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05/04/2025
“Complicité”
Johann Sebastian Bach: Herr Gott, nun schleuse den Himmel auf, BWV 617 (arr. S. Dinnerstein and Baroklyn) – Keyboard Concerto in E major, BWV 1053 – Der Leib war in der Erden, BWV 161 (arr. S. Dinnerstein and Baroklyn) – Cantata “Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust”, BWV 170 (continuo realization by Philip Lasser)
Johann Sebastian Bach/Philip Lasser: In the Air
Simone Dinnerstein (director and piano), Jennifer Johnson Cano (mezzo-soprano), Peggy Pearson (oboe d’amore), Baroklyn: Rebecca Fischer (concertmaster), Gabby Diaz, Miki‑Sophia Cloud, Monica Davis, Heidi Braun‑Hill, Colleen Jennings, Gabriel Boyers (violin), Jessica Thompson, Celia Hatton (viola), Alexis Gerlach, Julian Müller (cello), Lizzie Burns (bass)
Recording: Mechanics Hall, Worcester, Massachusetts (September 16‑18, 2024) – 56’36
Supertrain Records STR075 – Booklet in English
“A sea-change...something rich and strange...” I recalled those words from Shakespeare’s The Tempest while listening to the first measures of “Complicité”, a new album by American pianist Simone Dinnerstein and her chamber ensemble, Baroklyn. The group offers selections by Johann Sebastian Bach with a transformative twist, a sea‑change that honors and respects the great master while taking time to think deeply about his work and its relevance to our age.
Dinnerstein has gained recognition during the past nearly two decades for an imaginative approach to performance, championing the works of Philip Glass and Charles Ives, and creating a uniquely radiant interpretation of Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Now she has enriched her vision by embracing ensemble values that reflect her own distinctive points of view.
These impressions cover the ideas of change and richness in the Shakespearean lyric mentioned above. But what about the adjective, “strange?” As one of its definitions, the dictionary publisher Oxford Languages suggests “previously unencountered.” I think this synonym fits “Complicité” to a tee. For this album, the first recording with an ensemble she created and directs, is not a conventional reimagining or a modernist rewriting of Bach. Clearly, Dinnerstein and her team of more than a dozen like‑minded musicians have delved deeply, taken their time, and explored the mind of this singular composer with critical thoroughness. The result is something truly unique. In the album’s liner notes, Dinnerstein explains how she and her musicians took time to experiment, to listen to their own work, and try original approaches, such as breaking down a chorale—originally scored for singers— into instrumental voices, one line to an instrument. They were undeterred—indeed, brought closer together—by a piano malfunction during recording. The experimentation paid off, with music that is truly Bach, yet experienced in a “previously unencountered” way.
The album begins with Herr Gott, nun schleuse den Himmel auf (Lord God, now open up the heavens). Originally, this was composed for organ, but here we have musical lines taken from the organ and reassigned to the piano and string ensemble. Dinnerstein’s signature performance style, which I would characterize as warm, clear, and conversational, is echoed by Baroklyn. Arranged by Dinnerstein and her ensemble, this is a brief, sinuous work of unforgettable beauty in which none of its spiritual breathlessness is tainted or betrayed.
This is followed by the Keyboard Concerto in E major and Der Leib war in der Erden (The Body was in the Earth), familiar to many as the chorale which ends this cantata. Jennifer Johnson Cano’s compelling mezzo‑soprano solos illuminate the text (which I could not find in my online version of the liner notes).
The cantata Vergnügte Ruh (Beloved rest) with a continuo realization by Philip Lasser, and Lasser’s In the Air (Air on the G String, the Aria from the second movement of the Suite n° 3, BWV 1068) complete the album. I was especially taken by the short selections that open and close this recording. In the Air, almost overly familiar to most listeners, springs from its electronic nest like a crisp autumn breeze.
Other noteworthies in this recording include Peggy Pearson on oboe d’amore and Lizzie Burns as the ever‑present bass line from which these contrapunctal melodies are raised. You will discover many melodies and harmonic intricacies in this album that you may have missed in more conventional performances. But the opening and closing airs have a special power to touch and move the soul.
Linda Holt
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