3/22/08
Bach Sinfonia: The Other Water Music
The Washington Post, Joan Reinthaler
There was a quartet (played here by two flutes, bassoon and a cello-and-harpsichord continuo) that had both the grace and the modest range of the French musical language...Conductor Daniel Abraham has gathered together 19 baroque experts for this ensemble. They play on period instruments (or their copies) with gut strings and bows that provide more clarity than power or bite. Even when this group motors along enthusiastically, its music projects warmth and a sense of intimacy.
Spam-o-matic, Andrew Malone - critic for The Washington Post
...illustrated by the first piece the Bach Sinfoniers played Saturday, the Quartet in D minor for two flutes, bassoon, and continuo from the second production of Tafelmusik. Sandra del Cid and Thomas MacCracken adeptly navigated G.P.'s flute lines, and the whistly high timbres of the baroque flutes contrasted intriguingly with Sue Black's bassoon, equally on point underneath. Almost every moment in the quartet had an ear-catching sound.