Bach: Flute Sonatas - Joshua Smith, Jory Vinikour

Joshua Smith's 19th century wooden flute suits Bach's Sonatas and is well partnered with Jory Vinikour's modern harpsichord.

Composer: Bach
Repertoire: Flute Sonatas 
Artists: Joshua Smith (flute), Jory Vinikour (hpsd)
Rating:  3.5/5
Genre: Orchestral
Label: Delos DE 3402

The Cleveland Orchestra’s principal flute plays a 19th-century wooden instrument he found in an antique shop and repaired. Though technically inauthentic, its soft, caressing tone suits Bach. In the solo Partita, BWV1013, Smith writhes along cunning chord-based melodies seeking, it seems, somewhere to breathe. The close mic makes the inconvenient intake a little too audible. Elsewhere, he’s covered by Vinikour’s twinkling modern harpsichord. In the slow Arioso of the E flat, his edgeless tone coos plaintively. In the Presto Finale of the B minor Sonata, BWV1030, Smith is a relaxed jazzer over Vinikour’s walking bass. Cool in parts.