Italiano di Viole da Gamba" that he directs (Winter & Winter). >
I strongly second Riccardo's recommendation - this is a truly heavenly disc.

Jim Morrison wrote (April 17, 2002):
[To Joost] Anyone know where to get this in the States? How about the Ghielim "Bagpipes from Hell" disc? That one I can find in the USA.

Joost wrote (April 17, 2002):
The 'Bagpipes from Hell' disc has pieces from too many composers, anon.English, Marais, Weiss, Forqueray, Robinson, Ste.Colombe - and the performances lack consistency. It would be nice for a concert... So the best part of this disc is it's title. Although I have a thing for devils (my own vdg has a beautiful devil's head, see: www.liedmeier.nl), my vote goes to the angelic Bach disc 'Preludi ai Corali'. Any disc monger who has the 'bagpipes', should be able to get the 'preludi' as well - can't think of any reason why not...

Jim Morrison wrote (April 18, 2002):
Joost wrote:
< [snip] the angelic Bach disc 'Preludi ai Corali'. Any disc monger who has the 'bagpipes', should be able to get the 'preludi' as well - can't think of any reason why not... >
Okay, I haven't tried every source on the American net, but I haven't been able to track down this disc,

which can be found at amazon.de and contains:

1.Liebster Jesu, wir sind Hier BWV 731
2.Nun komm' der Heiden Heiland BWV 599
3.In dulci jubilo BWV 608
4.In dulci jubilo BWv 368 (Choral)
5.Vom Himmel hoch, da komm' ich her BWV 606
6.Gott, durch dein Güte - Gootes Sohn ist kommen BWV 600
7.Puer natus in Bethlehem BWV 603
8.Puer natus in Bethlehem BWV 65 (Choral)
9.Der Tag, der ist so freudenreich BWV 605
10.Durch Adam's Fall ist ganz verderbt BWV 637
11.O Mensch, bewein' dein' Sünde groß BWV 622
12.Wir glauben all' an einen Gott, Schöpfer BWV 681
13.Herzlich tut mich verlangen BWV 727
14.Kyrie, Gott Vater in Ewigkeit BWV 672
15.Christe, aller Welt Trost BWV 673
16.Jesus, Christus, unser Heiland BWV 665
17.Das alte Jahr vergangen ist BWV 614
18.Das alte Jahr vergangen ist BWV 288 (Choral)
19.In dir ist Freude BWV 615
20.Wenn wir in höchsten Nöthen sein BWV 641
21.Christ lag in Todesbanden BWV 625
22.Christ lag in Todesbanden BWV 277, 278, 158 (Choral)
23.Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr BWV 662
24.Herr Gott, nun schleuss den Himmel auf BWV 617
25.Ich ruf' zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ BWV 639
26.Jesu, meine Freude BWV 358, 227, 6(Choral)
27.Jesu, meine Freude BWV 610

Riccardo Nughes wrote (April 19, 2002):
Jim Morrison wrote:
< How about the Ghielim "Bagpipes from Hell" disc? That one I can find in the USA. >
Look here : http://www.pianca-ghielmi.com/ click on discography and then on presentation.

Sonatas for Viola da Gamba & Harpsichord BWV 1027-1029: Details
Recordings:
Reviews of Individual Recordings: Comparative Review (3 Parts) | Sonatas for VdG & Harpsichord - Crum & Cummings [D. Satz] | Sonatas for VdG & Harpsichord - Crum & Cummings [K. McElhearn] | Sonatas for VdG & Harpsichord - Ghielmi & Ghielmi [J. Morrison] | Sonatas for VdG & Harpsichord - Savall & Koopman [S. Schwartz]
General Discussions: Part 1

Vittorio Ghielmi: Short Biography | Recordings of Instrumental Works
Reviews of Instrumental Recordings: Ghielmi Bach | Preludi ai Corali - Quartetto Italiani di Viola da gamba

Lorenzo Ghielmi: Short Biography | Recordings of Instrumental Works
Reviews of Instrumental Recordings: Ghielmi Bach