CD 1

Sonate in e-Moll (BWV 1034)

Sonate in A-Dur (BWV 1032)

Sonate in E-Dur (BWV 1035)

Sonate in C-Dur (BWV 1033)

Sonate in h-Moll (BWV 1030)

CD 2

Sonate in G-Dur (BWV 1021)

Sonate in Es-Dur (BWV 1031)

Sonate in g-Moll (BWV 1020)

Sonate in c-Moll (BWV 1079), from Ein Musikalisches Opfer

After a long period of silence, Glossa proudly presents the new production of the most poetic of the Baroque traverso’s current exponents, Wilbert Hazelzet. As in the past, he is accompanied by his friends Jaap ter Linden and Jacques Ogg. For his return to the CD scene he could not have chosen a better composer than Bach, in whose interpretation he excels.

Hazelzet’s characteristic magic is further increased by what comes as a surprise in timbre: the use of a Silbermann fortepiano instead of a harpsichord on three of the sonatas, one of which belongs to the deeply beautiful Musical Offering. The composer’s encounter with Silbermann’s instruments is described in a fine piece of fiction by Stefano Russomanno included in the second of the two booklets that come with this set.

And, of course, there’s the music. Bach’s flute sonatas push against all the boundaries of the baroque flute: Their uncompromising musical integrity and originality place demands on the player greater and more various than with any other composer. Strongly recalling Bach’s instrumental concertos, the flute sonatas achieve a grandeur surpassing the typical baroque sonata. The place of these pieces in the canon of Bach’s works may shift from one period to another, but their value as musical treasures will remain as constant as our love for Bach’s music itself.