Album: Bach, 5 Klavier Konzerte – Bahrami / Chailly / Gewandhausorchester (Decca)

Whichever keyboard Bach had in mind for the five concertos here, it wasn't a grand piano.

There's a world of difference between hammered and plucked strings, yet the Gewandhausorchester's musicianship is such that we shouldn't get hung up on the medium. The strings are lean and lithe, with sharply etched dynamics. The main problem is the lack of punctuation in Ramin Bahrami's playing. Clipped rests unsettle the tempi, though the F minor Concerto is perfectly judged.