Bach’s Complete Chamber Music for Flute

When Jed Wentz founded Musica ad Rhenum in 1992, he had already established himself in Europe as a leading historical flute specialist.  He made himself even better known, and more controversial as a player, with this ensemble.  As a faculty member at the Amsterdam Conservatory he has made his mark as a conductor and scholar of 18th century music.

In this recording Wentz joins the other members of Musica ad Rhenum, notably harpsichordist Michael Borgstede, to bring us new recordings of Bach’s chamber music for flute.  As always reflecting his deeply respectful scholarly approach, his performances nevertheless can safely be called quirky; certainly “unique” is an appropriate term, and always controversial.  Wentz has documentary support for his decisions, but, in the end, loves and respects the 18th century as an “ornament-mad age” in which performers regularly showed off their taste and skill with their own personal set of decorations added to the music they played.

Perhaps the most curious entry is the Sonata in A major, BWV 1032.  Based on what is currently available in Bach’s own hand, Wentz and Borgstede reach the endpoint, in the middle of the first movement, of Bach’s complete notations.  They stop abruptly, then finish with a brief cadence that the composer also included.

Wentz’s broad interests include a passion for Baroque dance, and for 18th-century cookery.  His sense of humor is clearly illustrated in his beautifully articulate notes for this recording; they’re all there, but what you read depends on which side of the booklet you opened first.

Quirky or simply unique, these performances are brimming with passion, love, humor and scholarly diligence.  Enjoy the rich variety of early flutes chosen to interpret these works.  As Wentz states, “Bach the Indestructible” is presented here with the “…sincere hope that these performances can please as well as any others, though, undoubtedly, if at all, then in their own way.”